Profitable Organic Farming
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Profitable Organic Farming
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Author : Jon Newton
language : en
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Release Date : 2008-04-15
Profitable Organic Farming written by Jon Newton and has been published by John Wiley & Sons this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2008-04-15 with Technology & Engineering categories.
The demand for food produced from sustainable and organic farm enterprises continues to grow worldwide, with demand exceeding supply for many items. This second edition of an extremely well received and successful book covers every aspect of an organic farm enterprise that can have an influence on profitability. As such the book is an essential purchase for all those involved in organic and sustainable farming. Topics covered in this second edition of Profitable Organic Farming include grassland productivity, production systems for dairy, beef, sheep, pig, poultry and arable farms, farm size and enterprise combinations, organic standards, financial management, marketing, success factors and progress by organic farmers. The book concludes with a new chapter covering potential future scenarios for organic farming. Drawing on new information available in the area and including case studies from successful organic farm businesses, the author Jon Newton has written a book that is of great commercial use to a wide range of workers including organic farm managers and those wishing to commence organic farming operations. The book is also of great use and interest to agricultural scientists and students and those working in government and regional agricultural advisory services worldwide. Libraries in research establishments, universities and colleges where agricultural sciences are studied and taught should have several copies of this important and useful book on their shelves. Review of the first edition ‘It is an essential volume for any commercial organic farmers or budding organic farmers bookshelf. It will no doubt also be a very popular read and provide much food for thought amongst many agricultural students’: New Farmer & Grower. Jon Newton is an agricultural consultant specialising in organic and sustainable agriculture based in North Wales, UK.
Farming
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Author : Michael Rich
language : en
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Release Date : 2018-01-03
Farming written by Michael Rich and has been published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2018-01-03 with categories.
New, Improved, Updated and Expanded - 3rd Edition. High Quality, Premium Product. Grow Your Own Healthy, Popular, and Profitable Organic Produce! Why is organic farming so popular today? Both farmers and consumers benefit from the health, environmental, and economic savings of organic farming. Following the healthy trend of chemical-free farming can be your path to a rewarding, thriving, and socially-responsible business! In Farming: Organic Farming - Grow Your Own: Fruits & Vegetables! Plus Start An Organic Farm Business, you'll learn how to start your organic farm at home, which crops to grow, and how to get certified as an organic producer. This book has everything you need to get started as an organic farmer! When you get Farming: Organic Farming - Grow Your Own: Fruits & Vegetables! Plus Start An Organic Farm Business, you'll not only learn the skills and techniques you'll need to run a prospering farm, you'll also learn how to connect with other farmers and trade ideas, supplies, and equipment. You're joining a community of positive, helpful idealists who want to make the world a better place! Don't wait another minute to start your dream farm - Get your copy right away! You'll even get a FREE BONUS book inside!
Organic Farming
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Author : Peter Fossel
language : en
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Release Date : 2014-06-15
Organic Farming written by Peter Fossel and has been published by Voyageur Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2014-06-15 with Gardening categories.
Organic Farming is the seed you need to get your organic farm growing. This essential guidebook explains everything you need to know to begin and maintain a healthy, productive, and profitable organic farm, from organic certification to planting crops to marketing your produce. If you’re thinking of starting an organic farm or making the transition to organics, you’re in good company. The market for organic food increases every year, as does the number of organic producers: in the past two decades, the number of organic farms and businesses has more than tripled. And whether you’re growing crops or raising animals, you’ll need some helpful advice as you get started. Organic Farming can help—its pages are full of inspiring and educational wisdom from author Peter V. Fossel, who has farmed organically for more than 25 years. Find out how to farm without pesticides, how to find your way through the rules and regulations surrounding organic certification, and how to develop a marketing strategy. A list of resources also points the way to other books, websites, and organizations that focus on organic farming, including state standards. Organic Farming is the ideal practical handbook to fulfilling your dreams.
Organic Agriculture Towards Sustainability
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Author : Natalia S. Kotian
language : en
Publisher: Delve Publishing
Release Date : 2017-11
Organic Agriculture Towards Sustainability written by Natalia S. Kotian and has been published by Delve Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017-11 with Organic farming categories.
