Organic Producers Struggle But Report Higher Net Returns

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – Farmers who transition from conventional to certified organic grain report higher net returns per acre, that’s according to a recent report from Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. The study compared convention and organic operations for alfalfa, corn, oats, soybeans, and winter wheat. One thing that is apparent is that organic producers have a larger difference in net returns than conventional producers have, which could be a result of a steeper learning curve or complications from establishing crop rotations. As for individual crops, researchers found that organic corn crops were more likely to experience higher returns that organic soybean crops and might be due to weed control issues in soybeans. Finally, consistent with previous work, organic enterprises had lower crop yields, higher crop prices and gross returns, and higher net returns.
SOURCE: Langemeier, M., and M. O’Donnell. “Conventional and Organic Enterprise Net Returns” via farmdoc daily