Organic farm. Organic agriculture: profitability and basic principles. Leleka - organic eggs

Many farmers and landowners are worried about what exactly to do with their land. How to make money on your land? What exactly to plant so that it is in demand and sold as easily and expensively as possible? What kind of farm can be created on a small plot of land? What kind of farm to create in order to start making a profit faster? How to quickly return the invested money? 5 minutes of reading this article will probably give you a new impetus to create your stable family business.

Below are some of the reasons why growing organic certified food on small plots of land is the most profitable. Why we recommend growing organic certified vegetables, herbs and herbs. And why do we claim that this is a highly profitable farming business.

1. Organic vegetable farm is a profitable business even on small plots

Now in Ukraine there are already examples of successful organic family farms, in Kyiv, Sumy, Vinnitsa, Khmelnytsky, Zhytomyr and other regions, which are already consistently making a profit on small areas of land, up to 2 hectares, some even on 40 or even 20 acres.

The essence and success of this business niche is based on the fact that organic certified products that have been tested by certifying authorities and received a European-style certificate (Eurolist) are in consistently high demand and are sold at prices ranging from 50 to 500% higher than traditional chemical ones.

Retail chains, specialized online stores with organic and eco-range, restaurants and health resorts are experiencing a large shortage of stable supplies of environmentally friendly and organic products. In 2016, even the Auchan chain introduced a separate position of a purchasing manager for organic products.

1. This business is one of the most profitable (especially for small areas)

Organic Business School analysts studied the financial parameters of operating organic vegetable farms, and according to our data, a vegetable greenhouse farm becomes profitable already in the first year, that is, it passes the break-even point already in the first year of operation.

Calculations were made for a farm that occupies an area of ​​up to 2 hectares. Of these - greenhouses - about 20 acres. Main products: tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, lettuce, cabbage, peppers, radishes, strawberries. The full payback period of investments is 3-4 years. Based on the results of 5 years of work, profit is expected to be 2 times higher than capital investments.

1. Even a small farm will be profitable if you plant both basic seasonal and more marginal, rare or exotic products.

The most popular products are the usual seasonal vegetables and herbs that Ukrainian families buy on a weekly basis. Potatoes, cabbage, carrots, radishes, onions and others from the so-called "borscht set". Open ground is suitable for growing these products, and our partner farmers recommend that in addition to greenhouses, it is imperative to cultivate the same areas of open land for regular seasonal vegetables and herbs.

Salad vegetables and greens are consistently popular: tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, different varieties of salads, basil, eggplant, green onions, leeks and others.

For greater marginality, we recommend growing rarer, more expensive, even exotic types of crops: multi-colored cherry tomatoes, multi-colored bright sweet peppers, asparagus, arugula, hot peppers and other rare crops. Separately, we recommend - basil. This is a high-margin and sought-after product.

All of these products are in very high demand - this is what you will definitely always buy. True, in order to get more profit, we recommend that you cost the business not on the sale of raw materials, but on beautifully packaged, that is, create your own trademark, brand.

1. What makes this business profitable is guaranteed demand that exceeds supply.

A little more about demand. We are sometimes asked, isn't there a crisis in Ukraine right now, and will people pay more for food? In practice, we are constantly faced with the fact that the demand for elementary organic and eco-products is in demand, which is several times higher than the supply. And not only in Kyiv.

In almost all regions there are specialized stores, online stores, grocery delivery, health centers, restaurants that sell organic products and are constantly looking for a stable supplier. Even large well-known stores are always on the lookout for new farmers. In our experience with distribution channels, it is a myth that all well-known stores no longer need new suppliers.

We have examples when, even far from Kyiv, an organic farmer can sell his products directly in his town for 30-100% more than other farmers sell their traditional products. For example, Andrey Marchenko, the owner of a family organic greenhouse farm. In the city of Shostka, Sumy region, Andrey sells his certified vegetables and herbs in his own shop in the market.

