DEPARTMENT OF

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

DPI Organic
Newsletter
June, 2006 Volume 5, Issue 2

Inside this issue: Organic lamb—what are the economic

ECO-V at Bendigo 2
returns to producers?
Organic horticulture— 3
north west supply chains The DPI Organic Lamb project has now result.
produced prime lambs from both annual The results (Table 1) show that finishing
Perennial Pasture 3 and perennial finishing systems in the lambs on annual pasture in 2005 was gen-
Persistence 2005 season. The project investigated erally more profitable per hectare than fin-
four groups of lambs: two groups of ishing them on perennial pasture ($167.51
Organic Industry news 4
lambs were finished on annual pasture compared with $119.83). This result is not
and sold in late October, with one of surprising given the high rainfall, substan-
these groups supplemented with tial pasture growth that occurred in spring
Coming Events: additional protein in the form of organic last year, resulting in heavier lambs.
soya bean meal. The other two groups Supplementing the organic lambs with or-
of lambs were finished on perennial ganic soya bean meal resulted in better re-
• Organic Expo 2006
pasture and sold in mid December, also turns compared with non-supplemented
Sydney Exhibition with one group fed soya bean meal. organic lambs, irrespective of the finishing
Centre, Darling We have now completed an economic system. There was a 30% increase in re-
Harbour, July 21-23 analysis that takes into account the cost turns per hectare with supplementation on
of pasture establishment, and compares annual pasture compared with a 21% in-
Www.organicexpo.com. the performance of the organic lambs crease in returns from lambs finished on
au with lambs finished within a conventional perennial pasture.
• 3rd National Organic system. Conventional lambs provided less returns
Conference, Solutions The pasture establishment costs are per hectare than organic lambs when fin-
to Climate Change, included in the gross margin analysis ished on annual pasture, but compared fa-
Sydney Convention because this provides an accurate vourably with non-supplemented organic
Centre, Darling assessment of the true costs of lambs off perennial pasture.
Harbour, July 22-23, establishing a pasture finishing system Lambs from the 2006 season will be fin-
contact (02) 9319 1228 that is suitable for organic production. ished on both systems again this year so
The cost of establishing pasture will that a repeat set of data can be obtained
• 2nd Queensland diminish over time. The organic for comparison. These economic results
Organic Conference, certification costs are not included in the should be used with caution as the 2005
Beerwah, QLD, analysis because this is a fixed cost each season was exceptional for pasture growth
September 1-2, contact year and its effect is reduced with more and would not represent a typical spring
Keith Morris on lambs sold. The experimental program season in this area. For more information
0500581469 sold only a small number of lambs and about these results, please contact the pro-
this cost would have distorted the ject leader, Viv Burnett on (02) 60304500.
• Vegetarian Food and
Natural Products Show,
Dallas Brooks Centre, Table 1: Gross margin for lambs finished on annual and perennial
300 Albert Street, East pastures established in 2004 (Source: J. Tocker (DPI, Agribusiness)
Melbourne, September Pastures Measures Groups
8-10, contact Nana
Conven-
Laxman on 03 9667
Organic Organic tional
0207
supple- Non-suppl-
• Introduction to Bio-
(All figures in $) mented emented
dynamics - A MALT
Farm project, Annual Pasture per hectare 211.37 147.88 143.29
September 30, contact per lamb 22.55 15.77 15.28
per kg of weight gain 0.8672 0.7170 0.5459
Perennial Pasture per hectare 132.66 105.25 121.58
per lamb 14.15 11.23 12.97
per kg of weight gain 0.8324 0.7586 0.5895
 Page 2 DPI Organic Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 2

ECO-V connects
consumers with
farmers to think
globally, act locally
Over 4,000 people attended the inaugural ECO-V Organ-
ics and Sustainability Show held at the Bendigo Exhibi-
tion Centre on the weekend of May 5-7. The Depart-
ment of Primary Industries was a platinum sponsor of
the event and also contributed to the event by having a
display with information on organic farming systems
and environmental management systems available for
visitors. The Show was opened by the Federal Parlia-
mentary Secretary for Agriculture, Sussan Ley (MP) in
conjunction with the Victorian Government Parliamen- Above from left: Geoff Howard (MP), Brian Abbott (ECO-V
tary Secretary for Agriculture, Geoff Howard (MP). organiser) and Sussan Ley (MP) officially open the ECO-V
event.
Exhibitors included a wide range of Victorian organic
food and beverage companies, environmentally sustain-
able products and services, organic certification agen-
cies, and organic producer co-operatives.