Organic agriculture has gained immense popularity in recent years due to the belief that it is safer and better for the environment and human health because it is inherently free of synthetic chemicals that are often harmful. Demand for organic food touched USD 81.6 billion in 2015 according to Organic Monitor, with the USA being the largest consumer of organic food products. Organic agriculture and consequently, organically cultivated animal and plant products are an important and increasingly profitable segment among food products that are sold at a premium, higher than prices for conventionally produced food. The well-heeled, highly-educated class of consumers that views itself as socially responsible and politically engaged is the largest consumer of organic food. The purchase and consumption of food labelled as 'Organic' is slowly but steadily becoming one of the means of inconspicuous consumption patterns that are helping the wealthy and the nouveau riche to distinguish itself from the rest of the society. The term 'organic agriculture' is sometimes synonymously used with 'sustainable agriculture'. Many universities across Europe and North America, have started graduate-level degree programs to teach organic/sustainable agricultural development. The author herself holds a Master's degree in Sustainable Agriculture Development - Food security for development. Organic farming and its potential for contributing in a sustainable manner (read without causing pollution) to food production has greatly won the interest of young college students across the world and this is seen as problematic by critics of organic farming. The increasing agricultural cultivation area under organic farming is subject to criticism. Critics and sceptics have rightly pointed out that farms managed organically have lower yields than those of conventional farms, are input and labour intensive and do not always help the farmer to earn profits. Organic food has also been found to be no better than conventionally produced food in terms of nutrients or organoleptic properties. The supporters and proponents of organic farming strongly argue in favour of the environmental and health benefits offered by organic farming and organic produce. There are studies to support both sides of the argument.Many books and manuals are available in the market (either free or at a cost) to help farmers adopt organic cultivation practices. These suggestions are more or less based on the same principles and have many methods in common with conventional agriculture. However, the inputs are always of a non-synthetic nature. The organic agriculture manuals and guidebooks are always tailored to match the agro-climactic and soil conditions of the target reader audience. The manuals have systematic instructions and methods w.r.t. soil fertility management, seed/plant material procurement for cultivation, weed control, pest and disease management, organic animal husbandry and storage of harvested produce. Farmers across the globe have had a mixed bag of results trying to implement organic agricultural practices recommended for their region. This book is an attempt to honestly evaluate the practical implementation of organic farming recommendations and to see their advantages and disadvantages. The author, as an enthusiastic, young rural development worker in India, had herself tried to promote organic sugar cane production among smallholder farmers. The results were very enlightening. The most important lesson learnt was that agricultural research and subsequently extension education efforts are logistically difficult to implement and are in fact, far removed from reality. The chapter on soil fertility management considers all the possible organic options for enhancing and maintaining soil fertility. The suggestions on the use of bulky and concentrated organic manures have been studied with the point of view of actually implementing these on the farm. Green manure crops and leguminous crops have also been studied for their use in improving soil N, P and K content along with the potential advantages and disadvantages of actually including them in a crop rotation cycle. Organic farms need to supply the correct amount of macro and micronutrients to their crops for optimum growth and input-substitution i.e. the use of a proportionate amount of manures to match N, P and K supplied by chemical fertilizers, is not the correct method. Input substitution can potentially lead to ground and surface water pollution due to leaching, just like in the case of excessive synthetic fertilizer use. It can cause a serious imbalance of macronutrients in the soil as decomposition of organic manure tends to reduce certain nutrients and makes others available in concentrated amounts in the soil solution. The book also discusses the logistical and financial difficulties involved in the procurement of extremely large volumes of organic fertilizers as mandated in many organic agriculture manuals. What many individuals, including this author before attempting organic farming, often fail to take into account is that organic agriculture and conventional, industrial agriculture interdependent. Organic farms are permitted to use manures and organic wastes that originate from non-organically managed facilities. So an organic maize farm is permitted to use cow dung from a non-organically managed dairy or chicken manure from a non-organic poultry farm and hence this makes the maize farm indirectly dependent upon nutrients from synthetic sources. Organic agriculture and conventional farming are inextricably intertwined. For ensuring that organic agriculture grows in cultivation area, gains more consumers and that it is taken seriously, it should be accepted that organic and conventional farming must co-exist. The success of organic agriculture also requires the selection of seeds or planting material suited for organic cultivation practices and the chapter on seeds and planting material discusses the various options available to farmers. Most of the commercially available varieties of various crops in the market are either high-yielding, F1 hybrids or patented GMOs that are best suited to intensive chemical fertilizer usage and heavy irrigation. These varieties do not produce viable seeds that can be used in the next cropping season for sowing by the farmer. This makes farmers dependent upon corporate companies for seeds every year. It is even believed