Carmen Fernholz - Madison,
Minnesota
When faced with a choice to get bigger or
cut his cost of production, Fernholz chose
to trim his inputs, convert to organic crop
farming, and revamp his marketing strategies.
In 1994, he became certified after more than
20 years of experimenting and learning about
which methods would work best. Now he grows
diverse field crops and raises feeder-to-finish
hogs using organic methods.
He has taken charge of marketing the hogs
by running a cooperative marketing project
serving about 50 farmers to provide better
sales for himself and his neighbors. He also
participates in a 1,000-farmer “relationship
marketing" group that finds outlets
for organic crops.
Profitability
Fernholz manages his 350 acres of crops
with a 4-year rotation: a small grain—barley,
oats, or wheat—overseeded with flax
or alfalfa, followed by corn, then soybeans.
Premiums for organic grain are a welcome
bonus, but they are not the only reason to
grow organically, Fernholz says. He receives
about $16.50 per bushel for his organic soybeans.
By using organic growing methods, "You
generally have significantly fewer actual
dollars expended to produce a crop," he
says. "You enhance the potential of
making more profit that way. And if there
is a premium, you're that much farther ahead."
Despite demanding labor requirements that
go hand in hand with an organic cropping
system, Fernholz spends less each season
than his conventional counterparts who buy
costly pesticides and fertilizers. What he
would spend on chemicals he can spend on
labor—or do the work himself and avoid
$20 to $30 an acre for fertilizer and another
$20 or $30 an acre for herbicides.
Flax provides a particularly good opportunity
for profits. Prices for organic flax have
thus far soared above conventional; Fernholz
sells flax for human consumption at $1 a
pound, which translates into about $50 to
$60 dollars a bushel—compared to $5
to $8 a bushel for conventionally grown flax.
Environmental Strategies
Fernholz' 4-year rotation enriches the
soil with nitrogen from growing legumes.
He practices ecological weed management,
crowding out most weeds during the first
year of his rotation when the small grain
is under-seeded, and, in ensuing years, through
timely use of a rotary hoe and spring-tooth
harrow.
Community, Outreach, Quality of Life
Fernholz works closely with the University
of Minnesota, with which he is cooperating
on a research project on organic conversion.
He is a guest lecturer at the university's
St. Paul campus several times each year and
participates in other events throughout the
state. In 2002, he was a finalist for SARE's
Patrick Madden Award for Sustainable Agriculture.
In addition to helping area farmers with
marketing, Fernholz serves as a willing mentor.
In the spring, he averages three to four
lengthy phone calls with other farmers every
week. Over the years, he estimates, he has
reached thousands of farmers, many of them
at summer field days he has hosted for the
last 15 years in conjunction with the university
research project.
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