Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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you are not moving a lot of volume, so that adds up. It is not as efficient as,
say, the conventional produce system because you are not moving as much
volume.”
Mary realizes that their prices are high, but it is linked to the quality. “I
certainly don't expect people to buy it at that price if it isn't what I think it
should be.” So organic prices should be closely linked to quality. Rob says,
“You ain't never had lemons like these. Believe it or not, the general public
don't hardly know what lemons like that are. They are used to those little,
dinky, dry-ass California lemons. In Florida, the lemons are the best. Do
you knowwhat those things sell for on the market?Why, $29.50 for a carton.
They are worth their weight in gold. Conventionally they sell $20-22, same
lemon.”
Finally, based on his Illinois experience, Joel discredits the common eco-
nomic assumption about organic production. “Why is the price going up
if more and more people are getting into it? We haven't reached that point
of supply and demand yet. In my opinion, there are more and more people
every day who are saying they have cancer in their family or something,
and they are looking for alternatives. Organics is what - maybe 1 percent
consumptionwise? And over a year, they figure it is up 13 percent. So we have
at least 12 percent of the population to go before that supply and demand
situation will kick in. So what is the population? Two hundred and sixty
million. So you figure 12 percent of that. It's going to be awhile, I think. I
doubt that price is just going to take a nose dive.”
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O
rganic Opportunity
Organic agriculture can provide an opportunity that conventional agri-
culture does not. According to these farmers, profits are higher with their
diverse organic farms than if they had conventional operations like their
neighbors. In Colorado, the neighbors joke about all their new techniques,
but the Bensons are leaders. “Neighbors see the good financial situation
with organic; we're buying land, updating. You can't argue with success,”
says Naioma.
Joel also started out as a conventional farmer in Illinois corn, but realized
“the chemicals weren't working. I couldn't make a living. You struggle to pay
the bills, and we had no insurance, nothing. Living on a major highway, and
my equipment wasn't insured. We couldn't afford it. We just couldn't make
a living.” After converting to organic in 1996,hesays,“Now,wehavesome
money and we are getting insurance for our things.”
In Florida, Rob bluntly notes, “One thing about farmers, most of them