that if all GMO and high-yielding varieties were to be taken out of the market, then farmers would be left with very few viable seed options for cultivation. The use of F1 hybrids leads to the loss of useful characteristics that may be present in indigenous, traditional varieties as these are often replaced by hybrid seeds. Both traditional and contemporary hybrid varieties have their place in the agricultural production system and both should be considered and used on organic farms as per their characteristics and utility for a farmer. This also makes a wide variety of seed choices available for organic farmers. Organic agricultural production should not be hindered due to an artificial shortage of seeds despite the availability of commercial, hybrid seeds. However, organic agriculture regulations prohibit the use of GMOs and seeds treated with chemical pesticides.Weed control in agriculture, both conventional and organic, is the most important priority for farmers. It is even said that the benefit of effective weed control for crops is comparable to the addition of fertilizers to the land. Organic agriculture does not allow the use of chemical defoliants for weed control on organic farms and this leaves farmers only with mechanical and manual weed control measures. This steeply increases the requirement for human labour and machinery use. Organic farming is hence a very difficult cultivation system to adapt in countries where agriculture is not heavily mechanized. Even in industrialized countries where heavy farm machinery use for almost all agricultural tasks is the norm, elimination of herbicide use is a difficult proposition. Synthetic herbicides are applied to farms with standing crops to free them of weed growth so as to permit harvesting combines and other harvesting machines to pass unhindered through the crop for harvesting. The chapter discusses the various options available for weed control on a farm and the advantages and disadvantages associated with their use. Organic farming is highly labour intensive and the availability of labour for carrying out weeding work and the ability to bear the extra cost greatly determines a farm's ability to adapt organic management practices. Moreover, the health problems caused by manual weeding work for labourer also have the potential to cancel out all benefits accrued through the elimination of synthetic chemical usage on farms. As herbicide usage is prohibited on organic farms, so is the use of pesticides for the control of pests. Consumers turn to organic food because it has negligible or no pesticide residues whereas many farmers opt for organic agriculture because conventional, industrial farming ruins natural resources on and near the farm. The chapter on Biological control of insects and pests discusses the various non-chemical options available for farmers for pest control and how the natural enemies of pests can be deployed against pests, under certain circumstances, for keeping pest populations below the threshold of economic damage. This is far easier said than done because biological control mechanisms are a slow process and take many years to establish themselves. Moreover, biological control agents such as entomopathogens and beneficial bacteria are often difficult to procure, store, transport and deploy on a farm. They also need to be protected against chemical treatments that may be carried out on neighbouring farms. Another risk that exists with the prolonged use of bioagents is the threat that they themselves might become harmful for non-target species and might even start feeding upon crop species. There have been recorded instances where insects introduced against weeds started feeding on the main crop itself. A farmer needs to take into consideration various permutations and combinations before choosing and using various bioagents on his field. However, the threat from bio agents is not as dangerous as that from the excessive and unregulated use of pesticides. Apart from plant-origin products, the customer today has also grown increasingly conscious of the quality of livestock products and the conditions under which they are manufactured owing to the various scandals involving adulteration of milk, meat and eggs with harmful synthetic substances (deliberate or otherwise) and bacterial contamination due to unhygienic production practices. People are also concerned about antibiotic overuse for rearing animals and the subsequent development of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria rendering many known drugs ineffective for treatment. There have been reports from various countries about traces of several pesticides, insecticides, drugs and hormones being detected in animal-origin products that could prove harmful to human health to the extent of being carcinogenic. The stated concerns have prompted an increase in the number of livestock farmers shifting to organic production, both for quality concerns and to earn better premium on organic milk, meat and eggs. The chapter on organic livestock farming discusses various organic livestock and poultry farming management systems and covers issues related to health management, record keeping, breeding strategies, cost of production and input and the various problems encountered in organic breeding of livestock. Finally, any business works for profit. Organic farms are no different. For organic farming to be successful, the organic products need to be certified and marketed correctly at the optimum price point for the farmer to be able to recover his costs and to earn a decent profit. The final consumer must also be assured of actually receiving what he/she has paid a higher premium for i.e. truly organically produced goods. The prices for organic food are often very high as compared to conventionally produced food and this is expected to change once the supply of organically produced food increases and balances out the market. The market for organic food is growing at a rapid pace but the production of organic food can barely match this rate. To ensure sustainable growth of the organic food produce market, there is an urgent need to provide farmers with correct and practical advice for all aspects of organic farm management, to offer them assistance with record-keeping, certification, appropriate transportation and food-processing to avoid contamination of organic food with prohibited chemical substances, and marketing of organic produce.
