Farm business opportunity

This morning I am trying to put the finishing touches on our 2004 seed order. The federal organic standards, which went into effect in late 2002, require that certified growers use organic raised seed whenever it is "commerically available". However, the regs don't define "commercially available". And organically grown seeds tend to be more expensive. So it is not always easy to know what to do. But we have decided to err on the side of using as much organically raised seed as we can, both to keep our certification, and because supporting an organic seed industry is the right long term thing to do.

And that brings us to our business opportunity of the day -- there just isn't that much certified organic seed out there right now. I'd say a full 2/3 of the varieties I am ordering are not organic because organic versions just don't exist. But if they were available in an organic version, I would arguably have to buy it.

These new organic regs essentially create a huge new market because every certified grower is now required to scramble for organic seed if it exists in the market. And so what if organic seed costs 10-20% more? If it is available in quantity, our certifying agency has said that a marginally higher price alone will not prevent organic seed from being considered "commercially available".

So if your lettuce bolts this summer, save the seed and try putting it on Ebay!