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Do the new organic producers differ from the ‘old guard’? Empirical results from Norwegian dairy farming

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2007

Ola Flaten ,
Gudbrand Lien ,
Martha Ebbesvik ,
Matthias Koesling  and
Paul S. Valle
Ola Flaten*
Affiliation:
Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute (NILF), Box 8024 Dep., NO-0030, Oslo, Norway,.
Gudbrand Lien
Affiliation:
Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute (NILF), Box 8024 Dep., NO-0030, Oslo, Norway,.
Martha Ebbesvik
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Ecological Agriculture, NO-6630, Tingvoll, Norway,.
Matthias Koesling
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Ecological Agriculture, NO-6630, Tingvoll, Norway,.
Paul S. Valle
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Box 8146 Dep., NO-0033, Oslo, Norway,.
*
*Corresponding author: Email: ola.flaten@nilf.no
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Abstract

Conventional farmers converting to organics have contributed to most of the rapid expansion of organic farming in recent years. The new organic farmers may differ from their more established colleagues, which may have implications for the development of the organic farming sector and its distinctiveness vis-à-vis conventional production and marketing practices. The aim of this study was to explore Norwegian organic dairy farmers' personal and farm production characteristics, farming goals, conversion motives, and attitudes to organic farming, grouped by year of conversion (three groups). A postal survey was undertaken among organic dairy farmers (n=161). The results show that the newcomers (converted in 2000 or later) were less educated than the early entrants (the so-called ‘old guard’) who converted in 1995 or earlier. The frequency of activities like vegetable growing and poultry farming among the old guard was high. The late-entry organic herds were fed with more concentrates and had a higher milk production intensity, showed a higher incidence of veterinary treatments and less frequent use of alternative medicine than the herds of the two earlier converting groups. For all groups of farmers, the highest ranked farming goals were sustainable and environment-friendly farming and the production of high-quality food. Late entrants more often mentioned goals related to profit and leisure time. On average, the most frequently mentioned motives for conversion were food quality and professional challenges. The old guard was more strongly motivated by food quality and soil fertility/pollution issues than the others, whereas financial reasons (organic payments included) were relatively more important among the newcomers. All groups held very favorable views about the environmental qualities of organic farming methods, albeit with different strengths of beliefs. Even though trends towards more pragmatic and business-oriented farming were found, the majority of the newcomers were fairly committed.

Keywords

organic farmingmilk productionyear of conversionfarming goalsmotives for conversionattitudesanimal healthfeedingconventionalization
Type
Review Article
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , September 2006 , pp. 174 - 182
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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