1. Organic farm is a great family business, safe and ethical

The organic farm is a great family business. It is ethical, healthy, open to millennial traditions and agro-innovation. This is a business for well-being and prosperity. These products will always be in stable demand.

This is a healthy business where you will never be afraid for the health of your children, as is the case with traditional farmers who use chemicals and fertilizers.

Our organic farming partners are often married couples who work together or even with their children, like brothers Vitaliy and Evgeny Vasyanovich from Zhytomyr region, who work successfully on their farm together with their wives. Or the family of Tatyana Yablonskaya and Sergey Yatskov, who together develop several farms in 2 different regions and raise 3 children.

1. You can create your own brand, or direct delivery to the consumer in the form of a basket

This is an option for those who have ambitions, the ability and desire to be not just a supplier of raw materials, but to create their own TM, brand, or just an online store. We can give such examples:

• Winemaker Valery Petrov from the Odessa region produces certified organic wine (TM VP) and sells it through his online store.
• Organic farmers Valentina Sabelnikova and Konstantin Korza, owners of TM Organic Villa, have their own online store. And they sell not only vegetables and herbs, but also finished products - jams, sauces, sun-dried tomatoes and other more marginal processed products.
• The well-known organic farmer Tatiana Yablonskaya has created her own delivery of organic products in Kyiv - "Simeyna Korzina organic & local food" and sells organic and farm products directly to the people of Kyiv. The basket includes: organic bread, dairy and sour-milk products, greens, vegetables from the borscht set, salad vegetables: lettuce, green onions, radishes, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, Beijing. Greens: dill, mint, sometimes more exotic products - leek, arugula, chard.
• Andrey Marchenko sells certified salad vegetables and greens in his own shop, and the reputation of a farmer who produces organic and very tasty products, accumulated over the years, allows him to sell at prices higher than market prices.

1. Profit and profitability in this business only grows over the years

• Increasing year by year the fertility of the land and productivity due to the organic technologies used. More harvest - higher profitability and more profit.
• Formation of reputation and, accordingly, more opportunities for marketing, sales.
• The longer you do this, the easier it will be to find partners or investors and expand the business.

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We would like to add a recommendation on how to overcome the main threshold that stops many from starting their own farm - the delay in obtaining an organic certificate. We do not consider this a hindrance to profitable sales. You will receive the so-called “Interim Period” certificate, which means that your products will still have the status of environmentally friendly. And you have a high chance to sell them for more than usual.

The main advice that we want to give based on an analysis of complaints and dissatisfaction with partner stores is: firstly, it is imperative for a farmer to be a stable, systematic and reliable supplier. No matter how trite it sounds, but for stores - the reliability of the supplier is the main problem of farmers in general, as well as organic farmers. Secondly, a more or less wide range should be provided.

7 Reasons Why Organic Vegetable Greenhouse Farming – Even in Small Areas – Is a Highly Profitable Business 2016-11-01 2016-11-02 http://website/wp-content/uploads/logo-color.png Organic Businesshttp://website/wp-content/uploads/veg3-kopiya.jpg 200px 200px

The term "organic farming" seems very trendy and ultra-modern, but behind it are quite old farming methods that mankind used in the pre-industrial era. By and large, organic farming is a greener alternative to industrial agriculture, which is intensely oppressive to the environment.

What is organic agriculture?

The term "organic agriculture" or organic farming and animal husbandry is commonly understood as such methods of obtaining agricultural products, in which the use of artificial (synthetic) preparations - fertilizers, pesticides, growth stimulants, feed additives, etc. is purposefully minimized. As far as possible, they are replaced with natural analogues of manure, green manure, etc. Also, crop rotations and special soil cultivation methods are more actively used to increase yields.

There are two main goals pursued by proponents of organic farming. Firstly, food products obtained in this way are more useful and completely safe for human health, which cannot always be said about the products of industrial farming and animal husbandry.

