12 CapitalPress.com
May 15, 2015
Organic suppliers unable to fi ll all their orders
ORGANIC from Page 1
U.S. organic sales, in-
cluding non-food products,
hit $39.1 billion in 2014, an
11.3 percent increase over
the previous year, while sales
of comparable conventional
products grew by 3 percent,
according to OTA. Imports
of 21 organic food products
tracked by USDA totaled $1.3
billion.
By comparison, overall
U.S. agricultural sales were
$394 billion in 2012, accord-
ing to the USDA Census of
Agriculture.
A shortfall in U.S. organic
production has suppliers to
domestic markets unable to
fi ll all their orders and going
farther afi eld to secure sup-
plies. It’s also forcing proces-
sors to hold off on new prod-
uct development, said Nate
Lewis, OTA senior crop and
livestock specialist.
In addition to shortfalls
in organic produce and other
crops, organic milk is in short
supply. More private labels
are emerging as retailers of-
fer organic milk under their
own brands, and the organic
milk cooperatives are recruit-
ing new members to fi ll their
tanker trucks, Lewis said.
A gallon of organic whole
milk in April averaged $4.28,
compared with conventional
whole milk, which averaged
$3.62, according to USDA.
The organic dairy sector
posted $5.46 billion in sales
in 2014, an 11 percent jump
from 2013. But the availabil-
ity and price of organic feed
is limiting milk production,
with the price of feed increas-
ing faster than processors can
raise the price of organic milk,
he said.
The shortage is getting to
be a crisis in the grain sector,
both in animal feed and ingre-
dients for ready-to-eat foods,
he said.
The phone is “ringing off
the hook” at Hummingbird
Wholesale, an organic whole-
saler and distributor in Eu-
gene, Ore., general manager
Justin Freeman said.
The company primarily
supplies such items as nuts,
seeds, dried fruit, beans,
grains and fl our in bulk to in-
dependent and co-op grocery
stores. It also sells to proces-
sors and restaurants. But now
it’s getting calls from more
processors and restaurants
and institutional buyers such
as universities and hospitals.
“Everyone who eats is
looking for organics these
days. We’re having to tell a
lot of folks there’s just not
enough to go around,” he said.
Farmers are also calling,
interested in organic oppor-
tunities with the company, he
said.
John O’Connor, owner of
Farm Management Services
in Buhl, Idaho, which manag-
es 160 organic acres and owns
20, is getting calls, too.
He’s had at least six unso-
licited calls from buyers look-
ing for dry beans and small
grains from as far away as
the East Coast. He’s also seen
premiums for organic crops
increase even as prices for
their conventional counter-
parts have decreased.
Increasing demand is plain
to see in the growing organic
options at grocery stores. At
the Fred Meyer store in Twin
Falls, Idaho, organic offerings
have increased at least 300
percent in the last fi ve years,
he said.
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Nate Jones of King Hill, Idaho, checks out his organic alfalfa fi eld. He farms 680 acres of organic crops.
Certified organic acres and animals
$40
Acres (Thousands)
1995
2000
2005
2008
2011
Pasture/
rangeland
Cropland
U.S. total
276.3
557.2
2,331.2
2,160.6
2,298.1
638.5
914.8
1,218.9
1,776.1
1,723.3
4,054.4
2,643.2
4,803.8
3,085
5,383.1
123.2
12,965
13,088.2
313.4
361
14,952.5 35,811.9
15,266 36,172.9
Animals (Thousand head)
0
0
0
52
3,047.7
3,099.7
*Beef and milk cows (does not include replacement heifers) **Layer hens, broilers and turkeys
Source: USDA NASS
$39.1
(Billions of dollars)
Item
Livestock*
Poultry**
U.S. total
Total U.S. organic sales
30
Source: Organic
Trade Association
* Estimate
Up 11.3% from 2013;
Up 287% from 2003
20
10 $10.1
0
2003 ’04
’05
’06
Opportunity abounds
Southern Idaho is booming
with an infl ux of food pro-
cessors and expansions, and
some of those processors have
expressed their need for more
organic production.
California-based Amy’s
Kitchen, which already buys
organic vegetables from Ida-
ho growers, set up shop in
Pocatello and is looking for
even more organic production
to feed its growing business.