The No Till Organic Vegetable Farm
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Author : Daniel Mays
language : en
Publisher: Hachette UK
Release Date : 2020-11-17
The No Till Organic Vegetable Farm written by Daniel Mays and has been published by Hachette UK this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2020-11-17 with Gardening categories.
No-till — a method of growing crops and providing pasture without disturbing the soil — has become an important alternative to standard farming practices. In this comprehensive guide to successful no-till vegetable farming for aspiring and beginning farmers, author Daniel Mays, owner and manager of an organic no-till farm in Maine, outlines the environmental, social, and economic benefits of this system. The methods described are designed for implementation at the human scale, relying primarily on human power, with minimal use of machinery. The book presents streamlined planning and record-keeping tools as well as marketing strategies, and outlines community engagement programs like CSA, food justice initiatives, and on-farm education.
Making Your Small Farm Profitable
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Author : Ron Macher
language : en
Publisher: Hachette UK
Release Date : 2010-11-18
Making Your Small Farm Profitable written by Ron Macher and has been published by Hachette UK this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-11-18 with Business & Economics categories.
Turn your farm into a cash cow! Ron Macher offers a host of simple strategies for increasing your farm earnings, from purchasing durable equipment to growing economically viable crops. A seasoned expert in farm efficiency, Macher shows you how to locate a lucrative niche market for your products, optimize sales, and minimize costs. Whether you’re buying a new farm or jump-starting an old one, Macher’s savvy tips will help you turn your enterprise into a profitable business.
The Organic Farming Manual
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Author : Ann Larkin Hansen
language : en
Publisher: Hachette UK
Release Date : 2010-02-24
The Organic Farming Manual written by Ann Larkin Hansen and has been published by Hachette UK this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-02-24 with Technology & Engineering categories.
Providing expert tips on tending the land, caring for animals, and necessary equipment, Ann Larkin Hansen also covers the intricate process of acquiring organic certification and other business considerations important to a profitable operation. Discover the rewarding satisfaction of running a successful and sustainable organic farm.
The Organic Farmer S Business Handbook
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Author : Richard Wiswall
language : en
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Release Date : 2009
The Organic Farmer S Business Handbook written by Richard Wiswall and has been published by Chelsea Green Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009 with Business & Economics categories.
Contrary to popular belief, a good living can be made on an organic farm. What's required is farming smarter, not harder. Wiswall shares advice on how to make vegetable production more efficient, better manage employees and finances, and turn a profit.
Profitability Of Organic Field Crops
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Author : Madeline Rose Bowers
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2015
Profitability Of Organic Field Crops written by Madeline Rose Bowers and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2015 with TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING categories.
Organic crop acres in the United States more than doubled between 2002 and 2011 as acreage increased from 1.3 to over 3 million acres. While acreage for some major field crops increased substantially during this period, growth was more modest or had stalled for others. This book examines the profitability of corn, wheat, and soybean production using national survey data and finds that significant economic returns are possible from organic production of these crops. The main reason for higher per-bushel returns to organic production is the price premiums paid for organic crops. Despite potentially higher returns, the adoption of organic field crop production has been slow and is challenging due to such factors as achieving effective weed control and the processes involved with organic certification.
Organic Farming
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Author : Peter V. Fossel
language : en
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Release Date : 2007-05-15
Organic Farming written by Peter V. Fossel and has been published by Voyageur Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2007-05-15 with Gardening categories.
Going organic may be a clear way of getting back to basics—and getting away from the havoc chemicals can wreak on our health and our environment—but the basics themselves may not be so clear. How to begin? What kind of fertilizer and feed are allowed? Is there natural pest management? What does certification entail? And is this the way to go? This book covers the basics and then some. Whether you’re thinking of starting an organic farm or making the transition to organics, whether you’re growing crops or raising animals, you’ll find everything you need to know in these pages—from getting started to developing a marketing strategy. A list of resources also points the way to other books, websites, and organizations focusing on every aspect of organic farming, including state standards and more information.