Page 21 - Farm and Food Policy Strategies for 2040 Series

we have a huge pile of product to sell,” says Clarkson Grain Company President and COO Ken
Dallmier. The 2040 winners, he predicts, will be producers with “a diverse operation
encompassing conventional production methods and organic or specialty products to
capture market value margin.”

For Dallmier, “Going all-in to organics may be just as bad a business plan as remaining stagnant
in the current market. Diversity in response to demand pull will be key to thriving in a 2040
economy.”

So, expect large conventional farming operations to get larger and more productive thanks to
breakthroughs in precision ag, robotics, and data-driven decision-making. But also expect
organic production and other alternative practices to continue to grow significantly in response to
consumer insistence on knowing what’s in their food, how it was raised, and which specific
farm, ranch or indoor artificially lighted repurposed downtown warehouse it comes from. At the
same time, smaller niche operations selling directly to consumers will continue to thrive.

Allen Williams – Straddling the production fence

Allen Williams certainly diversifies. He divides his 2,000-acre operation between organic

farming on the 500 acres that he owns and conventional farming on 1,500 acres of leased land to
respect landowners’ preferences.

The Illinois farmer says his long-time
commitment to organic is based on “sound
historical growth for organic demand”
and because “data suggests the demand
for organic is among all economic levels.”

He notes that organic production has been

around since agriculture began but now is
better than ever because “organic can utilize

most modern techniques in agriculture . . .

other than GM (genetically modified)

technology and the use of unapproved Illinois corn, soybean and organic grains farmer
pesticides and plant foods.”

Allen Williams

After considering other options, Williams

says he transitioned one of his farms to organic in 1994 because, “Organic production was

generating much more margin than conventional agriculture. I had barely survived the 1980s and
was looking for a sound production technique to avoid any future economic downturn.”

The result, he says, is that “organic not only rewarded me with larger net returns but also reduced

my footprint towards agricultural pollution and seemed to keep the funds spent closer to my
home base than my conventional production system.” He expects more conventional producers
to shift toward organics “with hope of increased profits” and with new organic provisions in the

2018 farm bill.

But Williams is no zealot. He says “there should be no animosity between these different

groups. From my standpoint, there is no need to claim superiority between methods, and
all involved just want the best for their family and farm.”

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