The company manufactures
organic and non-genetically
modifi ed convenience and
frozen foods.
“Organic is a top priori-
ty for us — about 95 percent
or more of our ingredients
are organic. To supply our
production needs this year,
our raw material needs have
increased by about 15 to 18
percent,” said John Paneno,
Amy’s director of sourcing.
It’s always been a chal-
lenge for Amy’s to fi nd the
high-quality organic ingre-
dients it requires for its food
products, and demand for or-
ganic ingredients has gone up
across the board, he said.
More food companies are
insisting on non-genetically
modifi ed ingredients, and or-
ganic is non-GMO. Also, con-
sumers are becoming more
educated and concerned about
their food choices, so con-
sumer demand is increasing,
he said.
“Overall, we’re also seeing
that the younger generation is
more interested in their food
choices and is seeking the
assurance of organic certifi ca-
Certified organic
operations, pro-
duction and
handling * (As of May 2015)
Calif.: 4,986
or 20.2%
Wash.: 1,229
or 5%
Ore.: 841
or 3.4%
Idaho: 309
or 1.2%
Rest of U.S.:
17,373 or
70.2%
*Includes crop, livestock and wild crop pro-
ducers, distributors, processors and brokers
Source: USDA, AMS
Carol Ryan Dumas and Alan Kenaga/
Capital Press
tion,” he said.
Other processors are also
entering the market.
California-based Clif Bar
is building a bakery in Twin
Falls and has expressed a de-
sire to work with local grow-
ers to purchase organic milled
grain.
Chobani Greek Yogurt,
based in upstate New York,
built the largest yogurt plant
in the world in Twin Falls in
2012 and is trying to fi nd an
avenue for its milk produc-
ers to feed their cows organic
feed.
Seneca, a long-time Buhl,
Idaho, processor, is soliciting
growers to raise organic beans
and sweet corn, and Mountain
States Oilseeds in American
Falls is hungry for more or-
ganic mustard.
’07
’08
’09
’10
’11
’12
’13 2014*
Carol Ryan Dumas and Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Carol Ryan Dumas and Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Organic growers recognize
the need for more production,
but some say they don’t want
an explosion that would satu-
rate the market.
Jones said he likes the cur-
rent scenario of buyers calling
him “instead of me calling
them asking what they’ll pay.”
OTA’s Lewis said that’s
a valid concern and more
production could eventually
cause prices to decrease, but
in no way has demand hit
a ceiling. More production
would stabilize supply and
spur even more demand, he
said.
A lot of processors are test-
ing the waters on organic but
are holding off going full bore
because supplies are tight, he
said.
And while prices for some
organic crops can be dou-
ble or even quadruple those
of their conventional coun-
terparts, going organic is a
“pretty tough proposition for
people looking at it from a
strictly dollars and cents per-
spective,” he said.
There’s an awful lot of op-
portunity for growers in the
organic market, but there are
also signifi cant barriers, he
said.
High hurdles
Organic production has lots
of room to grow. But in addi-
tion to tight water supplies,
high land prices and labor
shortages faced by growers as
a whole in Western agriculture,
getting into organic farming
has unique challenges, said
Cathy Calfo, executive di-
rector of California Certifi ed
Organic Farming, one of the
many organizations and agen-
cies that are accredited by the
USDA to certify organic farms
and processors.
The fundamental piece of
organic systems is building
the soil to support organic pro-
duction, and USDA’s national
organic standards require a
three-year transition period
from conventional farming.
No synthetic chemicals can be
used during that time, she said.
That transition period can
be costly because farmers face
lower yields but are not able
to sell the crop as organic to
capture the organic price pre-
mium, she said.
The most recent farm bill
that Congress passed “is not
refl ective of that challenge.
Growing organic production is
going to come down to invest-
ments in how we address the
economic challenge of that
three-year period,” she said.
OTA’s Lewis agrees the
transition period is the most
signifi cant barrier to increas-
ing organic production and
said some processors and
retailers that rely on organic
production are stepping in to
offer economic incentives, but
other challenges remain.
