Comparison of organic and conventional dairy farms in Ontario

Abstract

AbstractThe scale of operation and economic performance of organic and conventional dairy farms were compared in Ontario in 1992. Eight certified organic (ORG) farms, comprising 40% of all organic dairy farms, were contrasted with a sample of 120 conventional farms (1.5% of the provincial total) identified under the auspices of the Ontario Dairy Farm Accounting Project (ODFAP). The ODFAP sample was stratified by geographic region in Ontario, then randomly selected within each region. Neither ORG nor ODFAP farm samples contained any hobby or part-time farmers. Scale of operation was comparable on the two types of dairies, with the ratio of ORG to ODFAP being 122% for tillable landbase (ns) and 107% for herd size (ns). Similarly, milk production was comparable from ORG and ODFAP dairies (5,882 and 5,865 liters/cow, respectively; ns). Data on farmer personal characteristics such as age, education level, and management skills were not collected. It was presumed that managerial capabilities were equal between ORG and ODFAP farm samples.It was hypothesized that total revenue and total cost of production would be greater on ODFAP farms, while net farm income would be higher on ORG than on ODFAP farms. Although the ratio for ORG to ODFAP performance was 93% for total revenue and 77% for total cost of production, neither of these differences was statistically significant. However, ORG dairies yielded 60% more net farm income than ODFAP dairies ($59,718 vs. $37,557; significant at the 5% level). Within the constraints of the supply management marketing system operating in a northern temperate region, ORG approaches to dairy production were shown to be as productive and at least as profitable as those on ODFAP farms, despite reliance on lesser yielding crops and more holistic (less resource-intensive) production methods.