These little details are all the more important in organic farming. On a daily basis, organic farmers have fine-tuned processes and work around unpredictable Mother Nature, often without the aid of modern enrichments or pesticides, in order for the end product to qualify as organic.
“I think it’s important to scrutinize what you’re doing, that you’re making sure that you’re targeting needs,” said Wilson “You need to have a strategy in place make sure that you are that you’re maintaining that soil for what you’re going to see. It’s an impact on not just your alfalfa, but all the crops down the line.”
On any given day, Wilson has careful considerations to make. Should he plant early, or would it be better to wait a couple days? This may not seem like much, but Wilson repeatedly noted that the difference between a good harvest and a disappointing one can be the difference in less than 48 hours in terms of beginning and ending the alfalfa’s growing cycle.
What rotational cash crops should he use — or, for example, will soybeans serve as a good starter for the first planting in May when conditions are unpredictable, or will rye wheat gobble up too much nutrients?
What strain of alfalfa is the best to create an even, predictable harvest? Is it an optimal temperature or humidity to plant, or can the alfalfa tolerate one more than the other? Is the soil at good acidity levels?
How should he plan the planting and growing seasons so as to maximize productivity day to day, week to week, without losing sight of the minute signs that indicate when, where and how a crop should be tilled, planted and harvested so it doesn’t become overgrown?
In short, organic farming is art of tiny margins because the stabilizing factors in traditional farming — which are often chemical-based — simply aren’t an option by virtue of being organic. Thus, every year it’s a question if Wilson can thread the needle just right so his alfalfa is the kind that organic dairy farmers prize.
That’s a big question when it comes to organic alfalfa. Because if it isn’t just right, said Erin Silva, it could be the difference between profits and losses when it comes time to bring alfalfa to market. She described the situation as a kind of winner-take-all scenario where good alfalfa doesn’t sell half as well as excellent alfalfa.
“Where you’re gonna see more of a market premium is the high quality alfalfa and that’s where I think where the trade offs of quality versus yield are important,” said Silva, an agricultural instructor at UW-Madison and the resident expert on organic farming with UW-Extension. “Organic alfalfa can vary, but it seems to be more consistent in prices when you’re looking at high quality feed and selling to dairy farms.”
Organic farming is having a boom in modern agriculture, where organic farms are popping up just about everywhere to meet the need of expanding organic grocers.
Introduction to Organic Farming
Between 2011 and 2016, the number of organic farms rose by 56%, according to Pew Research, indicative of changing consumer habits and a push for specialized, niche operations to fill the gaps where traditional farming is receding. Now, there are more than 14,000 organic operations across the country, as well as a uptick in hybrid conventional-organic farms.
Much of this can be attributed to changing cultural mores regarding food. Americans of all ages are becoming increasingly conscious of how food is grown and what goes into their bodies, but young folks — 61% of 18-29 year olds according to Pew — see organic options as healthier, while only 45% of seniors reported the same sentiments.
At the same time, younger people are more likely to view conventional agricultural products as harmful, as much as 48% of the 18-29 cohort. Put together, these trends indicate that organic farming will likely be a staple of the future agricultural economy for years to come.
If anyone is interested in viewing and participating in UW-Extension’s webinar series on organic farming, OGRAIN, they should register on the events tab at https://ograin.cals.wisc.edu/. Silva said webinars typically take places once very couple weeks and the series looks to tackle the practices, market dynamics and history of organic farming.
