Rice River Ramblings: Stories from the farm
Monday, January 10, 2011
Go Organic? Comments Please!
As we prepare for the arrival of swine, we are trying to make a decision of "natural" vs. "organic". I currently market my lamb as organic, it is 100% pasture raised, no wormer, no grain, relatively easy to achieve. We are not certified organic because we sell well under $5000 a year in product. With the addition of hogs comes the addition of feed. Nate did some phone calling today, and we can get certified organic feed, for twice the price of regular feed. So my question -to the three of you that read this blog- is it worth it to pay the extra to have an organic product? Would YOU pay twice the amount to know that the pork you are eating was raised on all organic feed, on pasture, in God's country of northern MN? Our pork operation will be as small as our lamb company. Two gilts, one boar, 2-4 litters of piglets per year.
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4 comments:
Since I'm a vegetarian, I'm not sure I can give you any helpful feedback, except that before we got our own chickens, I wouldn't pay extra for eggs from chickens who ate "certified organic feed," but I did pay extra for eggs from chickens that were not caged, got no antiobiotics or hormones, and got vegetarian feed.
I know you don't know me from a hole in the wall but I do read your blog. ;o) Hope to get sheep one day. On organics, I say YES! I know the feed costs more but it's huge peace of mind and the less money that ends up in the hands of GMO companies the better. I feed my goats and chickens organic feed, despite needing to give them wormer occasionally. Seems silly at times but I think it's worth it.
Just thought of something else... Buckwheat Growers Association of MN ships Speedy in MN and they have "transitional" feeds that are a lot cheaper than their organic blends. Might be worth checking into.
Hi Tifany,
I also recommend Buckwheat Growers. They are in Wadena. It's a drive even for me, and I've never looked into the shipping method. But I like the place a lot, for what that's worth.
You pose such a great question. Could you perhaps raise your pigs "all natural" until you know whether your clients will absorb the cost of "certified organic"? That way when you make the choice to spend more you know your customers are willing to pay more.
In my opinion, I would like to purchase grass-fed or pasture raised pork that has not been fed grains... or very little. And with pigs, you could feed them the extra goat milk, too.
Either way, remember that good, consciously raised food is more and more in demand. Local is the new organic. Look into methods of planting your own grains and letting the pigs harvest it themselves... or something like that to save even more resources and provide excellent (even if not certified organic) fodder.
I bet I didn't help you one bit! lol Mainly just hit the comments to say HI! I'm finally back to reading blogs again. Hope you and the guys are all doing great up there!
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