The ECO-V event was organized to “celebrate the global

nature of both organics and environmental sustainabil-
ity – empowering more people to live by the adage of
“Think Globally, Act Locally.” ECO-V aims to be the larg-
est eco-living show in Victoria with the most compre-
hensive display of organic and bio-dynamic products,
and the biggest exhibition of environmentally friendly
products and services.

Preliminary evaluation of the event has indicated that

about 30% of visitors were from the Bendigo area, with
large clusters of people from the northeast region, and
from the Ballarat region attending. Exit polls of visitors
have indicated high levels of enthusiasm for the event
and the displays. The Show is on again next year and
for those interested in attending or exhibiting, see the
Above from left: Jim Moran (DPI, Bendigo), Viv Burnett (DPI,
website at www.ecov.net.au.
Rutherglen) and Geoff Howard (MP), Parliamentary Secre-
tary for Agriculture at the DPI stand at ECO-V.

Below: Michelle Smith (DPI, Rutherglen) answers pro- Below: Paige Campbell (DPI, Swan Hill) on the Murray Mallee
ducer inquiries at ECO-V. organics stand at ECO-V.
 Page 3 DPI Organic Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 2

North west organic horticulture

- developing capacity for demand
The Department of Primary Industries through its Agribusiness arm, has recently com-
pleted a project that aimed to map organic horticulture supply chains in the north west
region of the state. This area includes Mildura in the north, to Merbein, south along
the Murray River horticulture belt to Swan Hill and further south to Bendigo, Sutton
Grange and Taradale. The objective of the project was to ascertain what is grown, how
much is grown and when it is grown, so that better matches can be made with local
supply, and export buyers.

Thirty organic producers were surveyed in 2005, from Merbein to Taradale, represent-
ing over 1,200 hectares of certified land. The producers were registered with National
Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA), Australian Certified Organic
(ACO), Organic Growers of Australia (OGA) and Biodynamic Research Institute (BDRI).
The range of produce from the region is extensive, and includes; fruit, vegetables,
herbs, nuts and olives.

Some of the issues identified through the project include selling all organic product
domestically without flooding the market, overcoming the challenges of volatile supply
and demand characteristic of an emerging market, and facilitating the export of or-
ganic product, especially when there is oversupply domestically, and sourcing practical
information on production and marketing issues. For more information about this
work, please contact Paige Campbell at Swan Hill on (03) 5033 1290.

Perennial pasture persistence

it’s all about grazing management
Perennial pastures are vital to the long term sustainability of our dry-land farming systems. The Department of Pri-
mary Industries in conjunction with the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation is funding a project
that aims to learn more about how these pastures might be established within an organic farming system. So far we
have successfully established a range of species including phalaris, fescue, lucerne and plantain. But how do we get
these species to persist, once they are established? Given that we have a variable climate with unpredictable rainfall
events and long periods of dry weather (such as we are experiencing now), it is very important to understand how
newly established perennial species survive and grow.
Productive growth is dependent on the availability of water soluble carbohydrates within the plant. The production of
water soluble carbohydrates is in turn dependent on the process of photosynthesis. If plants are grazed too low, wa-
ter soluble carbohydrates are depleted thereby weakening the plant and resulting in less growth. The aim with any
pasture species is to keep sufficient leaf area available for photosynthetic activity and the production of carbohy-
drates for continued growth (see Figure

Above: Tall fescue emerging with lucerne.

