Switching to organic farming was one of Dwayne and Shelley Logan’s strategies to remain a viable family farm.
When Dwayne’s father retired six years ago, Logan couldn’t afford to buy his farm equipment during the farm sale. With $10,000 to spend, he scoured other farm auctions and bought a tractor, combine, swather, truck and other bits and pieces. No equipment payments provided him with financial breathing room.
“It gives you a bit of a head start,” Logan told the GO Organic conference held in Camrose March 11.
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The southwestern Manitoba farmer soon added sheep, goats, a milk cow, chickens, turkeys and Berkshire pigs to add income to his 600 acres of crop land near Nesbitt.
That diversity of livestock and crop land is key to creating sustainable organic farms and healthy rural communities, he said.
During a trip to Cuba four years ago, Logan realized there isn’t a single template for agriculture. In Cuba, each home had a chicken coop in the back yard, and garden plots dot the city.
“I learned not to accept the conventional wisdom,” he said.
“In my community my farm is a little weird, but don’t limit your definition of a farm.”
Nobody wants a large hog barn as a neighbour, he said, but dealing with manure wouldn’t be a problem if each farm kept 50 to 100 hogs, and the same amount of hogs would be raised.
“I think we’re going backwards,” he said.
“We’re trading it in for big farms and dwindling communities. I don’t think it’s sustainable.”
Logan said another strategy to staying true to his beliefs is to write down goals annually and review them throughout the year.
Goals include eating healthy food, living in a comfortable home, doing meaningful work and having the freedom to work at home. Making a lot of money isn’t on the list.
A new venture must make financial sense before it is started. Each project’s costs and projected income are analyzed before they begin.
“It’s got to work out on paper.”
Reducing expenses is also key to living with a limited income. One of their biggest savings comes from raising their own food, including growing a large garden and preserving vegetables.
“I don’t know how many farmers don’t have gardens any more.”
Logan said they try to sell all their meat at retail prices. Instead of selling a pig at $60 to a hog plant, he will sell a half for $200 and a whole for $300 or cut it up in pieces for $500 to $600.
If customers want to buy 10 chickens, they may also want a few pork chops or packages of beef.
“I can sell to the conventional market if the price is good. If prices are low I can take the animals to the butcher and push retail cuts or keep the females back.”
Logan is able to remain flexible by not having expensive buildings or equipment. When organic wheat prices are high, he’ll grow lots of wheat for cash crops. If he can see more demand for chicken, he can quickly add a few more chickens.
“I can make shifts depending on the market trends.”
Logan said he likes the flexibility of portable buildings. He uses the A-frame shelters for chickens in summer and goats in winter.
“I try to make better use out of the stuff we have.”
A variety of animals also takes advantage of their natural differences.
After the crop is taken off the field, the pigs go onto the land to root around for spilled grain and root up the land like cheaper cultivators. In the winter they can reduce a manure pile in half by digging and rooting around. In the spring the pigs go into the garden to work up the soil before planting.
” I love pigs.”
Chickens go behind and eat bugs and manure and the goats eat the bushes and weeds.
“You can have greater stocking density without disease problems.”
Smaller animals such as sheep, goats and chickens allow the entire family, including children, to help out on the farm and feel like a valued part of the family.
When Logan is forced to work off the farm, he likes to take jobs that teach him new skills. One winter, he worked for a siding company. During another winter, he worked at a local butcher shop learning to slaughter pork, bison, goats and ducks.
“I learned a lot and I’m also getting a wage.”
Logan turned kilometres of old barbed wire into barbed wire baskets that sell at the local market for $30 each.
“They are a real symbol of our farm. I’m taking advantage of what others don’t see value in.”
