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Trautman Family Farm
is
A Certified Organic Farm (MOSA)
Updated 1/5/2010
Q. What on our farm is Certified Organic?
A. Our land; the crops we raise on the land (hay, corn, small grains) the feed to our animals; and as often as possible the animals.
All our owned lands, and anything we rent, if not already organic, is put in
transition to organic.
Q. Our farm's products are "all natural" & only sell direct
to customers, why is it important to also be Certified Organic?
A. So many reasons! First, we're good enough and we can meet any bar put in
front of us, and we think the knowledgeable oversight of an organic inspector is
great. Not everyone can or welcomes knowledgeable outside oversight - that which
is obvious -- that anyone can see -- and what's "under the hood", something a
customer is never going to see - we're transparent from end to end. Second, by
staying within the Organic system, we are confident that everyone involved in
production of our products was fairly treated. Organic farmers are our people -
and every dollar WE spend is a vote. If we demand a fair price for our products
-- we must be willing to pay a fair price for the items involved in it. We're
not succeeding on the backs of others and truly working toward a better world in
our small way. Third, with us being at the high end of quality -- I believe we
are helping raise the bar for all organic producers.
Q. So we think Organic is perfect!
A. Nope! There are things we don't like, issues that need to be addressed.
But it is the very best system out there. We will be a part of addressing those
issues, and helping police those we feel are taking advantage of the organic
reputation but not delivering the promise of organic. Show me a system of rules
-- and I will find something that doesn't make sense or I don't like -- but we
don't get to pick and choose our rules; it becomes a slippery slope too many
times to allow a "little bit", so allowing none is a clear line to draw.
Q. Generally, how do our products differ from certified
organic?
A. Very very little, and sometimes it's absolutely frustrating to us to not
be able to call our products certified organic. The availability of certified
organic meat processing in this area continues to be a real issue. We have tried
twice, and had very poor results twice at a very high cost to us, nearby organic
processing. We are very pleased indeed with our current processor, Johnson
Sausage, and are working with them towards organic certification of our
products.
Management -- completely organic; and that's whether the products end up
being certified or not. We absolutely do not treat anything in our scope any
less than fully organic if at all possible.
Lifestyle -- Our family eats maybe 2/3rds organic. Local availability is
a problem, and yes, price vs. quality can be an issue. We are committed to
integrating organic into our lives, because we believe in it and feel it's worth
it, and we want to support other farmers that farm organically, and we lead by
example. Organic is NOT just for RICH people.
Q. So all you need to know is something is "Certified
Organic"?
A. NO! It's a good starting place -- but know your farmer, know their
practices. Organic by neglect will not mean for a quality or very nutrient dense
product. We're doing everything possible to mineralize and balance our soils, and
everything possible for the comfort and health of our animals, and it bears
itself out in the quality of our products. This is way, way, way more expensive
to do than trying to scrape by on minimum organic standards. In general, organic
standards tell you what you CAN'T use or do -- and not as much to what you
SHOULD do. It's a great starting place, but we farmers need to go beyond those
minimums if we want to deliver value and impress people.
Q. So what about our family? Do we believe in it enough to
buy Organic ourselves?
A. You better believe it. Maybe 75% of what we eat would be certified
organic. Believe you me we aren't people of means, and we struggle to afford
high quality food; but we also can't afford to be sick, either -- so we bank on
organic food for our health and what it represents for a brighter future for our
children and yours.
We are very passionate on this subject -- please ask us any and all questions about organic or anything else on our farm.
Additional commitments to organic:
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Scott is teaching "Introduction to Organic Farming" at MATC in Madison, in an effort to encourage more organic farming and to share his knowledge.
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Speaking out on a regular basis in favor of organic, and especially to existing organic farmers, to promote increased education and higher standards for ourselves, in order to attract the excellent, but conventional, farmers in Wisconsin.
Organic By Product:
Grass-fed Beef:
PRESENT: 2009 harvest: NONE will be sold as certified organic. All of our animals are certified organic, only the processing continues to not be certified organic
GOAL: 100% organic animals on our 100% organic farm, all
animals born and raised on our farm. 100% organic animals+farm: Goal
accomplished! We will continue to need a few beef steers to meet demand.
