Earthbridge Organic Consultant

Contact us now to start your organic journey

SERVICES

• Organic systems training for you and your staff
• Organic certification potential – onsite evaluation
• Guidance through organic certification process with both AsureQuality and BioGro
• Presentations on Understanding Organic certification
• Organic discussion group facilitation
• Independent organic systems audit
• Advice to regulators and compliance organisations

LINKS

BioGro (organic certifier) - https://www.biogro.co.nz/about-organics

AsureQuality (organic certifier) - https://www.asurequality.com/our-industries/organic-certification/

Organic Farm NZ (domestic certifier) - https://www.organicfarm.org.nz/

Biological Husbandry Unit (Lincoln University) - https://www.bhu.org.nz/future-farming-centre/

Organic Dairy & Pastoral Group - https://organicpastoral.co.nz/

OrganicAg - http://www.organicag.co.nz/

Organic Winegrowers - https://www.organicwinenz.com/

Organic Kiwifruit Growers - http://www.zesprikiwi.com/meet-our-growers/

My Organic Journey

My husband and I managed (then co-owned) a commercial export pipfruit orchard & packhouse in the Motueka area. I understand the ups and downs of primary production, the practicalities of working around weather events, the juggle for profitability and the satisfaction when things work out.

The orchard was the beginning of our organic journey. We went from a fully sprayed orchard to applying my Integrated Pest Management knowledge. After dropping out weed spraying we began to question all pesticide use. We’d reduced pesticide use by 60%. We also had natural predator/prey cycles working successfully in the orchard and had begun to tackle how to bring fertility into our orchard without using high analysis fertilisers. We researched, questioned, went to workshops, and joined an organic discussion group all in pursuit of furthering our organic knowledge. This all began 30 years ago, before the internet, before fertiliser companies and farming supply chains offered organic approved inputs. Before there were workshops on sustainability & biological soil management …. organic certification was 5 years old in NZ.

Today there is a wide range of inputs approved for use in certified organic operations but you don’t need to be certified to get started using them. There is a big range of information and industry experience available both in New Zealand and internationally (see links on this page). There are workshops and discussion groups, field days & industry support.