Conrad Zacharias gets right to the point when asked why he converted his dairy farm to an organic operation.
“It’s a response to consumer demand. That’s pretty basic. There’s a market out there for this stuff and the way to survive as a farmer is to sell people what they want,” said Zacharias, whose dairy near Reinfeld, Man., 100 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, was officially certified as organic Aug. 25.
Zacharias is one of two Manitoba milk producers who have satisfied the organic criteria. The two farms produce enough volume to allow Manitoba-made organic milk to be sold in grocery stores across the province. Until now, organic dairies from British Columbia and Ontario supplied milk for the Manitoba market.
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Organic Meadow Inc., a farmer-owned co-operative from Ontario, will sell the Manitoba milk under its label and bottle the milk at a creamery in Notre Dame de Lourdes, 40 km south of Portage la Prairie.
According to Steve Cavell, chief executive officer of Organic Meadow, the product will be on store shelves this fall, hopefully by October.
Organic milk represents approximately one percent of the market, which in Manitoba equates to 1.2 million litres, said Brent Achtemichuk of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba.
Organic producers will receive 90 cents per litre for their milk, he said. That’s a 25 percent premium compared to the 72 cents per litre paid to conventional producers.
The recent stamp of approval was a satisfying moment for Zacharias, his wife, Valerie and their four kids, aged 3 to 10, who all help to operate the family dairy. They have spent three years converting their herd of 40 cows to organic specifications.
“Organic milk means cows have been fed all organic feed,” said Zacharias.
“That takes three years to get your soils organic. And it takes one year for your cows (on that feed) for the milk to be organic.”
Zacharias described the process as a period of listening and learning.
“You don’t have to make all the mistakes yourself,” he said. “The people who are doing this are very willing to share information, whether (they’re in) Ontario, Wisconsin or Minnesota.”
The other organic dairy is run by Larry and Sue Black, who didn’t have to wait three years to get certification for their herd of 55 Holsteins near Deloraine, Man., 60 km south of Brandon.
They were already running an organic grain farm, so the dairy conversion was a simpler transition and they were certified in the fall of 2007.
Nonetheless, other requirements did present a challenge.
“You’re not allowed to use hormones … no antibiotics and no conventional medicine,” said Sue. “So that was a big learning curve.”
Consequently, herbs are now staples in the Blacks’ barn.
“Aloe and garlic are our mainstays,” Sue said, explaining they use the products as a drench. “More than 95 percent of the treatments we use go directly down the throat.”
The Blacks’ philosophy of animal treatment is based on a common medical proverb.
“Everything we do is based on preventing problems,” said Larry. “Part of that is keeping a mainly forage diet … (and) helping the cow’s immune system so she can help herself.”
