Demand for organic food continues to grow, and the fastest growing segment is meat.
Laura Telford, executive director of the Canadian
Organic Growers, told a seminar at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show that retail sales of raw organic meat grew 81 percent from 2005 to 2006, compared to the next highest category, vegetables, at 38 percent growth.
Telford said organic meat can return a premium of 150 percent.
However, producers who consider an organic operation should start slowly and do their homework, she added.
“If you can’t grow your own (feed,) don’t think about livestock,” Telford said.
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“You really need to develop a closed system.”
Organic hay can be certified 36 months after the last use of a prohibited substance.
Breeding stock must come from a farm already certified organic.
Telford said producers of organic poultry must be able to mimic the natural habitat of the birds.
For example, turkeys need open and covered space and are tree dwellers.
However, she said Canadian laws must also be followed. If there is a contradiction between an organic practice and legislation, the legislation wins.
Telford said anyone wanting to farm organically should develop a transition plan, find an appropriate certification body and learn as much as possible about organic farming methods.
Most consumers search out organic fruit and vegetables first and then move on to dairy, even though organic dairy products are “extraordinarily” expensive, she said. For example, butter is $9 per pound.
She said consumers are hooked once they taste organic food. Core consumers are dedicated environmentalists, she added, but the biggest trigger is pregnancy.
The fairly recent trend toward eating locally produced food also has implications for organic producers.
“If you can sell a local organic product, you will have more business than you can handle.”
Retail sales grew 28 percent from 2005 to 2006. British Columbians bought 26 percent of all organic food sold retail, while Alberta showed the largest annual growth at 44 percent.
Yet the number of organic growers is declining, Telford said, and as mainstream companies jump on the organic bandwagon, more food likely will be imported.
According to Nielsen Co. data compiled by the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada last May, 47 percent of 2,676 food items examined were labelled as grown, packaged or processed in Canada.
Telford said organic beef producers would sell every load if they could figure out how to move a steady supply into Toronto.
She applauded the work done by marketing organizations such as Saskatchewan Organic Livestock. It and its Manitoba counterpart have established the Clear Creek Organics label to distinguish their products on store shelves.