Crop insurance is another
issue. Some crop insurance is
available for organic produc-
tion but it doesn’t cover the
full value of the crops. With-
out that coverage, it’s diffi cult
to get an operating loan, he
said.
“The safety net is just not
there for organic producers,”
he said.
Research to combat weeds
and pests in organic systems
is also woefully lacking, add-
ing to the risks of organic
farming, he said.
Farmers Brossy and Jones
said once an organic system is
established, yields can match
conventional yields on some
crops, such as dry beans.
Brossy said organic pota-
toes and beets won’t yield as
much as their conventional
counterparts, and Jones said
most organic crops get two-
thirds to three-fourths the
yield of conventional crops.
But over time, organic will
have lower input costs, the
farmers said.
Cultural obstacles
Aside from the economic
challenges of increasing pro-
duction, one intriguing ob-
stacle is the cultural element,
Lewis said.
The coffee-shop talk and
what a producer’s neighbor-
ing conventional farmers
might say about going organ-
ic “could be the straw that
breaks the camel’s back” as
a farmer decides whether to
convert, he said.
Organic farmers Brossy
and Jones acknowledge that
organic farming is not for ev-
eryone.
For the majority of organic
farmers Brossy knows, organ-
ic farming is a philosophy. It’s
about taking care of the soil
and the environment. It’s im-
possible to do “no” harm in
farming, but organic growers
strive to minimize the harm,
he said.
“There’s no way you’re in
it just to make a buck. It’s too
much work just to do it for the
money,” he said.
Organic systems demand
a lot of crop rotation, and if
a grower doesn’t adhere to
that he’s going to stub his toe
quickly. Eventually, he’ll fi nd
it too hard to keep the system
going and won’t last, he said.
“It’s a different kind of
person who does organic
farming,” Jones said.
“It takes talent. Many con-
ventional farmers are not cut
out for it,” he said.
High demand for graduates with ag-related degress
JOBS from Page 1
There is high demand for
graduates with degrees in ag
business economics, ag edu-
cation, fi eld crop management,
food science and security, ag
technology, viticulture and
enology, she said.
At Oregon State Universi-
ty, job placement has been par-
ticularly strong for graduates
with crop and soil science, hor-
ticulture and animal and range-
land science degrees, said Dan
Arp, dean of OSU’s College of
Agricultural Sciences.
Students are aware agri-
culture weathered the reces-
sion better than most sectors
of the economy, Arp said.
Agricultural studies appeal to
students who want to “make a
difference” by helping feed the
world and manage the land-
scape in a sustainable manner,
he said.
Data management, ag eco-
nomics and the technology of
precision agriculture attract
students as well. “It’s a good
time to get an applied STEM
degree,” Arp said.
About 46 percent of the
national job openings are pro-
jected to be in management
and business; 27 percent in
science, technology, engineer-
ing and mathematics; 15 per-
cent in sustainable foods and
bio-materials production; and
12 percent in education, com-
munication and government
services.
Women do particularly well
in ag-related fi elds, according
to the report. They make up
more than half the graduates
overall and out-number men
in animal sciences, botany
and plant pathology, conser-
vation and wildlife biology,
food and nutrition science,
entomology and other studies.
Women earn 77 percent of the
veterinary medicine degrees,
according to the report.
The report is at https://
www.purdue.edu/usda/em-
ployment/
Streamfl ow projections as of May 1 are well below average in most of the West
SNOW from Page 1
should continue to feed the
Columbia River this summer.
Otherwise, the outlook is
dry.
Streamfl ow projections as
of May 1 are well below av-
erage in most of the West, and
irrigators who rely on streams
will most likely face shortag-
es. Reservoir storage is below
normal in the Southwest, Ne-
vada and Oregon, according
to NRCS.
Many NRCS automated
snow stations registered re-
cord low snowfall totals this
winter. In Oregon and Wash-
ington, much of the precipi-
tation fell as rain rather than
snow, Garen said, while Cali-
fornia was just dry.
The snowpack defi cit
means “the mountains are
missing several feet of wa-
ter” that is normally in frozen
storage at higher elevations,
according to NRCS.
“It’s quite striking,” Garen
said.
Online
http: //www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/
ftpref/downloads/
wsf/201505wsfwww.pdf