No wheat for you!!!!!!

[farmaholic]

I think I'll stay where I am instead of jumping out of the pot and into the fire and being worse off for it.

Ribbit.

Nobody in organic was booming here...only BUST!

Or did I hear a faint boom...oh that was them imploding!!!!

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Plenty of organic growers that don't till or have runaway perennials.

I am always willing to learn, can you introduce me to some western Canadian continuous no-till organic farmers? That is the holy grail, and as far as I know continues to elude even the best and most determined farmers. Even Rodale institute says right in their website: Continuous organic no-till is still considered unachievable.

[Guest]

I am always willing to learn, can you introduce me to some western Canadian continuous no-till organic farmers? That is the holy grail, and as far as I know continues to elude even the best and most determined farmers. Even Rodale institute says right in their website: Continuous organic no-till is still considered unachievable.

So how many consecutive years of continuous watching will it take for you to make up your mind? Opportunity is knocking now. Are you afraid of going to "organic no till hell" if you have to till a bit for some reason? There's that many soil types, microclimates etc across the country, you'll eventually have to rely on the AlbertaFarmer5 institute for guidance. The holy grail is to produce healthy marketable food from a carbon sequestering system. Its a calculated risk always. There is a riskier transition period. Sounds like until someone can prove what you want to see your quite happy defending the status quo. I have to mention Gabe Brown. He is quite successful, don't know if he may need to till a field or not at some point but if he does, so be it. And he openly admits that he will use a pesticide if deemed necessary which is very rare. He is not certified organic and doesn't want to be. He makes the rules and doesn't want to be restricted in any way for the sake of fitting into someone else's definition. He sells his produce for a premium nonetheless. Don't go "organic" if the perceived stigma scares you but if your current farming style is building soil carbon you're winning anyway.

https://biogrowers.com.au/our-story/

Ian and Di Haggerty are trailblazers known worldwide. They farm east of Perth, and are taking over several of their failing conventional neighbors.

[hobbyfrmr]

Those premium prices weren't enough to keep anyone who tried organic farming here in business!

From what I saw, typically reduced yields with some outright wrecks with little to no production. Lost production years using summerfallow to try and regain control of weeds(good luck with perennials). No production in plowdown years to build soil N. Long term perennial legumes in rotation with no grain production.....are you sure those grain prices are high enough in a ten year cycle?

I'll be watching the rich farmers from a neighboring community who are in the process of transitioning to organic. Their neighbors are complaining about thistle fuzz already. They also adopted much more "tillage" and have had their soil drifting...reports of soil in the ditches.

You should buy him out. He is going to ruin his land. You would be helping him out. Invite yourself over for a coffee, describe to him what you are saying here on AV and then offer to buy him out. Thats the best way.
If the organic farm doesnt understand how much harm he is imposing on your farm and the neighbors, you can call the RM and register an official complaint about the thistle fuzz. The best thing is to have 5 or 6 neighbors make official annonymous signed registered complaints with the RM. The independent third party weed inspector will have to visit and you guys could shut down that organic farmer.
Then you could buy his land for cheap.
Either way keep your ears and eyes on that farm and the first indication of distress, whip out your chequebook. Its the right thing to do.

[farmaholic]

You should buy him out. He is going to ruin his land. You would be helping him out. Invite yourself over for an coffee, describe to him what you are saying here on AV and then offer to buy him out. Thats the best way.
If the organic farm doesnt undestand how much harm he is imposing on your farm and the neighbors, you can call the RM and register an official complaint about the thistle fuzz. The best thing is to have 5 or 6 neighbors make official annonymous signed registered complaints with the RM. The independent third party weed inspector will have to visit and you guys could shut down that organic farmer.
Then you could buy his land for cheap.
Either way keep your ears and eyes on that farm and the first indication of distress, whip out your chequebook. Its the right thing to do.

LOL...I'll have to think of a rebuttal to fight sarcasm with sarcasm.

I sure hope you're not speaking from experience and was on the receiving end of that scheme.

A group of Agriville Weed Inspectors are going to pay you a visit next summer. Please provide your GPS co-ordinates and gave the beer fridge stocked with a variety of refreshments.

I have somehow developed a level of respect for you, probably because you don't come on here and "continually" slam conventional Ag. I get a kick out of your sarcastic attempts to discourage anyone from changing their farming methods and you're extreme advice regarding conventional production.

[bucket]

LOL...I'll have to think of a rebuttal to fight sarcasm with sarcasm.

