Organic producers try to dispel “flower children” image

By Jim Romahn
Ontario Farmer, Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Management techniques may differ from other producers, but many challenges are the same.

Two organic dairy farmers and a third who plans to set up a Gouda cheese-making business highlighted the annual Dairy Day sponsored by the Waterloo and Wellington dairy producers.

Martin DeGroot told how he and Ineke Booy transitioned to organic production 10 years after they took over the family farm from Ineke’s parents. That was 15 years ago and took about four years to complete through to organic milk production from organic crops, he said. And then they looked for ways to add value, considered making cheese, but Ineke felt ice cream would be a better choice.

Today their Mapleton Dairy brand is marketed from Vancouver to Halifax, but the most profitable sales are from a retail outlet on the farm. They took ice cream production courses from the Guelph Technology Centre at the University of Guelph, searched for more information and advice from their native Holland and scrounged used equipment from friends, neighbours and other dairy-processing operators. Martin said it takes a long time to build up a business such as theirs, patience and persistence and an understanding that the main rewards are not earning more money.

MARTIN PRONK told about starting with a 50-acre farm near Harriston, with a 500-bird flock of laying hens and 15 to 20 organically-raised pigs per year. Last year, he and his wife took over his parents’ 100-acre, 35-cow organic dairy farm, adding it to their own operation.

Four sons help with the egg and hog operations and earn a share of the proceeds. “There’s a bit of a stigma out there about organic farming,” Pronk said. “We’re regarded as the flower children of agriculture. But we’re getting to be more accepted.”

He conceded that many things they do on the dairy farm are quite different from conventional dairy farms, and added that most organic dairy farmers do things different from each other. They grow only forages on their fields, intensely rotation-graze the milking cows, moving them into new pasture twice a day, then letting dry cows and heifers clean up after them. Each plot is rested three to five weeks between grazings.

Winter feed is haylage, hay, salt and minerals and five to six pounds of grain fed in the milking parlour twice a day. The result is lower milk production – an average of 6,400 kilograms per cow per year – but less stress, fewer health problems and greater longevity.

“Sure, we have mastitis, retained placentas and all those things,” Pronk said “but less than most dairy farmers.” They keep a bull for natural matings and crossbreed some Brown Swiss and Norwegian Red. Prong said the heavy reliance on forages improves rumen health and that also contributes to better overall cow health. He watches cud-chewing and wants a count between 50 and 70. If it’s more than 70, he figures the ration is too coarse. If it’s less than 50, it’s too fine.

He beds heavily with straw, including alleyways “because cows don’t like walking on concrete.” Manure is composted, including setting out windrows in the field. He does no vaccination, uses no antibiotics or teat dips and harsh disinfectants.

He does use a combination of hydrogen peroxide and apple-cider vinegar in rinse water and Vista, a powdered soap, in hot water for washing. Hydrogen peroxide is used to treat both drinking water and cattle water. His Somatic Cell Count averages 200,000 to 250,000 during the year and his bacteria count averages 10,000.

ADAM VANBERGEIJK of New Hamburg was trained in The Netherlands as a cheese maker and thinks he can develop a profitable market for Gouda because he’s not impressed with the quality made in Canada and imported from Europe.

“I don’t want to take any markets away from Canadians. I want to displace imports,” he said, adding that he has much research and development to complete before he can start production. He’s hoping for fall, but conceded that he has not yet checked out all of the many regulatory hurdles.

VanBergereijk took over the family dairy farm in Holland in 1977, immigrated to the New Hamburg area in 1986 and began milk production the next year. The operation now is 220 cows and two sons are involved. A daughter is married to a dairy farmer.

He said there’s too much distance between producers and consumers, a point that DeGroot also emphasized. He is planning a meeting with potential customers in late April “so they can accept our concerns.”

He hopes to win approval from Dairy Farmers of Ontario to buy milk under the product innovation category, noting that Gouda imports now represent about 12,000 to 13,000 litres of milk production per year.


The OACC gratefully acknowledges permission from Ontario Farmer to post this article on our website.


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Posted December 2006