Twenty years have passed since my first editorial for Small Farm Today (originally known as Missouri Farm). As I look back, much has changed.

Organic, sustainable, and small farms are all over the headlines thee days, and they are the bright spots in today’s agriculture, as traditional and commodity markets continue to get beat upwith the “bigger is better” syndrome.

We receive a highly informative paper—Oregon Tilth—in the Small Farm Today office. In the February 14 issue, Harold Ostenson told Capital Press—another good paper out of Washington—“In the conventional apple industry, it took about 50 years for over 50% of the acreage to come under control of the major packing sheds. But it only took four years for the major packing sheds to control over 50% of the organic acreage.” The same article notes that Wal-Mart is one of the top purchasers of organic foods.

So, there is good and bad on the horizon. If everyone produces the same product—be it apples, blueberries, tomatoes, or fish—and then sells that product just like traditional agriculture, everyone will wind up just like traditional agriculture; getting returns below the cost of production for our products.

Whenever you tie in with the big grocery stores or discount houses, you are vulnerable to accepting a low price—not a premium price, like yo can get at a farmers’ market or through diect sale to a customer.

This year, due to weather conditions—too much rain and not enough rain—there is a shortage of organic feed. While this is nobody’s fault, the big chicken boys are already in organic production and trying to get the organic rules changed—so they can use more traditional feed and still sell their product as “organic”—saying organic feed is not available.

In my opinion, organic producers should grow into their markets and net 50-60% of their gross. they should be happy with the size of operation that supplies a living for their family.

There are those that are doing this, ande they are happy. There are those that are following the same path as traditional agriculture. It is up to you to choose the right path.