Farming on the Middle Path

For growers, going organic isn't easy

by SPRING GILLARD

Claus Beckmann grows strawberries and blueberries on his 20-acre farm east of Mission. A few years ago, he decided to convert his berry farm from conventional to organic. He signed on with a certification body and paid the annual fee of $1,700 plus a cut of all crop sales. In the first year, he lost about 30 per cent of his crop. In the second “transitional” year, he lost 50 per cent and decided to revert to conventional, so he wouldn’t lose his farm.

What happened? Why couldn’t this farmer go organic?

“There was no educational support,” says Beckmann. “I really wanted to make it work, but blueberries are very tricky in our climate—especially on the north side of the Frazer and east side of the Valley. With so much rain, the blueberries and strawberries are very susceptible to fungus.” One of the common deadly blueberry fungi is “mummy berry.” Just before harvest, when the blueberries are looking their best—big, blue, and mouthwatering—they suddenly turn brown and begin to ooze a bilious liquid, then shrivel into hard “mummies” before falling to the ground.

“We spent a fortune covering the fields with sawdust,” said Beckmann, referring to the recommended organic solution that buries the affected fruit, smothering the spores so they don’t infect the plants. “But because of the continuing rain, we still lost 30 per cent of the crop.”

Beckmann did attend one workshop a few years ago. It was put on by the Certified Organic Associations of B.C. (COABC), an organization
that advocates for the organics industry and accredits certifying bodies. There are currently 11 organic certification bodies in the province.

“It was all about the food supply and the good we are doing by farming organically. All the dream-like ideas, and I agree with them,” said Beckmann. “But we are a family business. It’s me, my wife, and my four kids. We have to pay our mortgage. We have to buy fuel for our tractor. We have to survive.”

And mummies weren’t the only problem haunting this farmer. Beckmann has four hectares planted in blueberries and two in strawberries, and the remaining two are left to nature. Unfortunately, the wildlife does not stick to those. Coyote, bear, cougar, and mice roam his land. He calculates there are about 1,500 mice per hectare on his farm. Blueberry roots are a delicacy. The mice literally sit down and devour the root system. They used to have 13 cats controlling the mice population. But then the coyotes began eating the cats. And bears not only eat the fruit, they chase the pickers.

“How do I deal with that, organically?” Beckmann wanted to know. “There was just no practical help.”

Deb Foote, president of COABC, says Beckmann’s story is not uncommon. Some farmers choose not to go organic because of the expense or certain restrictions and they find a kind of middle ground. “Berry farmers, especially, have challenges in our wet climate,” says Foote. And she agrees the educational support is critical to the success of organic farmers. “We’ve approached the provincial government to fund an educational outreach position. That person’s primary job would be to help farmers make the transition from conventional to organic.” In order to survive, Beckmann has developed his own middle-path farming. He applies fungicide and weed control in the early spring but neither the flower nor the fruit is ever sprayed. He uses an organic fish fertilizer and a conventional fertilizer. He has 20 beehives, and about 200,000 bees that pollinate the plants. The fruit is all hand-picked, cleaned, and sorted by pickers who have been in his employ for years.

“Sure, it’s hard work,” says Beckmann. “But we love what we do. It’s a choice.” He still loses about 20 per cent of his crop by farming on the middle path, but that’s a sacrifice he is willing to make for his customers.

Clearly, his customers appreciate the loving care and attention he puts into growing the fruit. Beckmann’s booth is swarmed at farmers’ markets. They do four a week, including the popular Trout Lake Market on Saturdays. He regularly sells 1,000 kg of blueberries in a day there, and 250 kg of strawberries. They also have direct sales and u-pick at the farm.

“Customers buy with their eyes,” says Beckmann. “We have customers who used to buy organic, but they buy from us now because of the quality and the flavour.”

Spring Gillard is author of Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator: Edible Essays on City Farming (New Society, 2003). She is a member of the Vancouver Food Policy Council. To find out when Beckmann Berry Farm will be at a farmers’ market near you, go to eatlocal.org.

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