Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Organic Farming Economics: High Risk and Hard Work for No Money

 

{Link}

Argus assesses the record-low net return for organic farmers during the 2023-24 crop year and provides analysis on future returns and organic farmer retention:

  • Despite improved crop yields and generally lower operating costs, low organic commodity prices have shrunk net returns for farmers. Given a three-crop rotation of organic corn, soybeans, and feed grade wheat, farmers experienced the lowest net return on record for the 2023-24 crop year.
  • Organic corn and feed grade wheat markets have reached record low prices, with organic soybeans at a three-year low price for the start of the 2024-25 crop year.
  • If low organic prices persist and organic farmers don’t yield profitable net returns, farmers may choose to switch rotations or surrender their organic certification altogether.

 

----------- 

One thing that has gone in my favor is that I've been able to grow food grade wheat, the price of which is substantially higher that feed grade, thus making it a (barely) profitable crop to grow.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment