1998 has been a great year for organic food, lots of growth, new products, international standards in progress… 1999 promises more growth, especially in the animal feed market as large livestock farms convert to organic methods. As Homestead Organics widens its recognition, more international markets are coming forth for food grade soybeans and buckwheat.
Happy Organic Year 1999!
While the crop producers may not be impressed, feed customers are glad to learn that the 1998 harvest prices have decreased a little and may again decrease for 1999.
Without changing our retail list prices, we are passing on or investing cost savings in many ways:
Our bookshelf is growing with the addition of Joel Salatin's books for 32$ each: Pasturing Poultry Profits, You Can Farm, Salad Bar Beef. We also have Organic Gourmet, a cook book with lots of different ideas and Growing Food Organically, a handy gardening book. In the food store, we have added breakfast cereals, sugar, pasta sauces and buckwheat hulls. Our livestock feed selection includes rabbit food (special orders only), a cattle finisher and naturally mined rock salt in lick blocks.
Are you having difficulty feeding a family an organic diet given the high prices?
Is your buying club looking for the best price but is faced with a lack of choice?
Are you concerned about supply problems on Jan 1st 2000 and want to build a food reserve… just in case?
Then BUY BULK! Homestead Organics can help you! Our store is going BULK! We are now stocking 10 to 25 kg bags of most non-perishable food items: beans, peas, lentils, rice, flour, pasta, grains, sugar, sprouting grains, raisins, breakfast cereals, etc.
We shop at the major wholesalers in Québec and Ontario to get the best prices. So buy bulk and save for your family, buying club and Y2K reserve: no membership card, no club fees, no minimum purchase required. Buy at the mill; have it delivered with your feed; or order through our feed dealers (usual delivery charge applies).
Call now for a price list; some examples:
While Murray Bast retails our feed in his area, we are now offering his livestock minerals, kelp meal, rock salt and probiotics. These additives are for sale separately. You can still buy our house recipes with the usual premix or order a custom ration with a BioAg premix at a premium of $26 to 85$ per tonne; call us for more information. Product documentation is available.
Back by popular demand: farmers' workshops on Ecological and Organic Farming:
+ Develop the mind-set of an organic farmer.
+ Maintain yield and quality organically.
+ Improve fertility and weed control.
+ Reduce your costs & increase your price.
Homestead Organics invites you to any of the sessions at the South Nation Conservation Office in Berwick, from 7PM till 10PM; cost of $20 to $25 per evening.
For information, call toll free (877) 984-0480.
I am sure that you would like to purchase organic food for your family. Here is a list of organic food producers who sell at the farm gate in eastern Ontario and western Québec. Canadian Organic Growers (Ottawa Chapter) publishes the list every February and invites you to join the group next year.
We are pleased to welcome new distributors of our organic livestock feed. They carry small inventories so you should order ahead. You can also order our bagged foodstuffs through them. They normally sell for our delivered price ($1.50 over pick up prices) but some may charge a little more to cover the extra distance.
These join our current list of retailers:
The past two years have been… let's say "rock and roll" in organic certification. Internal strife and a significant increase in the 1999 user fees rocked OCIA. The number of certification agencies in North America continues to increase and not everyone is sure of who is legitimate. European nations are legislating organic standards and are screening the organic label on imports; hence both OCIA and OCPP are having trouble. The US Dept of Agriculture's tainted draft of national organic standards was soundly rejected.
The good news is that Canadian national organic standards have received a positive vote of approval. We hope to see legitimate certifiers apply for accreditation this year to help us sell into the European market.
At Homestead Organics, we are renewing our certification for the 1999 harvest with OCIA, OCPP and Garantie Bio. We will accept crops under each of these certifications.
Certifying our feed products is more complicated. OCIA does not allow ingredients from a different certification, but OCPP does! Many grain producers are choosing OCPP for service and cost. And it is far too expensive to keep OCIA and OCPP grains separate.
Therefore, starting with the 1999 harvest, Homestead Organics will ONLY sell OCPP certified feeds and feed grains.
The large majority of our feed customers don't mind which label we use. This will be an issue for OCIA livestock farmers as non-OCIA inputs are not allowed. Your options are: not certify your livestock; switch certification to OCPP; convince OCIA to allow OCPP feeds; or buy OCIA grains in bulk from Homestead at harvest time before we mix them in the bin with OCPP grains.
First, consider the needs of your soil and crop rotation. Do not let short term markets cause you to compromise your five year plan. Match your crops to the capabilities of your equipment, custom operator, storage and skill level. The market's demand is easy: everything! A good mix spreads out the risks and opportunities.
The financial issues are revenue per acre (yield * price) and the timing of the cash flow. The price is fairly predictable; the yield is up to you and Nature.
Here are some predictions for 1999:
The timing is up to the market because you will get paid when the product moves but not while it sits in storage. The market cannot absorb all of the crops at once. Please use your storage to make room for others at harvest time. If you have no storage, then Homestead Organics is seeking private loans from you at 7% interest to build storage at the mill for you. Invest your money in group storage; it's less expensive than doing it alone.
If you need fast cash flow, then soybeans of all certifications move and pay as fast as we can process them. Buckwheat certified Garantie Bio moves fast and pays best. Other buckwheat goes into storage and pays less. Milling wheat, spelt and rye are short to medium term sellers, but unpredictable. Feed grains (corn, barley, oats, wheat) go into storage for 6 to 12 months as the peak livestock season is only the next summer.
If you are considering specialty crops (coloured or white beans, sunflowers, oil radish, etc), then you absolutely need to warn me to secure a quick market or you should store it on your farm. We CANNOT store specialty crops at the mill at this time.
Spring seed is on its way. Quantities are limited, so order now - first come, first serve.