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New Iowa Organic Crop/Livestock Farmers win
over Skeptics
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Wende Elliott realizes a
profit from raising
organic turkeys, partly thanks to a unique
arrangement that allows her to share labor
and inputs with other members of her
Midwestern growers cooperative.
–Photo courtesy of Wende Elliott |
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Joe Rude and Wende Elliott, who grow alfalfa, oats and corn and raise pastured
poultry, ducks, turkey and lamb on 120 acres, routinely receive compliments
on the appearance of their alfalfa field.
But it wasn’t always that way for the two farmers from Colo, Iowa. After
they bought their farm in 1999 and planted their first alfalfa crop, “people
drove from miles around just to look at the weeds in the field,” said
Rude, who now laughs about it. One person even stopped to inquire about renting
the field, unaware that it had been planted.
With repeated mowing, however, the alfalfa rebounded, and by the second and
third year, Elliott and Rude were harvesting excellent yields. The
crop response, along with a good sense of humor and confidence they
were doing the right thing, helped Rude and Elliott remain steadfast
in their commitment to farming organically.
“We were organic consumers before we were organic farmers, and we thought
for our health and other people’s health it was best not to use pesticides,
hormones and antibiotics,” Elliott said.
Moreover, as new farmers, Elliott and Rude couldn’t afford a large farm
and needed high revenue per acre. Organic products, they thought, would be more
profitable.
Trying to get their crop and poultry production in harmony and working with
nature is a challenge they both enjoy.
They market in more than five states now, including the high-end horse market
for hay. They also grow corn and oats for their animals, selling only what they
can’t use on the farm. But Elliott and Rude also know that to compete
with the larger farms and international operations entering the organic market,
they need other ways to promote their product. Their main idea: starting a meat
marketing cooperative to pool products, share responsibilities and improve efficiency
and bargaining power.
Using a SARE grant, Elliott conducted a feasibility study on direct marketing
that helped her write a business plan to apply for co-op start-up money. The
marketing strategy of the co-op emphasizes that the products are locally grown
as well as organic to give them an edge over the international and large production.
“We can’t compete on cheap food,” Elliott said, “but
we can compete on quality and freshness and the fact that our product is local.”
With 13 other farms, Elliott and Rude co-market their poultry, ducks, turkeys
and lambs, and share such tasks as monitoring quality, codifying genetics and
nutrition, and sales. The co-op bargains collectively to get better prices on
inputs, such as chicks, and members share labor, marketing and equipment.
“As small producers, if we each tried to be a one-man show with direct
marketing to the same customers, we would be working against each other,”
Elliott said. “With the co-op, we can reach bigger markets, and by improving
efficiency, we can each grow our farms to greater profits.”
Elliott advises farmers to transition to organic one field at a time as they
did – phasing in row crops first, then small numbers of animals.
Now that they’ve proved successful at growing and marketing organic products,
neighbors – rather than driving by and laughing – stop by to ask
what they’re doing. One neighbor even began raising ducks while another
renewed his interest in vegetable crops.
“What we’re doing makes everyone think about the possibilities,”
Elliott said.
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