Challenges: Availability of certified organic animals in quantity and for a
reasonable price with grassfed success characteristics. There are some fine calf
suppliers that are not certified organic, and some poor suppliers that are. We
are starving for land to graze the number of animals we need to sustain
ourselves (and we need only 2-300 acres total -- at 120 now -- we don't need
1000+ acres). Large conventional operators around here get all the available
land, and the land we do get tends to need a lot of work, time & money to get up
to our standards.
Commitment: To work with Johnson Sausage to certify them organic. The cost/paperwork continues to be a challenge, especially in a challenging economy
Pastured Pork:
PRESENT: 2010 harvest was with certified organic pigs. Feed was all organic - but some roasted soybeans were organic from a pre-certified farm. There is significant state pressure to NOT go with ham, bacon organic processing (no nitrates) due to food safety concerns, real, imagined or other agenda.
FUTURE: 2010: We're happy where we're at. The no-nitrate hams/bacon would be nice to have, but we're sitting on a bunch of no-nitrate hams, so I can't believe they're that wonderful (we do like them very much ourselves). We are happy with our processor, and unless we see a change in the wind, we'll stick with things as they are.
GOAL: We are comfortable where we are.
Challenges: Finding certified organic pigs for a reasonable price through which we can keep our meat prices in line with feeding "real people" and not just people of means. Pigs on pasture tend to be destructive; as land starved as we are, and as expensive as quality pastures are to put in, we will need to think hard about our pig-raising methods. About 40 is all we can do with the land base we have. They will continue to go fast.
Commitment: As more ground gets certified organic, we will better be able to raise more pigs on pasture.
Awesome Eggs:
PRESENT: All organic feed, plenty of greens, plenty of room for them to wander = best eggs possible, but we're not able to call them "certified organic" Compared to what you buy in the store -- our eggs are far and away better quality and -- very importantly -- in the spirit of organic than those eggs. Ask to tour one of their egg facilities, then come to ours and see for yourself.
FUTURE: Not all that different from the present. We're happy providing eggs to consumers, not all that interested in wholesale/restaurant markets
GOAL: To get a fair price for our eggs from committed customers. If we can't, then we will keep enough hens for our own eggs and that's about it.
Challenges: Getting folks to think about how much better our eggs are and how worth the price we ask they are. Unfortunately there are knuckleheads out there selling for a lot less that do it for a year or two at a low price, figure out what a waste of time it is, and then quit.
Commitment: To keep doing what we're doing, which we think is a great job, and trying, as always, to do a better job & be more efficient. Continue to make it a "no brainer" for those that buy our eggs for quite a lot more than the cheap eggs in the store -- or the expensive but not worth it organic eggs.
Pastured Poultry:
PRESENT: We grow to order; the orders keep growing. They are not a big money-maker for us, so we're not inclined to grow this area a lot, but with the availability of the label-rouge birds again, we're motivated.
FUTURE: Grow enough that we don't end up stealing our stock of broilers every stinking year!
GOAL: Be happy with whatever we do with the broilers, be it 300, 600, one batch, two.
Challenges: Where to start? Competing with those that don't use organic feed. We refuse to do that, ever. The price to the consumer of organic pastured chicken vs. our ability to make a reasonable profit for our time. See future above for some things we're doing to address the convenience and the profitability issues. Availability of decent processing, especially the value added products people want.
Commitment: Frankly, we've made the commitments and done the right things. It's the consumers that need to step up and be willing to pay for the quality so it's worth our doing them. Of all our enterprises, this one would be the first to go; we'd rather it not, but it consumes quite a bit of time for very little profit.
100% Organic, 100% Grass Dairy
It is here, it is working great, we are making beautiful milk, the only problem is we're too far off the Organic Valley route for our milk, so we get the worst of both worlds: expense of maintaining an organic herd, and getting only the conventional price, and biggest insult of all, our beautiful, beautiful milk mixing with all that other generic milk.
FUTURE ORGANIC PRODUCTS
We're ready with innovation, ideas, creativity and energy when customers, the state & the agribusiness community are. In the meantime, come to our farm and see what a great little very progressive organic farm looks like.