Organic Farmers place 1st and 2nd as Ontarioʼs Most Profitable Acres

Challenge tests business skills, measures profitability of corn and soybean crop.

Kurtis Peeters, an organic corn grower from Kawartha Lakes and producer for Organic Meadow Co-op is the winner of the Most Profitable Acre Challenge, a competition organized by the Agri-food Management Institute and presented in partnership with Grain Farmers of Ontario. The business skills competition looks at input costs, production practices, yield, marketing tactics, and business management practices to determine the farmer with the most profitable acre harvested in corn or soybean production in Ontario.

“The difference between a successful farmer and his polar opposite is almost always the way the farmer manages his business,” says Peeters. “Rarely are luck and chance to blame for a profitable farmer, though you could probably say winning this competition was chance.”

The corn and cows of Kurtis Peeters’ farm Helling Holsteins. Image courtesy of Organic Meadow Co-op.

Partly attributing his success to high organic crop prices in 2014, Peeters says knowing his cost of production and utilizing best business management techniques has influenced his bottom line year after year. To expedite efficiency and profitability, Peeters tracks his input costs, has a written marketing plan, is a member of a business management club, has a written business plan, and sees a farm advisor on a regular basis.

“ It definitely takes some last minute decision making out of the picture, which means less stress,” says Peeters, 26. “Plans and goals are essential to profitability.”

Mathieu Lauzon, an organic soybean grower from North Glengarry placed second in the Most Profitable Acre Challenge , and Jim Denys, an IP soybean grower from Huron County placed third. Nineteen farmers entered the competition.

“We are pleased to see farmers recognizing that proactive approaches to business through planning and best practice sharing create profitable, efficient operations, ” says Brenda Lammens, Board Chair of AMI. “It encourages all farmers to start dedicating as much time and effort to the management side of their business as they spend in the field.”

The winners will receive their awards at the Grain Farmers of Ontario March Classic in London, Ontario on March 24. For more information, please contact Carolyn Dowling, AMI Project Coordinator at 519-822-6618 or Carolyn@TakeANewApproach.ca.
Learn more about Kurtis Peeters’ farm Helling Holsteins here: http://www.organicmeadow.com/who_we_are/our_organic_farmers/helling_holsteins_the_peeters_family