Figure 1. Water soluble carbohydrates in ryegrass plants. Above: Tall fescue plant one year after
(Source: G. McLarty (DPI, Seymour) establishment.
Page 4 DPI Organic Newsletter V o l u m e 5 , I s s ue 2

Useful Contacts for Organic Producers Organic Industry News

• Organic Federation of Australia • The New Zealand Government has demonstrated
its commitment to the organic sector by funding
Ph. 02 9299 8016 www.ofa.org.au Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ), the peak
• Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) industry body for NZ$3.8 million. The funding has
been divided into two parts: 1. Seed funding of $NZ
Ph. 07 3350 5716 www.bfa.com.au
1.5 million to the year ending 30th June 2008 to run
• National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia OANZ 2. Funding of $NZ 2.3 million for the three
(NASAA) years to 30 June 2009 to establish an organic advi-
Ph. 08 8370 8455 www.nasaa.com.au sory service.

• Biodynamic Research Institute • Consumer Demand for Organics Explode Whilst

Supply Dwindles Not enough U.S. farmers are find-
Ph. 03 5966 7333 ing it possible to make the transition to organic pro-
• Organic Growers of Australia duction, according to a January 2006 marketing re-
port from the research firm Organic Monitor in Lon-
Ph. 03 6622 0100
don. Domestic consumers are buying record
• Organic Food Chain amounts of organic foods, but farmers are unable to
Ph. 07 4637 2600 meet that demand, resulting in $1.5 billion of or-
ganic crops imported into the U.S. in 2005. This
• Organic Red-Meat Marketing Group means that 10% of all organic sales in the U.S. today
are imports.
Ph. 03 5663 5525 (Shane Blundy)
• East Gippsland Organic Agriculture Association • Organic Supermarket Chain Continues to Grow
Whole Foods now has 181 stores throughout the U.
Ph. 03 5157 1586 (Robyn Grant) S., Canada and the UK. The company went public in
1991 with just 10 stores, about 1,100 employees
• North East Ecological Farmers and a stock selling at USD 4.25 a share. Now Whole
Ph. 03 5792 1139 (Norman Tozer) Foods has nearly 40,000 employees and a stock
price trading in the USD 65 range. Whole Foods
• Central Victorian Organic Growers
closed its fiscal year in last September with USD 4.7
Ph. 03 5343 5387 billion in sales and a USD 136 million profit. The
• Biodynamic AgriCulture Australia goals are USD 12 billion in sales by 2010, reports
Ph. (02) 6655 0566 www.biodynamics.net.au MercuryNews.com.
• Murray Mallee Organic Growers
Ph. (03) 5034 0537 (Dianne Nalder) • Check out the Organic Federation of Australia web-
site for these stories and more: www.ofa.org.au

Look for these Agnotes on the DPI website: www.dpi.vic.gov.au

Organic farming: The certification process
Organic Farming: Risk management planning for
contamination risks
Organic farming: Broadacre weed management
Organic Farming: Canola production and marketing
Organic Farming: Wheat production and marketing
Organic Farming: Prime lamb production
Organic farming: Green manures for vegetable cropping
Organic Farming: Which Green Manure Should I Grow?
Organic farming: Carrot production and marketing
Organic farming: Weed control in organic carrots -
Implements
Organic Farming: Alternatives to treated vineyard posts
Organic Farming: Managing grapevine downy mildew
Organic Farming: Managing grapevine powdery mildew
Organic farming: Vineyard weed management

Department of Primary Industries Key Contacts

Viv Burnett (Broadacre crops and pastures) 02 6030 4500 Rutherglen viv.burnett@dpi.vic.gov.au

David Madge (Horticulture) 03 5051 4557 Mildura david.madge@dpi.vic.gov.au

Michelle Smith (Pastures and Prime Lamb) 02 6030 4500 Rutherglen michelle.smith@dpi.vic.gov.au

Paige Campbell (Horticulture) 03 5036 4842 Swan Hill paige.campbell@dpi.vic.gov.au

© State of Victoria, Department of Primary Industries, June, 2006.

DISCLAIMER
This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is
without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss
or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.