Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
Proposal abstract:
Most Iowa farms that transitioned to organic production in the 1990s had mixed crop and livestock operations, but many of the recent transitions have only crop enterprises. Though some recently-established organic grain producers are aware of the ecological and economic benefits of grain-livestock integration, few of them have initiated the transition process.
There are a number of obstacles that deter grain producers from integrating livestock-1) most have never raised livestock, 2) the economic uncertainty and 3) lack of knowledge of structuring and financing a new enterprise, since adding a new farm component while maintaining current cash flow is challenging. The Iowa Organic Association (IOA) will produce case studies to provide detailed guidance and financial framework on transitioning from grain-only to grain-livestock integrated farm operations. The project will produce printed material, webinars, and a farmer panel at the IOA annual meeting. We envision a successful transition will provide the farmers with more diversified revenues that bring economic stability, as well as a more self-sufficient nutrient cycle to maintain soil quality. We will produce three case studies based on three grain-livestock producers in Iowa, with varied livestock types, that had recently gone through the transition and have since demonstrated economic profitability
Project objectives from proposal:
The Iowa Organic Association will produce three farm case studies that can serve as examples for organic grain producers to illustrate potential paths for adding livestock to their operations. These case studies will characterize the processes that the farmers used to incorporate livestock with their organic grain enterprises. They will summarize the economic framework for the transition/addition and the financial changes in the farm since diversifying. The case studies will involve farms that have varied livestock types in order to meet grain producers with different needs.