Secondly, organic farming causes minimal harm to the environment. Ideally, there should be no negative effect at all, but the fundamental feasibility of this is still doubtful. This goal is no less important, because in the end it also succeeds in protecting the health of people, and of all, and not just those who eat organic products.

In fact, organic production in agriculture seeks to adapt the need of mankind for artificially grown food to the laws of nature, to make this industry part of the ecosystem. In this sense, industrial agriculture is on the opposite side of the scale, where attempts are being made to transform nature and subordinate it to the need to produce as much food as possible, often to the detriment of both nature and people themselves.

The goals pursued by the supporters of organic farming and animal husbandry also determine the set of methods with which they have to operate. By and large, this is traditional agriculture, as it was a century ago, but only improved by modern knowledge about the laws of nature and modern agricultural equipment.

All methods are based on the principle of biological synergy:

• rejection of synthetic plant protection products, use of existing biological analogues;
• the use of organic compounds in agriculture (manure, plant residues, etc.) as fertilizers;
• strict adherence to crop rotation to control weeds, pests and to restore soil fertility;
• the company operates on a closed cycle of farming and animal husbandry (crop production provides animal feed, animals provide fertilizer for the fields).

Although fast-dissolving synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are banned, in rare cases where there is a high risk of yield loss and biological methods fail, occasional chemical applications are allowed.

Organic animal husbandry, in addition to the rejection of synthetic food additives, stimulants and hormones, also provides for keeping animals in conditions close to their natural way of life. This, for example, means that during the summer period cattle must certainly graze on natural pastures, and year-round stall keeping is not allowed.

The International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement (IFOAM) declares four basic principles on which the whole concept of organic farming and animal husbandry is based. In addition, these principles are embedded in the standards of European legislation governing the market for organic products.

The basic principles of organic agriculture in general are based on two main goals, which have already been mentioned at the beginning. This short list includes:

Profitability of organic farming

The weak point of organic agriculture, which is why most farmers refrain from switching to this method of production, is the significantly higher cost of production compared to industrial agriculture. For most farmers, the ideological component alone is not enough for them to decide to go into organic farming. Profit is still more important for them, and it’s hard to blame them for this, given that agriculture is already difficult to call a highly profitable type of business.

In temperate regions where conventional industrial farming produces the richest yields, the transition to organic farming in agriculture reduces yields by 10-50%. Of course, much depends on the specific crop and the technologies used before, but in any case, the drop in yield is quite noticeable. At the same time, over time (for 3-5 years), as the farmer accumulates experience in working in new conditions, the yield is partially restored, but still does not reach the previous indicators.

In addition to lower production volume, profitability is also affected by higher labor costs. Some operations that were previously easily accomplished through the abundant use of herbicides and pesticides, the farmer now has to entrust his workers to do everything by hand.

The full-cycle nature of organic agriculture partly allows minimizing costs. The correct approach here provides for non-waste production in the presence of both crop and livestock activities. Crop waste is used as animal feed and bedding, which in turn provide fertilizer to the fields.

And yet, while the cost of organic products remains higher, which means that the retail price for it is also higher. In wealthy Western countries, where the population does not save on food, people who are concerned about their health are willing to pay more for healthy products. Accordingly, even losing in price, those farmers who use only organic compounds in agriculture still find their buyer in Europe and America, occupying a significant market share there.

In Russia, where the majority of the population buys food products, focusing primarily on their cost, and not on quality, the market niche for organic producers is extremely small. In fact, a sufficient number of buyers who are willing to pay more for healthier food are available only in Moscow, St. Petersburg and some other large cities.

Thus, we can safely say that without significant support from the state, the production of organic products in Russia will develop at an extremely low pace in the coming years. And with recent economic turmoil, there is likely to even be a pullback as the already small market shrinks.

Law on organic agriculture in Russia

In addition to the already indicated economic component, due to which organic products do not find mass demand in Russia today, certain difficulties also arise due to a lack of understanding of the problem by the majority of the population, as well as due to the lack of a law on organic agriculture in Russia.

For the most part, Russians do not share the concerns of many Europeans about food safety. Our people are used to being wary of canned and other highly processed foods, but for some reason, fresh fruits and vegetables are by default perceived by the majority as completely safe and healthy food.

Due to the fact that an ordinary city dweller has a very vague idea of ​​how many different chemicals are used at different stages of growing the same tomatoes and apples, he simply does not see a fundamental difference between conventional and organic products. Moreover, ordinary fruits / vegetables often look prettier and always cost less, and therefore they attract the attention of an ordinary buyer who does not understand and often does not want to understand the underlying cause of this difference.

It cannot be said that the emergence of a law on organic agriculture could radically change the situation in the food market. However, the fact that its absence is definitely not in favor of organic producers. Today in our country there are three standards for such products, but the need for a full-fledged law is still felt, since it is he who could create uniform rules for all organic producers. And already on the basis of this, one could talk about plans to popularize natural products among consumers.

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27.12.2016

In Ukraine, chickens are raised, one might say, exclusively thanks to conventional methods, in huge poultry houses and cramped cages without access to natural light and the ability to move freely.

At the moment, there are only four successful family-type farms in the country that contain certified organic chickens and are engaged in the production of organic eggs and chicken. The low interest of producers in organic poultry farming is difficult to explain, because organic chicken rearing is relatively low-cost and provides a quick return on investment. Young hens start laying eggs as early as 5 months old, and roosters can be slaughtered for meat as early as four months old.

Before we find out what organic poultry farming is, and what are the features of organic chickens and eggs, we will understand the process of breeding chickens in industrial poultry farms. The only goal of giant poultry houses is to obtain eggs and meat at the lowest possible price. As you know, in such poultry farms, in small areas, several thousand birds of special hybrid breeds are kept, oriented to a high yield of meat or eggs. Chickens are kept in dozens in small cramped cages without access to natural light and fresh air. The birds are fed exclusively with high-fat grains and growth hormones to cause a rapid build-up of muscle and adipose tissue, so after 1.5-2 months they are sent for slaughter. In case of illness, birds are treated with antibiotics and chemical drugs for a quick recovery. Such conditions of detention do not meet any sanitary and ethical standards for the treatment of animals. On industrial farms, the conveyor works solely to meet the financial needs of the enterprise, not caring about either the health of consumers or the well-being of the animals themselves.

Organic chicken farm at home

1) Where to start?

In order to be able to start organic chicken breeding, it is first necessary to take care of organic chickens. To receive organic certification, chickens must be of purely organic origin. Your best bet is to look for young at local organic farms that can guarantee organic origin and care for their chicks, or purchase certified eggs and build your own incubator. Visit the farm in person before purchasing young stock to ensure that the chickens are well maintained and certified organic.

2) Raising chickens

Little chickens need special conditions - a well-equipped place to sleep, constant warmth, the presence of fresh fresh water and special organic food for young animals. This food contains all the important nutrients for early growth and development. Organic chicks can only be fed "starter" feed for the first 12 weeks.

From the age of 4-5 months, the chicks should be able to roam freely in the fresh air, but at night it is still necessary to keep the temperature in the room at least 60 ° C until the chicks are eight weeks old.

3) Keeping chickens

According to organic standards, chickens are prohibited from being kept in small cages or in a limited fenced area. The territory of the poultry house should be large enough for the chickens to be able to move freely all day and satisfy their natural needs: run, graze all day on the grass, hunt insects, etc. In addition to stationary equipped poultry houses, the practice of organic poultry farming also allows you to keep chickens in mobile chicken coops - a tractor transports such a chicken coop from territory to territory, providing birds with a new pasture and a source of insects, worms and beetles.