I sure hope you're not speaking from experience and was on the receiving end of that scheme.

A group of Agriville Weed Inspectors are going to pay you a visit next summer. Please provide your GPS co-ordinates and gave the beer fridge stocked with a variety of refreshments.

I have somehow developed a level of respect for you, probably because you don't come on here and "continually" slam conventional Ag. I get a kick out of your sarcastic attempts to discourage anyone from changing their farming methods and you're extreme advice regarding conventional production.

I think excess sarcasm is protecting market share.....and he's trying too hard....might just be hobby is doing a good job growing less making more....

[sumdumguy]

It amazes me how long weed seeds live underground. An exhuberant foreigner came into our district, bought about 6 sections of conventional lentil gumbo. He made the leap to organic on some of his land. It’s a wondrous sight! That’sall I will say. It’s a guaranteed winner. 😆

[AlbertaFarmer5]

So how many consecutive years of continuous watching will it take for you to make up your mind? Opportunity is knocking now. Are you afraid of going to "organic no till hell" if you have to till a bit for some reason? There's that many soil types, microclimates etc across the country, you'll eventually have to rely on the AlbertaFarmer5 institute for guidance. The holy grail is to produce healthy marketable food from a carbon sequestering system. Its a calculated risk always. There is a riskier transition period. Sounds like until someone can prove what you want to see your quite happy defending the status quo. I have to mention Gabe Brown. He is quite successful, don't know if he may need to till a field or not at some point but if he does, so be it. And he openly admits that he will use a pesticide if deemed necessary which is very rare. He is not certified organic and doesn't want to be. He makes the rules and doesn't want to be restricted in any way for the sake of fitting into someone else's definition. He sells his produce for a premium nonetheless. Don't go "organic" if the perceived stigma scares you but if your current farming style is building soil carbon you're winning anyway.

https://biogrowers.com.au/our-story/

Ian and Di Haggerty are trailblazers known worldwide. They farm east of Perth, and are taking over several of their failing conventional neighbors.

I already made up my mind, thanks for asking. I've spoken with Gabe Brown, talked to many organic producers across western Canada, and their producer organisations, bought books from Rodale institute amongst others. But in the end, Hobby's dire warnings have saved me from a fate worse than death.

I fully respect and admire Gabe Brown's model, but have no desire to direct market anything, I'm not a people person, and my conscience doesn't allow me to lie outright about the purported benefits that cannot be proven. And direct marketing is the only way to obtain any premiums outside of the official organic designation. Not a people person, I disagree with some of the arbitrary restrictions under organic. Specifically GMO, as an example, right now Alberta researchers are developing cereals capable of supporting nitrogen fixation, this is a technology that should be fully embraced by organic, but they have built their marketing machine railing against GMO of any kind.

The AlbertaFarmer5 institute did a study last year on transitioning to organic, and proved that tillage instead of preseed glyphosate + excess rain immediately afterwards+no rain all season = crop failure, whereas no till with preseed burndown + excess rain immediately after + no rain all season = tremendous crop.

If you want to market my products as chemical residue free, and obtain a premium for this I am all for it, that model is very workable and sustainable, and is what most customers want. Not one extreme or the other.

[GDR]

I already made up my mind, thanks for asking. I've spoken with Gabe Brown, talked to many organic producers across western Canada, and their producer organisations, bought books from Rodale institute amongst others. But in the end, Hobby's dire warnings have saved me from a fate worse than death.

I fully respect and admire Gabe Brown's model, but have no desire to direct market anything, I'm not a people person, and my conscience doesn't allow me to lie outright about the purported benefits that cannot be proven. And direct marketing is the only way to obtain any premiums outside of the official organic designation. Not a people person, I disagree with some of the arbitrary restrictions under organic. Specifically GMO, as an example, right now Alberta researchers are developing cereals capable of supporting nitrogen fixation, this is a technology that should be fully embraced by organic, but they have built their marketing machine railing against GMO of any kind.

The AlbertaFarmer5 institute did a study last year on transitioning to organic, and proved that tillage instead of preseed glyphosate + excess rain immediately afterwards+no rain all season = crop failure, whereas no till with preseed burndown + excess rain immediately after + no rain all season = tremendous crop.

If you want to market my products as chemical residue free, and obtain a premium for this I am all for it, that model is very workable and sustainable, and is what most customers want. Not one extreme or the other.

Agree!