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Economic, weather challenges could make organic more appealing

The president of a leading food and ag consulting firm says with a record number of prevented planting acres this year, now is a great time to transition to organic production. 

Agromeris president Peter Golbitz says he understands why conventional farmers would be frustrated by challenging weather on top of several years of low commodity prices.

“This would be a great time to get the message out to producers who either didn’t plant this year because of bad weather or just a lack of market, that this is a good time to consider transitioning to an organic production system.”

Speaking to Brownfield Tuesday at the Organic and Non-GMO Forum in Minneapolis, he says even in the first two years of transition, farmers could still sell their crops at a slight premium as non-GMO.

“Because you cannot use GMO seeds in organic production. Also, a few of the certifiers have a transitional certification program. So although the grain is not considered organic, it can be considered transitional.”

Golbitz says food companies like General Mills and Kellogg are looking to take transitional crops to help farmers who aren’t yet certified organic.