Is There A Market Opportunity in Organic Veggies on the Prairies?

By Brenda Frick

Fresh, local, organic: this is the hat trick that can move the horticulture game forward on the prairies. Currently, more than 90% of the fruits and vegetables that we eat on the prairies are grown outside of our region. Of course, some of those, especially the bananas and citrus fruit can’t be grown here. But we can replace some of those imports with home grown veggies like potatoes, squash, and root vegetables, and home grown fruits like sour cherries, apples, haskap and raspberries. All of these are grown on the prairies and their importance in our diets could be expanded.

Recently Canadian Organic Grower hosted a series of Crop Planning for Vegetable Growers workshops on the prairies featuring Daniel Brisebois, an experienced organic vegetable producer from Quebec.

Many farm workshops begin with “how to grow” information. Daniel’s approach was more like that of holistic management sessions; he started with setting goals. He suggested that you first need to decide how much salary you need from the operation. Doubling that will give you an estimate of what you need in gross sales. In Quebec, average gross sales for top vegetable farmers are in the range of $40,000 per person per season. New farmers can expect more like $5,000 to $10,000 in their first seasons.

The second step is to develop a marketing plan. Daniel discussed two main methods of distribution: farmers markets and CSAs. Community Shared (or Supported) Agriculture (CSA) is a system where consumers subscribe before the season begins and pay a specified price for a monthly or weekly share of the harvest. This allows the farmer some start up funds, and shares the risk between farmer and consumer.

Daniel recommends that new CSA farmers start slow, with 5 to 20 shares. Experienced CSA farmers can manage 30 to 75 shares per person. Typical weekly baskets range from $15 to $45. Smaller baskets are often best. The more expensive baskets are harder to fill, and people feel bad if they receive more than they can use. Whatever the size, farmers should strive for a few staples and perhaps one new product each week. Adding recipes improves people’s willingness to try new items.

By multiplying the CSA share price, the number of shares, and the number of weeks, the farmer can predict gross sales and determine the required volume. Farmers markets give less predictable volumes and revenue, at least at the start. But they allow producers to focus on niche products or to specialize in a smaller range of products. Combining the two approaches allow farmers to supply the CSA and maintain a market for any excess. The farmers market can also be a way of recruiting people into the CSA.

Next, Daniel shared his approach to production. In working out a field plan, Daniel uses modules of standard size. He finds that 3 rows, or 5 ft work well as a bed width. This is roughly the distance between his tractor tires. Using this planting pattern, the beds are not compacted during field operations.

Daniel plans his schedule by working backwards from his desired harvest dates. Different schedules can be arranged by using varieties with different days to maturity. He again works backwards from his planting dates to his seeding dates for crops that are started in the greenhouse.

Daniel groups crops into blocks of similar crop type. This allows him to maintain a rotation that considers nutrient use and disease. He uses compost in plots with heavy feeders such as tomatoes, broccoli or zucchini. In alternate years he plants light feeders such as mixed greens, beans and chard, and cover crops such as fall rye, oats and vetch. He also watches disease and insect prone plants, and never grows these in the same beds in successive years.

Is there potential to expand this model on the prairies? Brent Warner of the Canadian Agritourism Working Group claims that the Calgary Farmers Market is the largest food retailer in Calgary. He also claims that the purchase of freezers in the US has risen 7% while home appliances in general have fallen 8%. These look like hopeful signs for an alliance between market gardener and consumer, to increase our local production of horticultural product and to consume more locally.

Brenda Frick, Ph.D., P.Ag., is the Organic Research and Extension Coordinator at the University of Saskatchewan and is an affiliate of the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada. She welcomes your comments at 306-966-4975 or via email at organic@usask.ca.


Posted February 2010