Organic Corn Production Practices and Profitability in the Eastern U.S. Corn Belt

Abstract

Efforts to assess and improve the sustainability performance of the growing organic farming sector depend on an accurate understanding of farm structure and management practices. To contribute to the dearth of literature in this area, we conducted a survey of over 850 certified organic corn growers in four states (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) in the spring of 2018. Findings show that most organic corn growers in this region had diversified livestock operations (mostly dairy) on relatively small farms (10–100 ha), which contrasts with trends of specialization and growth in farm size. More than half were dairy farmers, and nearly two-thirds farmed with horses (likely Amish). Soil fertility and health were managed by the use of manure, cover crops, forages, and a variety of other soil amendments. Organic corn growers relied heavily on moldboard plow tillage. All producers had positive net returns to labor and management in 2017, though net returns varied widely across operations. The results have implications for assessing the sustainability of organic farming systems, and for designing scientific research and extension/outreach programs to ensure they address the needs of the diverse organic farming population in this region.

Managing organic dairy herd health: Current roles and possible future roles for veterinarians with organic dairy clientele

“…Organic dairy producers' experiences and strategies to manage dairy herd health are diverse, and their relationships with veterinarians are variable, as this study and other research confirm (Jones et al, 2016). For example, because so many of our respondents identified as Plain Amish and Mennonite, as is typical of states in the Midwest and Eastern United States (Cross, 2015;Brock et al, 2021a), it can be challenging to know how much the relationship between producers and veterinarians was shaped by the organic character of their farm or whether it reflected cultural differences between veterinarians and Plain community producers. Other regions of the country do not have as many Plain producers (see Brock et al, 2021b for more discussion of the Plain producer presence in this sample).…”

“…The majority of organic dairy producers in our sample (78%) were members of Plain Anabaptist church communities, as is typical of the organic sector in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, as documented in a recent survey of 800 organic producers (Brock et al, 2021a). Wisconsin and New York also include a significant number of Plain producers (Cross, 2015), likely also contributing to this intersection of Plain and organic identities in this region.…”

Effect of Planting Density on the Nutritional Quality of Grain in Representative High-Yielding Maize Varieties from Different Eras

“…In recent years, with continuous improvement in residents' living standards and changes in dietary consumption structure, maize is no longer used as the primary food crop. Still, it is used more as feedstuff and raw material for deeply processed products [3,4]. This requires researchers to continuously improve the yield of maize to ensure food security in China on the one hand and to improve the nutritional quality of maize grains in different ways for other uses on the other hand.…”