Ten years ago a group of organic farmers from Humboldt, Sask., banded
together to sell their grain. Now their company is one of the largest
marketers of unprocessed organic product in the country.
Marysburg Organic Producers supplies certified organic grain to
wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers in Canada, the United
States, Europe and Japan.
The company generated more than $4 million in sales in 2001, said Ray
Bauml, one of the founding members. He was speaking at Saskatchewan
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Bauml, who farms 15 quarters of land near Humboldt with his relatives,
converted to organic production in 1987 but soon discovered that buyers
weren’t beating down his door.
In 1993, he and six other organic farmers from the Humboldt area
decided to form a marketing group. Nobody had any idea how it would
work or what they would accomplish, but each threw $200 into a pot,
which paid for the incorporation fees.
Nine years later the company has 50 shareholders who farm 50,000 acres
of certified organic land. Sales of cereals, oilseeds and pulses
probably won’t top last year’s levels because of the drought, but it’s
shaping up to be a decent marketing campaign with about $2.7 million
sold so far.
Bauml said one of the biggest advantages of selling grain through the
group is that the company can fill the bigger orders that overseas
customers often seek. Shipping 10 containers of organic wheat to
Switzerland isn’t a problem.
He also said the group is able to fetch substantive organic premiums
over conventional grain.
“We get double the price for a bushel of grain. For lots of (crops)
it’s quite a bit more.”
Members have received between $11 and $15 a bushel for organic wheat
sold directly to mills in Japan, said Bauml. Buyers are willing to pay
handsomely for identity preserved product these days.
Saskatchewan’s incorporation laws prohibit the company from growing
beyond 50 shareholders, but that doesn’t prevent Marysburg from
acquiring grain from other certified organic farmers throughout the
province and into Alberta.
“You can always find enough of them who are satisfied with the price
and will have the right quality,” said Bauml.
Marysburg’s marketing manager finds the buyers and sellers and
co-ordinates where the grain is going to be cleaned and loaded. Product
is shipped by truck and containers.
Marketing fees differ for members and non-members, but they are
generally less than five percent of the value of a sale. Money pays the
salaries of the treasurer and marketing manager and up-front
transportation costs like bags and containers, which are later
reimbursed by the buyer.
Bauml said there is less risk working as a group than individually with
customers in far away places like Europe and Japan, but he said
marketing groups aren’t for everyone.
“If you don’t want to work with other people you wouldn’t want to join
something like this.”