In addition to a free area for walking, chickens should have a room where they can hide at night and in bad weather. The chicken coop should be spacious with a large hall lined with straw or sawdust, and also have a separate cozy room for sleeping, nesting and laying eggs. Another important condition is the ventilation and lighting of the chicken coop to ensure the excellent health of the birds. Chickens have very sensitive lungs, so the air in the chicken coop must always be clean and fresh.

For roosting, it is important to build a spacious, elevated perch, as the hens are looking for a high and safe place to sleep. You don’t have to worry about the temperature regime for adult chickens, because feathers serve as an insulator and protect birds well from the cold even in winter. For laying hens, it is worth taking care of arranging cozy nests - one nest for every three hens is enough.

4) Organic food

There are offers on the market for the sale of ready-made certified organic feed, but they can be too expensive. It's cheaper to buy certified organic grains and mix your own grain feed mixes. And it’s even better and more efficient to grow organic grain yourself on your own farm, ensuring a closed cycle and transparency of your production.

Organic chicken feeds may vary depending on the breed of bird. For example, laying hen feed may have a higher protein and calcium content to help build strong egg shells. Feed for broilers that are fattened for meat may be more nutritious for more efficient muscle building. In addition, in any case, bird feed can be enriched with natural vitamins and minerals.

There are already ready-made organic mixtures of whole grains for feeding birds on the market. Usually such mixtures consist of whole grain wheat, corn and oats. It is also common to add seeds of high-protein crops (in particular, alfalfa or kelp, as well as flax and sunflower seeds) to such mixtures.

In addition to grain, solid particles such as coarse sand, gravel, shell rock and limestone, which are an important element in the digestion of animals, are necessary in the feeding of birds, since they do not have teeth. Free-range chickens usually find the pebbles they need on their own, but you can arrange additional feeders with crushed granite and limestone.

5) Treatment of diseases

When it comes to diseases of chickens grown on organic farms, it should be noted that the incidence of diseases in organic chickens is lower than in industrial poultry farming. Organic production is primarily focused on preventing diseases by creating appropriate healthy conditions for keeping animals, rather than treating already diagnosed diseases.

The main causes of diseases of chickens in poultry farms are overcrowding, as well as poor-quality and unbalanced nutrition. Organic poultry farming eliminates these two factors by taking care of proper sanitation, sound field adjustment and pasture rotation for pest prevention and a balanced diet. If diseases nevertheless occur, sick birds are urgently isolated from the group and treated with homeopathic remedies permitted by the standards. But antibiotics are never used in organic animal husbandry.

Requirements for organic poultry farming:

Chickens must come from an organic farm;

Feed must be exclusively certified and organic;

It is not allowed to use animal by-products for feed;

Birds must have enough space to move around;

In chicken coops it is necessary to maintain sanitary standards;

The use of antibiotics, growth stimulants, hormones, GMOs is prohibited.

Raising chickens and producing eggs organically means, first of all, raising birds in a healthy, safe and comfortable environment. Healthy chickens are happy birds, which in turn provide humans with healthy eggs and meat, which are part of a sustainable way of life.

Evgenia Ivanova

There are more than 200 producers of organic products in Ukraine. We decided to compile a list of the 20 most interesting of them.

April 25 in Kyiv, on the street. Mechnikova 9 in the Good Wine store will host "Farmer's Day" - a meeting of Ukrainian producers of natural products. Here you will be able to communicate live with people who create environmentally friendly products.

So, the 20 most interesting manufacturers of natural products (actually, there were a little more of them) and we will start with perhaps the smallest and least known:

Eco-farm Motherfarm is located near Kyiv in the village of Malye Lesovtsy.

The idea of ​​our farm "Motherfarm" developed gradually, from a small house in the countryside. At first, there was a desire to provide only my family with natural products, because many of the products that you can buy in supermarkets are products of the chemical industry. But then other people, mostly friends, began to ask to cook for them. Then, friends of friends, etc. Thus the farm was born. Some friends started joining to work together on this project.

