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market-farming - Re: Organic industry vs. organic movement

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Paul Bransky <broadcaster AT mwt.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Organic industry vs. organic movement
  • Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 22:19:51 -0500


Rick wrote:
The one thing that I have not been able to understand is the lack of support
for smallholders. There should have been some kind of maximum cost for
certification based on a percentage of the gross sales of the farm. And it
should have been a reasonable amount. It seems like 5% or at the most 10%
maximum?


While the dozens of certifying agencies now must adhere to the same
(USDA) standard, their prices vary considerably. We pay $350 up
front, plus 3/4 of a % of gross. Not the cheapest, but we get good
service from our agency (MOSA).


What is the premium in most areas for selling organic production?


Each month "Growing for Market" publishes organic wholesale produce
prices from the USDA Market News Service. Usually wholesale organic
prices are close to non-organic retail prices.

We have the highest prices, and also probably the highest dollar
volume at our farmer's market. Of course, people expect a certain
level of freshness and quality at that price, but not to the point of
demanding absolute perfection. Every week strangers come to our stand
and ask us if we are certified organic, even though our signs say so.
Being certified organic does not necessarily mean we are better
growers, just as having a college degree does not necessarily mean
you are more qualified for a job. But in both cases it is a shorthand
way of showing a stranger that you have passed a certain arbitrary
threshold.


And is there a way to guarantee that you can sell your production or is it
still a bit shaky at times, particularly for the ones coming in late?


When I worked in 1986 for Rick's neighbor, Richard DeWilde (Harmony
Valley Farms), he spent a LOT of time on the phone selling to
wholesale buyers. That was with about 15 acres of vegetables. For
quite a few years now Richard and Linda have had more demand than
production, even with 60 acres of vegetables. They send availability
by fax to their buyers, then the buyers fax back their orders.


Over the next few years it will be interesting to see how this all shakes
out, but it does look as if there will be a need to be larger than what a
small family farm can handle on their own in order to justify the cost.
Otherwise, the certification cost soaks up a huge percentage of the money
that was supposed to go to the farmer in the first place for being organic.

We shall see. Many people do not understand that the high price of
certification is not driven by the USDA per se, but ISO 65
requirements. ISO stands for International Standards Organization.
They are in charge of standardizing technical parameters to
facilitate international trade. They establish the standard width of
a credit card, technical parameters for electronic components, and
hundreds of other things most people never think about. ISO 65
specifies general requirements for a third-party product
certification system. The purpose is to prevent corruption in an
organization by establishing a system of specific checks and balances
(i.e. bureaucracy). The extra paperwork and office time costs money.

It makes a lot of sense to me for a farmer to bypass certification,
and just rely on their personal reputation for honesty, and their
personal relationship with their customers. But I don't understand
spending money on an alternate, non-ISO 65 certification label that
really only certifies that you spent some money.

Beyond that, "organic" sells. Every retailer I have ever sold to
wanted to see proof that I am certified organic; they were not
interested in "certified whatever".



Does anyone have a rough calculation on how much certification costs as a
percentage of gross sales at different levels of gross sales under the new
rules?

It depends on who you certify with, whether you are a producer or a
processor, and how complex (i.e. difficult to inspect) your operation
is. For our farm the cost is less than 5% of gross.

Paul Bransky

Liz and Paul's Farm
51560 Johnstown Rd.
Soldiers Grove, WI
54655

(608)735-4779




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