The number of organic farmers in Canada declined 4.5 percent between 2009 and 2010.
The losses were most severe on the Prairies, where more than 200 producers dropped out of organic production.
According to statistics released last month at Biofach, the world’s largest organic trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany, 1,371 certified organic producers farmed in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2010, down from 1,610 certified organic producers in 2009.
Nationally, the number of organic producers in Canada dropped to 3,732 in 2010 from 3,914 in 2009.
The Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA) doesn’t have statistics on prairie organic acreage, but executive director Matt Holmes said it’s safe to assume organic acreage on the Prairies declined in 2010.
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“We’re assuming a similar loss in hectares … but we don’t have the hard number for the hectares,” he said.
Not all Canadian regions lost organic producers between 2009 and 2010. The number of organic farmers in Quebec increased 10 percent, making it the top organic province with 1,054 certified growers. Saskatchewan, which has 938 certified organic producers, has fallen to second spot.
Holmes said the decline on the Prairies can be explained by a number of factors, including high prices for conventional commodities and national regulations that came into effect in 2009. The regulations made organic certific
ation mandatory for any product that is traded across provincial or international borders.
The increased burden of the new regulations might have pushed a number of producers out of the organic business, Holmes said.
“It’s kind of normal to see a drop because there would’ve been quite a bit more in terms of requirements for the certification system,” he said.
“Some people are just washing their hands of it. Too many inspections. (They) don’t want to deal with it.”
Another factor behind the decline in organic producers is the rise of the “natural” food brand, said Gunta Vitins, Agriculture Canada’s organic value chain roundtable co-chair.
Farmers have learned it’s possible to sell “natural” meat and vegetables for a premium price without the hassle and cost of organic certification, she said.
“Producers have realized they don’t have to (be) organic to play in that natural (marketplace),” she said.
“Some farmers’ markets make it mandatory that you must be certified. Others are not that way. You can do what you want.”
As well, since 2008 organic producers in Canada have been more interested in developing markets for their products than they are in adding to their numbers, said Laura Telford, an organic business development specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
“For the last three years, I would say there has been no appetite among existing organic producers to bring any more on board. But (that) is very short sighted because we’ve lost all these producers and there is crazy demand.”
The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2012 report determined that Canadians spent $2.6 billion organic products in 2010, compared to $2 billion in 2008.
Holmes said that makes Canada the fifth largest market in the world for organic food.
“We’re ninth highest in the world for per capita consumption of organic products.”
About 75 percent of those organic products are imported into Canada, which means there are tremendous opportunities for Canadian organic producers, Vitins said.
For instance, Canadian growers could produce more organic tomatoes and baby peeled carrots. As well, more organic forage seed could be grown in Manitoba, Telford said.
“Right now, there’s an opportunity for 20,000 new acres of organic forage seed” to sell alfalfa and other organic forage seed into the United States.
The industry is trying to develop a brand around Canada’s organic industry in an effort to displace imports and expand exports of Canadian organic food.
Telford said the industry also needs to sell the merits of organic farming to Canadian producers.
