Organic Farm Financial Benchmarking in the Upper Midwest
Project Director
Joleen Hadrich
Year Funded
2019
Award Number
2019-51300-30484
Funded Institution
University of Minnesota
Grant Program
OREI (Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative)
USDA NIFA Report (alternate)
Project Overview
Prior to this project, organic farm business management was constrained by a dearth of financial benchmark data for organic production of major crops, with only 65 farms in the U Minnesota FINBIN financial benchmarking database. This project aimed to gather economic data on organic corn grain, soybean, wheat, corn silage, hay, and dairy production from at least 170 organic farms in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota.
Data were entered into the FINBIN database and utilized to develop Extension materials to help organic farmers evaluate the economic performance of their operations and identify ways to improve their business management strategies. In addition to producers, target audiences included organic farming organizations and agricultural professionals.
Farmer Takeaways
(1) Organic farms showed greater resilience to the economic disruption of the pandemic than their conventional counterparts.
(2) The Upper Midwest Organic Report summarizing benchmark findings for organic corn, soy, wheat, hay, and dairy are available through the U Minnesota Center for Farm Financial Management.
(3) The dairy industry faced severe challenges during the study period, with nearly half of Minnesota dairies closing.