Consumer prices for organic food

[wsmoak]

IF you are trying to make a living growing and selling organic products, productivity is much less and cost is much greater.

Citation please. Where are you getting this information? Joel Salatin would disagree.

-Wendy

 

[homewardbound]

2 other crops from the same space as the orchard- meat and wool similar to cashmere.

I don't believe that Babydoll Southdown wool is similar to Cashmere Hair.

Now just like with Sheep have different grades for there wool the Cashmere breed has different grades for there hair and to me there fibers are very different. Nothing what I would call "Similar"


Chris

I can only go by what I am finding on the net.

http://www.coonamessettfarm.com/id16.html

Their wool is short stapled and fine. It grades at about 55-60, and spinners enjoy working with the wool. Fleece test at 19- 20 microns, which puts it in the class of cashmere.

 

[homewardbound]

I don't know much about all the organic stuff...but I would think some 'organic' products should cost more...say...meat. I am all for eating as healthy and natural as possible, but if being organic means I can't use the necessary preventative measures for my livestock, say worming them for parasite control and certain vaccinations to prevent losing half of my herd...not being able to use certain feeds because they don't meet the standards then I am not able to sustain my flock/herd/whatever.

I drink raw milk from a Jersey cow and make all our milk products and all our food from scratch, but that same cow, even though she is on grass pasture most of the year, needs corn/oat/barley and alfalfa supplements in order to survive. She can't maintain her weight and make milk without it. For me, sometimes the 'risk' of non organic measures is worth taking.

Being organic does not mean that you cannot use preventative measures; it just means you have to use other measures. I dont know of any organic alternatives to vaccinations and I dont know right off what the law or the private certification organizations say about vaccines, but organic farmers can mix diatomaceous earth with animal feed to deal with worms. As far as I know all of the supplemental feeds that your cow needs can be grown using organic methods- and Ive yet to have anyone document for me how and why these organic methods add to the farmers cost of producing these feeds- apart from paying some organization money so they will give the farmer permission to say his products are organic.

 

[homewardbound]

IF you are trying to make a living growing and selling organic products, productivity is much less and cost is much greater.

Citation please. Where are you getting this information? Joel Salatin would disagree.

-Wendy

I'd like to see this documentation as well.

 

[seedcorn]

IF you are trying to make a living growing and selling organic products, productivity is much less and cost is much greater.

Citation please. Where are you getting this information? Joel Salatin would disagree.

-Wendy

I'd like to see this documentation as well.

It is obvious as commercial growers would be "organic" if production/costs were even close. Commercial growers are not a bunch of brain dead, zombies, out to pollute the world that some think. They actually put a pencil to every decision to see which one "nets" out the best. It's all about the $$ that they have left to feed their family.

Question (as apples/fruits are out of my comfort level) for a family to NET $50,000 after expensies how many bushels of apples would they have to sell? I'd love to see the math to see how much $$ would be generated to live a decent life. Please no one use the straw man argument that you don't have to make that much. Very few want to live without TV, electric, cars, etc and I'm assuming no one wants any Government money for free education, free meals, etc. Simple math, if you had 50 acres, you would have to generate $100,000 or $2,000 per acre assuming your profit margin on production, sales costs were 50% of your total income.

Joel is another conversation that I'll keep my opinion to myself.

 

[chris09]

2 other crops from the same space as the orchard- meat and wool similar to cashmere.

I don't believe that Babydoll Southdown wool is similar to Cashmere Hair.

Now just like with Sheep have different grades for there wool the Cashmere breed has different grades for there hair and to me there fibers are very different. Nothing what I would call "Similar"


Chris

I can only go by what I am finding on the net.

http://www.coonamessettfarm.com/id16.html

Their wool is short stapled and fine. It grades at about 55-60, and spinners enjoy working with the wool. Fleece test at 19- 20 microns, which puts it in the class of cashmere.

Wool of 1/2 to 3/8 blood (The term "Blood" Denotes fineness:"more blood" means finer wool) or 56 to 60
(spinning count) is preferred. Medium to Medium/Fine Crimp (The natural waviness in fibers). Average Staple
(length of fiber) 2.5-3 inches long. 24 to 31 Microns (average diameter of the wool fiber)

http://www.nabssar.org/breed_standard_with_photos.html

The Cashmere averages 18.5 or less
http://www.easterncashmereassociation.org/goat-standard.pdf

Here is a chart that has some breeds listed and there Microns.
Note that they also list Southdown as having a 24 to 31 Micron and the closes breed that you are going to get to a Cashmere (18.5 microns) is going to be the Delaine Merino at 18 to 22 microns.
Last chart
http://gfwsheep.com/blood.count.html

Chris

 

[seedcorn]

I am not even close to knowing fashion, does anyone even wear wool? Way too itchy for me. Cheap wool we have in Indiana, doesn't even pay for the shearing. If not for 4H, sheep are a losing proposition for this area.

 

[chris09]

I am not even close to knowing fashion, does anyone even wear wool? Way too itchy for me. Cheap wool we have in Indiana, doesn't even pay for the shearing. If not for 4H, sheep are a losing proposition for this area.

LOL,
My wife spins, and also sells roving. I see so much wool that it isn't even funny.
We also breed and show wool type sheep.

Chris

 

[homewardbound]

It is obvious as commercial growers would be "organic" if production/costs were even close.

How is it obvious? You are ignoring the fact that most organic food is eaten locally near where it is produced. But so much conventional food is shipped thousands of miles that as much as half of the food that is produced is never eaten.

 

[homewardbound]

Question (as apples/fruits are out of my comfort level) for a family to NET $50,000 after expensies how many bushels of apples would they have to sell?

As I have said before, if you are truly organic you would not be relying on a single crop as your source of yearly income. A monocrop apple farm is not a legitimate comparison.