Greg Meyer
AP-Organic Wheat
Certified organic wheat an expanding market
(Dalton, Nebraska) -- Wheat growers who are watching prices
scrape bottom may have an alternative that still lets them grow
wheat.
Some Nebraska growers have found it -- certified organic wheat.
It carries a 20-to-30 percent premium over the regular market
price.
The catch is that you can't go organic overnight. Organic means
no chemicals or pesticides have been used on the fields for at
least five years. Certified indicates the farm is inspected
annually and meets international standards.
Organic food can have an audit trail from the grocery shelf
through the distributor, processor, to the field on which it was
grown. A Nebraska grower says certified organic can prove the
audit.
The market for certified organic food is huge, and continues to
grow because of public demand.
(Copyright 1998 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-04-28-98 1623EDT