South Dakotas' Johnson family farms 1500 acres, profits naturally with NForganics

    With a seemingly colossal-sized organic grain farm at 1,500 acres of cropland, NForganics producers Charlie and Allan Johnson, Lake County, S.D., hosted a farm symposium and tour of their grain operation July 22.
    About 120 people in the organic food processing industry, producers, and South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture learned about organic production on the Johnsons’ farm.
    Cars, trucks and vans lined the gravel roads as Johnson showed and explained different portions of the operation, including weed control and crop rotation strategies, on-farm storage and machinery.
    Those in attendance also heard from the Johnsons’ neighbor, Dave Wilcox, an organic beef producer, and purchaser of NForganics grain. The event was sponsored by Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Organization.
    The farming brothers own 2,400 acres total. After the 1,500 in cropland, the balance encompasses building sites, slough and grass meadow. Much of the land was their father’s, and some was previously farmed by their Uncle William Johnson.
    Charlie explained how the Johnson family started in organic agriculture. “A little like the song says, we were organic before organic was cool,” he joked.
    Organic farming was a good cause, Johnson said. “It was a cause and a very strong purpose on behalf of my dad.”
    “They have a long history of being committed to the health of the land, and the health of their family,” said Tim Ennis, NForganics manager.
    Charlie explained a personal measurement for what his father wanted to put on the fields. “My dad was never comfortable with any type of input or product that he was going to put on the land that he couldn’t put on the tip of his tongue.”

NForganics
    The Johnsons’ father, Bernard, was a charter National Farmers member in their county, dating back to 1961. “We’re proud of that membership. We’ve marketed grain and livestock through National Farmers Organization. I believe in collective marketing.”
    And when it comes to marketing organics, the Johnsons were doing that before NForganics emerged in the National Farmers marketing brand lineup.
    “We were pioneers in developing National Farmers’ grain marketing in organics, NForganics,” he said. And NForganics belongs to OFARM, a group of organic producer associations devoted to sharing buyer and seller information and establishing target prices for producers.”
    “We have great resources in the people at NForganics,” Charlie said. “They know the markets, and know our operation,” he said.
    “They can talk to buyers and processors, and know what I expect as a producer, and represent a deal that’s good for Johnson farms, as for all the other NForganics farms,” he said.
    “They consider National Farmers their organization from start to finish,” Ennis added.

    Ennis highlights grower benefits of NForganics
    Why NForganics?
    Farmers are always concentrating on things that it takes to get the crop in the bin and away from the weather. A farmer may have ten places he wants to call to sell his organic grain. But they don’t treat him with respect because they think he’s just checking on the price, and doesn’t really want to sell. He would benefit from working with NForganics, to take care of marketing.
    NForganics offers the producer a full-service marketing program, from consulting with him about what others are receiving for that particular crop, to what buyers are willing to offer come harvest, and depending on his needs, what target price he should have.
    Producers benefit from our experience at NForganics of having done it before, and it’s just a weight off their shoulders, to have us talk to buyers about samples, and get lower discounts and more favorable prices.

    What should an organic producer consider?
    Rethink each crop individually in terms of a preconceived idea that a crop [can’t be sold] or is not profitable. Now, it’s probably not true, now probably somebody we could contract for them. For example, rye has a weed-suppressing effect, and it was not marketable in the past, now it’s in demand this year.
    What really makes what I do rewarding, is that Charlie and Allan Johnson (Madison, S.D.) are not alone in the world. Some are in the state of South Dakota, and all over, and they look at NForganics as their key right arm on the marketing side. Those best things that you see in the Johnson Farms operation, are in other operations, too.