Today, the Motherfarm farm produces: milk, cottage cheese, sour cream, butter and cheeses.

Leleka - organic eggs

There is an organic farm "Leleka-92" in the village. New Liman, Kharkiv region.

“Our mission is to produce a 100% natural, ecological Ukrainian product, grown with love on the fertile Carpathian land, so that our consumers can consume juicy and environmentally friendly apples and natural fresh juice with pride and pleasure. We want the “made in Ukraine” brand to take pride of place in the hearts and on the tables of real Ukrainians... A healthy lifestyle and the consumption of only natural products is our philosophy, which we strive to convey to our consumers,” says Nazar Romaniv.

This farm was created as a family business producing exclusively organic food. It could not be otherwise, because initially it was about the health of the child. It so happened that the couple of Andrei and Victoria often had a daughter, Ksenia, who even had to move to Germany for a while. There, doctors advised to pay special attention to Xenia's healthy diet.

As a result, a lawyer dad and a linguist mom bought a former collective farm in the Zhytomyr region and for the sake of their daughter they took up agriculture - crop production and animal husbandry.

Today, Polesie-Invest is the first company in Ukraine that has been certified for organic animal husbandry, 100% provided with its own feed, also certified as organic. Basically, ducks, geese, turkeys, sheep, guinea fowl and pheasants are grown on the farm.

To start his eco-farm, Pavel Tizesh bought out an old, dilapidated building where tobacco used to be dried. In the building, which was 110 years old, only adobe walls remained. Today, here is the first museum of a lekvar in Ukraine and a tasting room.

His farm is located in the vicinity of Rakhiv, Yasin.
The farm processes plums, blueberries, lingonberries, wild raspberries, strawberries, cornelian cherry, apples, red currants, chokeberries. Lekvar, juices and syrups are made from them. 5 people work at the production site, including Pavel Pavlovich himself. Under the brand name "Pan Eco" today 15 types of bio-products are produced with an organic certificate EuroLeaf.

Growing white and green asparagus has become a private project of the Boden family in the village of Lyubimovka. Johan Boden loved to cook, and his wife Larisa liked to grow. And about eight years ago, she felt that it was time to grow asparagus. Her husband often brought her from trips to Holland in the spring, but it was expensive and the taste of asparagus was lost due to the long transportation without refrigeration. They were helped in the beginning of the project by the German Falk Nebiger, a restaurateur-entrepreneur and his father, who knew how to grow asparagus.

The farm is located in Kakhovka, Kherson region.

Vyacheslav Tsuprikov, the founder of the Gogolmed organization, produces honey in the Orzhitsky district of the Poltava region, one of the few places in Ukraine that is practically not affected by industrial production.
The main philosophy is a humane attitude towards bees.

The total area of ​​forests, meadows and swamps is 2000 ha. Lindens, acacias, chestnuts, oaks grow here, which provide support for wild bee populations. Creating and maintaining safe conditions for the life of bees helps to increase the number of their colonies, and thus contributes to their salvation.
Bees collect nectar from wild plants in meadows and forests or from agricultural fields where organic farming is practiced. The bees are not subjected to the stress associated with transporting hives, which is often practiced by other beekeepers. The bees are left with 75% of the honey they make, so sugar is never used for feeding.
“Our honey is the best in Ukraine!” - the participants of the public ecological organization “Gogolmed. Save the bees - save the world!
In terms of quality, it is not inferior, but somewhere superior to Bashkir honey, New Zealand Manuka honey and Israeli Life Mel Honey, which are considered to be the best in the world.

Apiary Leonik Kolomiets

The owner knows almost everything about bees and their product (pollen, propolis, dead bees, wax moth) and openly shares his professional achievements as a beekeeper.
The apiary is located in the town of Tysmenitsa, Ivano-Frankivsk region, and has about fifty beehives.

And what other organic farms and producers of natural products in Ukraine would you include in this list? Write in the comments.