Farm Performance during the Transition to Organic Production: Analysis and Planning Tools Based on Minnesota Farm Record Data

As farmers consider transition to organic production, many express concerns about the cost of transition and about the lack of information regarding costs and returns during and after transition.These concerns can be significant impediments to the expansion of organic production at a time when demand for organic food products is growing rapidly.There are few published studies on the economics of organic transition, and little actual farm data on costs and returns during and after transition is available.The Tools for Transition (TFT) project was an integrated five-year research and extension project funded under the Organic Research and Extension Initiative of USDA's National Institute for Food and Agriculture.The project was designed to generate new insights about the economics of organic transition; create unique data resources for farmers, other agricultural professionals and lenders; and inform policymakers of the potential economic barriers to organic certification.The project had two inter-related long-term goals for addressing the need for farm-based information about farm financial performance during the transition from conventional to organic production:1. Collect data on farm performance measures during the transition to organic production and develop resources such as an online database and analysis tools to generate benchmark reports for crop and livestock enterprises and whole farm performance during transition.