Advertisement
They came to La Crosse from the West Bend, Wis., area for North America's largest organic farming conference, to learn more about growing food without pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics or genetically-modified seeds.
"We're going to start with tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, herbs and sunflowers," Michele Winkler said Friday at the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference. About 1,600 people are attending the four-day event.
Leaders in the $10.4 billion organic food industry, which is experiencing double-digit annual growth, are looking for more farmers like the Winklers to join them.
Friday, Wisconsin's secretary of agriculture, Rod Nilsestuen, called on state farmers to consider going organic. He promised the state will do more to help farmers make the transition, saying "You don't have to learn the lessons by yourself."
Wisconsin already leads the nation in organic dairy and livestock production, with about 475 certified organic farms, but Nilsestuen said there's "a hell of a lot of opportunity to grow beyond that."
"The market is calling out to farmers," said George Siemon, CEO of La Farge-based Organic Valley Family of Farms, the nation's largest organic cooperative. "We want to pay you a fair price for doing good work."
It generally takes three years of using organic farming methods before a farm can be certified organic.
But Al Haas of Organic Valley, who helps dairy farmers convert to organic production, said organic milk prices average $5 higher per hundredweight than conventional milk.
Gary Wedig, who farms 500 acres near Platteville, has had a few tough years converting to organic, but he is starting to see rewards.
He said he grossed $650 an acre on his organic corn last year, almost twice as much as he'd earn on conventional corn.
"Most guys, if they gross $375 an acre, they're doing good," said Wedig, who grows corn, soybeans and other grains with 300 acres certified organic and the other 200 in transition to organic.
Wedig sells his organic grain to several local organic livestock producers to use as feed. He might make a little more if he sold it elsewhere, but wants to keep his local customers.
Even though organics make up about 2 percent of all food purchases, the U.S. Department of Agriculture spends just 0.01 percent of its $82 billion budget on organic agriculture, said Jim Riddle of Winona, Minn., chairman of the USDA's National Organic Standards Board.
"We have a long way to go," Riddle said, noting that Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection spends about 0.06 percent of its budget on organic programs while the Minnesota Department of Agriculture spends 0.12 percent.
Nilsestuen said Gov. Jim Doyle's budget included a new organic specialist position in the Department of Agriculture.
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, the nonprofit group that holds the conference, will offer an information packet on going organic through its Web site, www.mosesorganic.org.
For the Winklers, who live 25 miles northwest of Milwaukee in Jackson, Wis., higher prices aren't the main reason they're getting into organic farming.
"It's a philosophical thing," Michele Winkler said. "We want to move to more natural living and get rid of the toxins our lives. It's a way of life for us."
Reid Magney can be reached at (608) 791-8211 or rmagney@lacrossetribune.com.
