Got a Voice?
Mar/082
Last week the North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture and the North Carolina Farm Bureau teamed up to announce an initiative to save the state’s dairy industry. The program, Dairy Advantage, comes in the form of a 28-page report on options and strategies for small dairies to compete in the modern milk marketplace. Search the entire document and you know how many times the word “organic†comes up? Zero.
That’s right, zero. There are at least seven dairies in NC that have been certified organic in the last year, all of them small conventional family dairies that converted to organic with the help of the Organic Valley Family of Farms and the CROPP Cooperative. Here are seven success stories, living proof that organic milk can be produced in our region, and that our dairy farms can take advantage of the growing market for this healthy, wholesome milk. These dairies are role models for other family farms, especially in the mountains and foothills of the Carolinas where farm and herd sizes naturally tend to the optimal size for organic operations.
And yet the Dept. of Ag. and the Farm Bureau don’t even mention organic dairying as an alternative for saving our dwindling supply of family dairies. Not to mention raw milk options, which are verboten under the state’s antiquated public health dogma.
Why the disconnect? It’s tempting to assume a conspiracy, and yet it’s really more likely that the reason is somewhat less sinister, if no less disturbing. The agriculture establishment in the Carolinas is just not used to thinking in terms of sustainability. The (mostly) men and women who run that establishment have been trained in a conventional system, based on conventional agribusiness wisdom, for a generation. That wisdom predicts that only a food system modeled on industrial processes can survive. They’re not used to thinking about an agriculture that isn’t dependent on massive subsidies, synthetic controls, concentration and monoculture.
When I met Larry Wooten, President of the NC Farm Bureau Federation, for the first time, he said to me that he wasn’t opposed to organics: “Consumers should have a choice,†he said. The leap that hasn’t been made in the Carolinas’ ag establishment is that farmers should have a choice, too; that there’s hope for sustaining, and renewing, our dwindling supply of farmers and farmland in the new sustainable ag paradigm.
That’s why CFSA is dedicated to being a Voice for Sustainable Ag, and we are putting more of our resources into the effort. When policy-makers hear the stories of sustainable ag success in our communities first-hand, when they learn about the income that local food systems can provide Carolina farmers, they want to get involved. There’s no stigma attached to organics anymore—the market ($17 billion in the US) and the consumer participation (52% of Americans bought organic food last year) and the buzz (“locavore†was Oxford’s “words of the year†in 2007, http://blog.oup.com/2007/11/locavore/) are impossible to ignore. So that’s why CFSA and its members are working on policy at the local level, to help more officials and opinion-shapers understand how to bring the benefits of sustainable local food systems to their communities.
Our website redesign, this blog, and even the new online food guide are all ultimately geared toward bringing more consumers, farmers and business into the sustainable food movement, and activating them to press for change. So spread the word about this site and CFSA, and help our collective voice grow louder.
To learn more about NCDA’s “Dairy Advantage†plan, visit http://www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/commodit/dairy/dairy_advantage.pdf.
For an interesting exchange on the prices paid to organic milk producers, check out this recent series of posts over at Grist, http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/3/10/6475/66460
For the latest update on Monsanto’s efforts to upend the market for hormone-free milk, see http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=84227&m=1FNU326&c=mdxcfimlghpcovs. (This is actually a case of sinister motives!)
And if you are interested in the raw milk issue in North Carolina, keep tuned to these pages for an announcement of a bill to overrule NCDA’s requirement that raw milk sold for pet food be dyed gray.
Roland
So What About the Price of Eggs?
Mar/083
This is a note to folks that raise commercial eggs. I bet you’ve noticed that the price of feed has gone up, and it is starting to seem harder and harder to make a profit on your layers. If this is the case, I have some advice to turn this around in the short, medium, and long term.
First of all, fear not to adjust your price. According to This UC Davis Survey retail eggs were $1.21 in 2005. Now next time you are in a big supermarket, see if you can find eggs for under $2.50. I can’t. My message here is to fear not when you consider raising your prices.
I can’t tell you what to charge. I have always thought that setting your prices to match or undercut your neighbor is a failing strategy. What I advise when setting your price on eggs (or anything else) is to total all of your regular expenses in an average month (feed, bedding, etc). Then add in all of the major purchases you have made in the last 3 years (fencing, coop construction, feeders, etc) divided by 30 (this way, they will all be paid for in 30 months). Then estimate the number of hours you spend tending to the chickens in a month and multiply it by your target dollar per hour and add that in as well. As three years actually has 36 months and not 30, this formula will build in a little extra profit if you calculate your expenses exactly, but assuming you don’t count every nail, this effect will probably be negligible.
When you have that total, divide it by the number of dozen eggs you get in a month and set your price very near that number.
For example:
I spend about $95 a month on feed (non organic gmo free feed I get from local Mennonites). I bed my chickens on woodchips I make with my chipper shredder.
I purchased $275 worth of fencing supplies in the last three years. I spent $85 building coops, tractors, etc. Together, that totals $360. Divided by 30, that makes $12.
I spend about 45 minutes a day working with my chickens, and an hour a week chipping bedding. All together, that takes 6.25 hours per week. at $12 per hour, that represents $75 in labor.
$96+$12+$75= $182
This month, I plan to get about 52 dozen eggs. Therefore:
$182/52 dozen eggs = $3.50 per dozen eggs. And that is my price. I advise you a method like this to determine your price.
We’ll call that the short term strategy. Stay tuned for the medium and long term strategies.
Cricket
Take the “Eat Carolina Food Challenge”!
Mar/080
Put your money where your mouth is. We’re looking for several folks from North or South Carolina to agree to eat only food produced in our region for a whole week. Participants will blog about their experiences here at the cfsa blog and we’ll choose the most devoted foodie that gains the most points as our winner. If you’re interested in taking the challenge contact kari today.