The big switch to organic

LA CROSSE, Wis. — For Melissa Weyland, organic farming is the only way she envisioned dairy farming. For others, like Bert Paris, making the transition to organic was a way for his daughter, Meagan, to come back to a viable operation.

“The organic prices started to rise and we realized it would be the easiest way to transition the farm to her,” Paris said. “The prices were more steady and both families could maintain a quality lifestyle.”

No matter the reason for the switch, producers learned more Jan. 22 at the GrassWorks Grazing Conference in La Crosse, which hosted a roundtable panel of six who discussed their experiences transitioning from conventional to organic, or starting with organic from the onset.

Along with Weyland of Brown County and Paris of Green County, the panel included dairy farmer Tom Moos of Chippewa County, Joe Klein, Organic Valley’s dairy manager, and Kristen Adams, an organic certification specialist. Ari Abbrescia of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension facilitated the roundtable. He works with organic farmers across the state and supports farmers who are interested in transitioning to organic.

The first topic discussed was why the farmers on the panel transitioned to organic and what challenges the farms faced. The farmers who made the switch consistently pointed to the steady pay price of organic milk as their why.

“The volatility of the conventional dairy in the late 90s was the reason my family originally sold our dairy cattle,” Moos said. “After going on a few pasture walks and meeting people, it seemed like something we wanted to do. It was a way for us to keep our family farm going.”

Weyland’s story was different. She bought the herd at her family’s auction and started a dairy in a 10-day window.

“Mom and Dad transitioned to organic and began shipping in 2001,” Weyland said. “I was always active on the farm and intended to take it over, but wasn’t able to. As a new entry into the industry in 2022, I knew it was either going to be organic, or we weren’t going to do it.”

In the early stages of their transition, the farmers discussed the intimidating task of paperwork and how they attacked the process.

“The biggest thing was knowing the rules,” Paris said. “I wish we had enough courage to reach out to someone who had done it beforehand and take advantage of the mentorship program.”

The Midwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program is a program that provides wrap-around support to farmers transitioning. It helps connect transitioning farmers with local, experienced organic mentors to provide training and education.

“The initial paperwork was a challenge,” Moos said. “There was a fear that if I didn’t do it right, I would fail. After doing it for a few years, it’s less of a deal.”

Adams provided a certifier perspective for how farmers who are looking to transition can do so with less stress.

“Record keeping is a big source of anxiety,” Adams said. “It’s important to develop a relationship with the certifier, even when you first start thinking about switching. There are certain standards that require certain records and sometimes those can become site specific. You have to understand what details are important.”

The conversation turned to the organic market, and Klein discussed Organic Valley’s vision and the current market.

“The market is growing and continuing to grow,” Klein said. “We have a new CEO, but the mission was, and still is, growth oriented. Last year we had a 10.4% growth. Other markets are growing well too; there’s more than one player looking for your product.”

Klein then detailed what farms make good candidates for organic transition.

“If you’re grazing and you have cows, that’s a candidate,” Klein said. “A conventional farmer who does a little grazing has the potential for new opportunities. From there it’s about support.”

Paris talked about how grazing played a key role in his farm’s transition.

“Our focus on grazing made the transition so much easier,” Paris said. “We’ve been to other farms, or we hear from other organic farmers who are struggling with things. They aren’t focused on grazing or lack emphasis on it. Adapting to grazing makes the transition a lot easier.”

Transitioning is a process that takes three years for land certification, and accurate record keeping during that time eases the process of becoming certified. Dairy operations are the only type of operation that can transition nonorganic animals to organic. It is a 1-time 12-month transition, and once the process is complete, no new animals can be transitioned.

After the transition, Weyland, Paris and Adams talked about how the practices started during the transition continued to help day-to-day operations.

“Some farmers wouldn’t have the record keeping as well done as they need to because they need to show it annually to certifiers,” Adams said. “It keeps the financials much more at the forefront and helps analyze more often.”

Paris’s farm closed its final year of transitioning by buying organic feed. With the focus on grazing at their farm, it altered traditional costs.

“We were very well established (grazing),” Paris said. “Because we were grazing, we didn’t feed grain for six months to cut cost and maintain our trajectory to be certified. Once we were certified, our price jumped to $24 and we thought we were on top of the world.”

Weyland agreed.

“Feed cost is critical,” Weyland said. “If you run financial analysis, do it with someone who can really walk you through the feed costs, even mineral costs.”

Organic certification is not the final destination, as the farmers discussed challenges they continue to face.

“Weather is always a challenge because we’re grassfed,” Moos said. “Getting good enough quality of feed is the biggest challenge with grassfed milk. Without doing irrigation, we need to be more resilient in what we’re planting, finding plants that can grow in more non-traditional seasons to ensure we have feed.”

Paris mentioned how his farm is continuing to evolve to take advantage of the organic market.

“We may look at all becoming all grass,” Paris said. “That’s becoming more popular than just organic. The challenge is to improve plants and our feed. We’ve tweaked genetics within our herd to get to a point where we can produce more milk off of no grain. We want to take advantage of an all–grass market in the future.”