Bob Quinn, a 4th-generation Montana farmer, works the fertile soil between the isolated Bear's Paw Mountains and the Missouri River Breaks in North Central Montana. Quinn Farm and Ranch converted to organic production in 1988, and now the 2,400 acre family farm produces 100% organic hard red winter and spring wheat, soft white spring wheat, alfalfa hay, peas, lentils, buckwheat, and durum. A partnership with another farmer increased crop production to 3,200 acres, with an additional 800 acres of leased pasture.

Bob got into organic farming to experiment with the idea of growing his own fertilizer. "I had always been intrigued with the idea. I thought I might be able to reduce my costs of production and improve the quality of my product. I met with some folks who'd had success with it, and within 3 years we eliminated all chemical inputs. Frankly, we went a bit too fast."

Bob Quinn

It hasn't hurt the bottom line, however. Input costs are down 75-85%, and the organic markets Bob has tapped bring a 30% premium in a good grain year. "This year with grain prices so low, it's more like a 100% premium. Organic markets don't fluctuate nearly as much as conventional markets do."

Furthermore, says Bob, "Organic farming is a lot more fun. When you meet other organic growers, they're upbeat. They have a positive outlook on their profession. That's a marked difference from the majority of agriculture today, and it makes a big difference to me. Not just because I'm making more money, but people come up to me and tell me how much they appreciate the food I grow for their family. I never had that experience when I was a conventional farmer."

Bob's philosophy is to "farm in a way that you can continue to produce a profit without sacrificing the quality of crops or the quality of the land. We operate on the principle of growing our own inputs, rather than buying high-cost inputs to grow crops and manage weeds, insects and disease. Our goal is to reduce the cost of inputs and increase the value of output. To do this, we try to mimic the natural systems that already exist in a native pasture, beginning with a soil building component. The natural system has legumes to add nitrogen to the soil, so we grow legumes. The native system has diversity to resist pests and diseases. Plants are usually susceptible to specific pests or diseases, so with a diversity of crops, if a blight or insect moves in you may lose one species, but you have others that survive. By growing a different crop in each field each year, we break up the cycles of diseases, pests and weeds."

At the same time, Bob markets to maximize the value of his crops. In 1983, he started a company called Montana Flour and Grain to market directly to whole grain bakeries. In 1985, he added a flour mill, and, in 1992, a cleaning plant. As he converted the farm to organic, he also converted the marketing business, so by 1993 he was selling 100% organic.

The business soon grew beyond what his own farm could supply, and now serves as a marketing arm for many organic farmers in the area. The company now employs ten people, and ships grain to thirty states and ten foreign countries. As the organic market is constantly changing, it has been important to keep up with market trends and advise farmers on what they can grow and sell through the company.

In 1999, Bob sold Montana Flour and Grain to an employee and focused all his energy on a new project - selling khorasan wheat, an ancient Egyptian relative of durum, under the brand name Kamut. "We started growing khorasan in 1986, in response to the interest of a small group of macrobiotics interested in a non-hybridized ancient grain. I only had the idea of producing small amounts of grain and selling them in one-pound bags. One of our distributors saw greater potential, and we started milling the grain and selling it to pasta manufacturers. We found the Kamut brand pasta was superior to other whole grain pastas. We next began selling khorasan grain to cereal manufacturers and bakeries. We are now selling over sixty products under the Kamut brand name, creating a valuable new crop for Montana farmers."

Kamut has three main qualities that make it special in the whole grain market: taste (it is sweeter and milder than other whole grain wheats); nutrition (it has a higher nutritional profile, including antioxidant vitamins and essential amino acids); and it is hypoallergenic for most people with wheat allergies.

"My goal with the Kamut project is to create a new type of partnership in food production between the farmer, manufacturer and consumer with no losers, only winners. The farmer is guaranteed a good price, the manufacturer is guaranteed an adequate quality supply, and the consumer is guaranteed consistent nutritious and delicious products."

The harvest

Selling Montana Flour and Grains has also allowed Bob to get back to farming in the summer, which was his first love. He likes to talk about his soil building program. "Organic farming focuses on feeding the soil rather than feeding the plants. Chemicals are very hard on the plants, animals and insects that serve necessary functions in healthy soil. Instead, our legumes add enormous biological material to the soil, and promote the population of microorganisms that break down the organic matter, feeding larger organisms. The net result is a field much higher in vitality. By nurturing and caring for the soil we have a base that naturally produces healthy and vigorous plants."

For 15 years Bob Quinn has practiced organic agriculture and promoted it around the state and nation, first helping to pass the Montana organic labeling law, and then pushing for the inclusion of organic standards in the 1990 Farm Bill. He served as one of 14 original members of the National Organic Standards Board, and also helped form the Montana chapter of the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA), the organization which has certified his farm since 1997.

"The problem with agriculture today," says Bob, "are two spiraling cycles that are squeezing farmers off the land: upward spiraling costs and downward spiraling returns. Most people don't believe organic production is viable, they are told so every day by chemical companies. So they look to bio-technology, once again looking for the 'magic bullet' to save agriculture with some technical fix. So the cost spirals upward again. Biotechnology is making farmers more and more dependent on inputs from companies, from seed to chemicals. You have to buy the genetically engineered seed from the company and the chemicals that go with them to grow successfully."

"This is the crunch that most agriculturalists find themselves in. Sustainable agriculture provides an alternative to those spiraling cycles. If we learn to farm in such a way that we reduce our inputs and increase the value of our outputs, we can survive without having to buy out the neighbors, and constantly get bigger and bigger. Now we need to work on perfecting the process, learning more about it so it is more easily adapted to different places. We need to share our successes and our pitfalls to help others make a smooth conversion."

"In the beginning everyone said it was crazy to go organic, that we didn't stand a chance. Now people are starting to see that we've been successful most years, and they are asking a lot of questions."

Bob Quinn
Quinn Farm and Ranch
Hc 77, Box 808
Big Sandy, MT 59520
Tel: (406) 378-3105
7rmquinn@3rivers.net

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