Clarion-Ledger:

Father and son, the Hafners are in the process of converting their Guthrie County, Iowa, crop land and pasture ground to organic production. They also have converted their 200-head beef cow-calf herd to organic grass-fed production.

Exploding consumer demand for organic food is outstripping supplies of organic grain, dairy products and other commodities.
Growing demand, along with environmental concerns, also is driving producers like the Hafners to go organic.

Annual retail sales of organic food products now total about $13 billion in the United States, said Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association in Greenfield, Mass.

Organic fruits and vegetables are the biggest-selling products, she said, but organic meat, dairy and poultry products are among the fastest-growing in popularity.

Since the mid-1990s, when major retailers began to sell organic fluid milk, demand for it has skyrocketed. “Now, it’s available everywhere,” DiMatteo said.

For the extra effort, farmers receive premium prices. Organic soybeans, for instance, can bring $12 to $18 per bushel, more than two to three times as much as today’s average Iowa cash market price for conventional soybeans. Organically certified beef cattle can bring several dollars more per hundredweight than conventionally raised cattle.

Published Sunday, December 4th, 2005 at 12:11 pm in Organic Industry.