Ambitious goal to grow Island organic acreage
/by Emily Leeson
Prince Edward Island currently boasts about 12,000 acres in organic production, but the P.E.I. Certified Organic Producers Cooperative recently stated that it would like to see that acreage grow significantly.
The goal of the cooperative’s new organic land network project is ambitious: a total of 80,000 acres.
“If we were to continue on the same sort of growth trajectory that we’ve been on for the past 10 to 15 years, we should be able to achieve that by 2030,” said Karen Murchison, the cooperative’s research coordinator.
Part of the process is finding that land. The cooperative recently launched a survey for P.E.I. landowners aiming to uncover the hidden potential in farmland on the Island. The short survey is the first step toward an organic land network, which would connect farmers and those who own farmland suitable for organic production. There’s a link to the survey on the cooperative’s website, organicpei.com.
“We had a sense that there was a lot of land that was potentially available,” said Murchison. “We recognized that there are a number of landowners, both resident and non-resident, who may have a desire to have their farmland managed in a particular manner, with specific environmental and ecological outcomes. Organic production might marry well with those landowners who have those preferences.”
Murchison said that landowners seem interested in the opportunity. “Some of them just didn’t know how to reach out or contact farmers, so this was a way to enable that contact,” she added.
Even with only a soft launch so far, the cooperative has had a good response. “We’ve had over 50 respondents to the survey,” said Murchison. “That represents between 1,600 and 2,200 acres of land.”
Some of the land was registered organic in the past with the possibility of being recertified and some has been out of production for a long time. Some of the farmland is in smaller holdings, which might be of interest to new entrants into the organic industry looking for a small, manageable acreage.
With the input from landowners rolling in, the next stages of the project will include making an inventory of the potential farmland, matching up landowners and organic producers, and working with a lawyer to determine how the cooperative can assist in the lease agreement process.
“One of the things that is unique about organic production is that they do require longer-term leases,” said Murchison. “It takes time for the land to transition and the rotations are much longer between cash crop to cash crop. As a result of that, the lease agreements need to be very long-term.”
Brian MacKay, the cooperative’s president and owner of Crystal Green Farms in Bedeque, knows the struggle farmers can face in finding ideal farmland.
“On our farm, we have 250 certified acres,” said MacKay, adding that about 245 of those acres are rented. “We don’t own very much land.” He said he’d be interested in adding another 50 acres of organic production, and renting land is the only route he’s interested in.
“It’s cheaper than owning land right now,” said MacKay. “At my age, I’m looking at it similar to how a new entrant might – I don’t want to take on a whole lot of debt.”
He’s hoping that the organic land network project will help those new entrants get a foot in the door of organic production.
“With land that is priced $6,000 and up an acre, depending on where you are, it’s pretty hard to put a business plan together that will show you can make a living,” said MacKay.
Young people who want to make a career in agriculture are getting shut out because of land prices.
“We want people to be able to get into our industry and see if they like to farm, if they like what they are doing, without being saddled with a whole lot of debt,” said MacKay. “We’re trying to pave the way for young people to look at our industry.”
Murchison added that in tandem with the organic land network project, the cooperative is undertaking an in-depth analysis of market opportunities for organic Island products both locally and for export.
“We’re looking at marrying those market opportunities to our growth strategy, and providing new entrants, standing growers, and conventional growers looking to transition with market information and really solid, valid market opportunities to expand their production,” she said.
