Organic farmers now have some benchmark cost-of-production figures to help them identify where and how they can improve their management.
Stuart Oke, communications and membership manager for the Organic Council of Ontario, said that “having reliable data that can act as a foundation for a new enterprise is a game-changer.”
Organic farmers provided financial data for 2018 for many different crops and livestock operations.
The crop data is more reliable because more farmers provided information; the dairy data is slim.
The project also offers those transitioning into organic farming a simulator into which they can enter their own plans and projections.
The Organic Council of Ontario said it’s cost-of-production model is better than the one from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAFRA).
For example, OMAFRA includes hand weeding which few organic farmers do, and seed purchasing instead of the common practice of using saved seed.
Dairy Farmers of Ontario and the Organic Meadow cooperative both conducted organic-focused cost-of-production analyses, but the results were not made public because so few farms participated.
