Mainebiz

V O L . X X I N O. V I I A P R I L 6 , 2 0 1 5 14 O rganic farmers will tell you it's all about the soil. But sitting at any farmhouse kitchen table, it's clear that's where organic farming plays out, starting with the inevitable bookkeeping ledger and calculator laid out prominently. e ledger tells the story of the challenges today's organic farmers face. Certifi cation, transportation, equipment, energy and feed fees chip chunks out of gross revenue. Price fl uctuations show up in lower income if there's an oversupply of tomatoes, or an unexpected bounty if an item like organic milk is in high demand and supplies run short. Access to hay fi elds for grazing can make or break a dairy farmer. And while the local food movement is helping all types of farmers, organic growers still fi nd they need to educate consumers about why their goods cost more and how they diff er from local or natural food labels. "It's not easy to become an organic farmer," says Ted Quaday, execu- tive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), which certifi es organic farms for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among other activities. "It's all about building healthy soil. at's basically what gets certifi ed." Maine has 400 organic farms, plus another 25 organic processors, Quaday says. at's up from 382 MOFGA certifi ed organic farms in 2009. e number of Maine farmers markets, which are big sales outlets for many organic farmers, doubled in the past eight years to 139 in 2014. Sales of organic products rose to $36.4 million in 2012 from $23.3 million in 2007, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service report in July 2014. Even Walmart is rid- ing the organic bandwagon, having last April brought in Wild Oats to relaunch its brand, with the aim of saving customers 25% or more on organic groceries. And bucking national trends, the USDA report found the number of younger farmers in Maine is increasing, presaging the growth of next- generation farmers. Also notable is the average age of organic farmers is lower than that of conventional farmers. Dave Colson, MOFGA's agricul- tural services director and the owner of New Leaf Farm, an organic, mixed vegetable farm in Durham, says the preponderance of new farmers com- ing to Maine are doing so because of support in the state for locally grown products. " e increase in local food, organic and otherwise, is enormous," he says. "In the 1980s, when we started, there were only six to eight farmers markets. And restaurants featuring local foods are growing dramatically." "But there's still a disconnect about whether local is the same as organic," says Colson. Becoming certifi ed organic requires that MOFGA or another USDA- qualifi ed certifying organization check the process of a farm, that is, how it grows its vegetables or feeds its animals. Certifi cation has several steps and often takes three to six months to complete. A farm fi eld can receive organic status if no prohibited materials, like a syn- thetic fungicides or fertilizers, have been applied for three years. While the USDA has strictly defi ned the word "organic" and its use on food packaging, there is no similar government guid- ance or controls for using the terms "local" or "natural." Farmers transitioning from con- ventional to organic need to keep detailed records of everything they apply to the soil. Many fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides and fungi- cides used by conventional farmers are prohibited in organic production, including fungicides on treated seeds. Animals certifi ed organic must eat organic feeds. MOFGA inspects each farm yearly to assure they comply, and charges a fee each spring based on revenue. e federal government refunds part of the fee in the fall. at oversight, coupled with thin product margins, has elevated the role of business on the farm. " ey work so close to the bone," says Peter Felsenthal, a Boothbay-based photographer and author of the recently published book, "New Growth: Portraits of Six Maine Organic Farms." " ey have to determine pricing carefully, and they are always looking at their neighbors' pricing. ere's an emphasis on book- keeping." He notes, for example, that organic egg prices have been stable the last four to fi ve years, but chicken feed prices have risen without a cor- responding price increase in eggs to make up the diff erence. rough visits to half a dozen farms, Felsenthal noted that none of the farmers are getting rich, but they are committed to doing something good for the earth and their customers. " e association with the customers is very direct," he says. So, too, is the inter- action among farmhands and their appreciation of the land. " ey work in gorgeous circumstances. One farm- hand told me that the way the sunlight comes through the clouds over the fi elds is what keeps him going." To get a better idea of what it takes to successfully grow organic, we MAINE FARMERS: Cultivating a profit from organics Differentiating organic from local or natural foods remains a challenge b y l o r i v a l i g r a 0 100 200 300 400 2014 2009 382 400 $0 $10M $20M $30M $40M 2012 2007 $23.3M $36.4M S O U R C E S : Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, U.S. Department of Agriculture Maine organic farms 0 30 60 90 120 150 2014 2006 69 139 Maine farmers markets Maine organic product sales

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