Initial Technical and Economic Comparisons of Different Farming Systems in Ontario, Canada

Three different farming systems for Ontario, Canada were compared from technical and economic standpoints. The conventional system farms relied upon government-prescribed rates of synthetic herbicides for weed management. Reduced-input system farms used crop rotations and tillage systems as partial substitutes for synthetic herbicide inputs. Organic system farms proscribed the use of synthetic herbicide treatments entirely, relying instead on crop choices and sequences, tillage methods, animal manure composting, and other management tools for weed control. All farm types had similar natural resource endowments, but conventional farms were the most specialized and operated the largest land base, while organic farms were the most diversified and smallest. Organic farmers expended the most time, effort and operating capital in controlling weeds, despite the lack of any expenditures on synthetic herbicides. However, organic farmers spent the least on seeds, overall labour and overall machinery operating (fuels, lubricants, repairs) costs for crop production, and spent nothing on synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. Total direct production costs for crops were least for organic farmers. Crop yield comparisons were equivocal, being highest for maize and fall cereals on reduced-input farms, and highest for beans but lowest for autumn cereals on organic farms. Organic farms received the highest unit market prices for all three crop types. Gross margins (gross revenues less total direct production costs) per hectare were highest for organic farms for all three crops, and lowest for conventional farms. When livestock and associated feed crop enterprises, plus cash crop enterprises other than maize, beans and autumn cereals, were included, total gross farm incomes were highest, on average, for conventional farms, being slightly ahead of those for organic farms. Farm business overheads were by far the lowest on organic farms and highest on conventional farms. This changed the rankings for total net farm incomes, which were highest for reduced-input farms, and lowest on conventional farms.