Abstract
In spite of concerns, Minnesota’s dominant cropping system is the corn-soybean rotation using synthetic pesticides and chemically processed fertilizers. Using experimental data from 1990–1999, this study compared the profitability of organic versus conventional strategies. Net return (NR) was calculated from actual yields, operations, inputs, prices, and organic premiums. Yields and costs were lower for the 4-year organic strategy. With premiums, the 4-year organic strategy had NRs significantly higher than conventional strategies; without premiums, the NRs were statistically equal (p = 0.05). Thus, the 4-year organic strategy was not less profitable nor its NR more variable than the conventional strategies in this study.
This work was supported by the University of Minnesota and a cooperative agreement with the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Originally published as Mahoney, Olson, Porter, Huggins, and Crookston. Profitability of organic cropping systems in southwestern Minnesota. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 19(1): 35–46, 2004. Permission granted for reproduction by CABI Publishing Wallingford Oxon,UK.
Paul R. Mahoney works with AgCountry FCS in Morris, MN, and a former Regional Extension Educator and former graduate student at the University of Minnesota; Kent D. Olson, and Paul M. Porter are, respectively, a professor at the Department of Applied Economics, and an associate professor in Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota; David R. Huggins is a soil scientist with the USDA-ARS, Pullman, WA; Catherine A. Perillo is an instructor, Department of Crops and Soil Sciences, Washington State University; R. Kent Crookston is dean of the College of Biology and Agriculture, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
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Mahoney, P.R., Olson, K.D., Porter, P.M., Huggins, D.R., Perillo, C.A., Crookston, R.K. (2007). Profitability of Organic Cropping Systems in Southwestern Minnesota. In: Canavari, M., Olson, K.D. (eds) Organic Food. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39582-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39582-1_5
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