13. New Report Documents Organic Agriculture in Michigan State University

 

 

A new report developed collaboratively by Michigan State University and the Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance provides information about Michigan’s certified organic farms and processing businesses.  Data from a 2005 statewide survey as well as national surveys conducted by USDA’s Economic Research Service and the Organic Farming Research Foundation provide an important perspective about Michigan’s current organic agriculture status and how Michigan contributes to the region and beyond. 

 

Among the report’s findings:

 

• About two thirds (66%) of Michigan’s certified organic farmers transitioned from conventional production practices to organic.
• Over 75% of Michigan’s organic farmers have been certified organic for 10 years or less.
• Although the average acreage of organic farms varies considerably depending on the farm type, the overall mean average was 260 acres, with a range of 1 to 2,400 acres.  That compares with an overall mean average of 190 acres for all Michigan farms documented in the 2002 Census of Agriculture. 

 

14. Organic could help fight world hunger

6th May 2007, 4:54 WST

Associated Press

http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=379474

Organic food has long been considered a niche market and a luxury for wealthy consumers. But researchers have told a UN conference a large-scale shift to organic agriculture could actually help fight world hunger while improving the environment.

Crop yields initially can drop as much as 50 per cent when industrialized, conventional agriculture using chemical fertilizers and pesticides is converted to organic. While such decreases often even out over time and promote other benefits, the figures have kept the organic movement largely on the sidelines of discussions about feeding the hungry.

Researchers in Denmark found, however, that there would not be any serious negative effect on food security for sub-Saharan Africa if 50 per cent of agricultural land in the food exporting regions of Europe and North America were converted to organic by 2020.

While total food production would drop, the amount per crop would be much less than previously assumed, and the rise in world food prices that resulted could be mitigated by improvements in the land and other benefits, the study found.

A similar conversion to organic farming in sub-Saharan Africa could help the region's hungry because it could reduce their need to import food, Niels Halberg, a senior scientist at the Danish Research Centre for Organic Food and Farming, told the UN conference on Organic Agriculture and Food Security.

Farmers who go back to using traditional agricultural methods would not have to spend money on expensive chemicals and would grow more diverse crops that are more sustainable, the report said. In addition, if their food is certified organic, farmers could export any surpluses, bringing in cash, since organic food has such premium prices.

Alexander Mueller, assistant director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, or FAO, praised the report and noted that projections indicated the number of hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa was only expected to grow.

Considering that the impact of climate change will target the world's poor and most vulnerable, "a shift to organic agriculture could be beneficial", he said.

The Rome-based FAO's Nadia El-Hage Scialabba, who organised the conference, pointed to other studies of a hypothetical food supply that she said indicated organic agriculture could produce enough food per capita to feed the current world's population.

One such study, by the University of Michigan, found a global shift to organic agriculture would yield at least 2,641 kilocalories per person per day, just under the world's current production of 2,786, and as many as 4,381 kilocalories per person per day, researchers reported.

"These models suggest that organic agriculture has the potential to secure a global food supply, just as conventional agriculture today, but with reduced environmental impacts," Scialabba said in a paper presented to the conference.

However, she stressed that the studies were only that - economic models.

15. Getting Started in Exporting Workshop

Learn Step-by-Step the Process of
How to Expand Your Business by Entering the Export Market

Discover the opportunities in international food markets and how federal assistance programs can help increase your export sales.

June 14, East Lansing, MI

Join the Food Export - Midwest and the Michigan Department of Agriculture on June 14th at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan to discuss exciting opportunities in the export market as well as the federal assistance programs available to help U.S. food exporters break into new markets.

You'll learn the keys to exporting success:

• Determine your firm's level of "export readiness" and what you need to do to go to the next step.
• Build a network of public and private export assistance and make profitable use of export promotional activities.
• Research and target your top markets for export and create an effective marketing strategy.
• Understand terms-of-sale and payment, and prepare competitive quotes to trade leads.
• Select the best method of distribution for your products, understand basic export documentation and procedures, and develop an overall export policy that best suits your company.
• Integrate all the elements of the export transaction in a step-by-step method.

This workshop is sure to educate and energize your company for the export process. For additional information, please review the attached flyer or contact Jamie Zmitko-Somers at (517) 241-3628 or [log in to unmask].

 

 

 

THAT’S ALL FOR THIS TIME,

Happy Farming !  :)