Here is the conclusion to the Too late to transition? story:
Eric and Angie decided to convert about 80 acres (the land just around their immediate farm) to organic production. They thought this would give them a good start to see whether they could handle the workload. They also liked the idea of keeping the acres around their house pesticide-free. Jack offered to play a large role in guiding them through their certification, weed and pest management, and marketing. The weed pressure some years was a little high for Eric, but he worked with Jack to develop a good rotational system. Interestingly, Eric also needed to brush up on using a cultivator—a piece of equipment he didn’t use much on his conventional acreage. Eric spent many an afternoon talking with Jack about what was happening in his fields. Eric found that he enjoyed the challenge, and how it got him out into his fields to watch their progress. He liked to tell everyone who listened about the thousands of miles he put on his four-wheeler driving around his farm.
One disappointment for Eric and Angie was that their son Daniel decided that he didn’t have the ability to take over the family farm. Though he was not interested in organic production, Daniel mostly made his decision based on his available labor and time to devote to farming more acreage. Eric and Angie are still uncertain about what will happen to the farm when they decide to retire, but they are happy with their decision to try their hand at organic production.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Organic Transitions Program under award number 2013-51106-21005.
This project was also supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program under the Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) in the Midwest region.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.