BOULDER - When Wyatt Barnes started selling the produce from his Boulder-based Red Wagon Organic Farm at the Boulder Farmers' Market four years ago, he felt lucky if he made $300 a day.

Now, Barnes and farm co-owner Amy Tisdale often hit $3,000 a day.

With the growth of the nation's organic food industry, more pressure is being put on local farmers to produce with frequency. People with no farming experience whatsoever are being tempted to try their hand at organic farming as a way of building up a nest egg for retirement.

According to local growers, farming is no way to get rich quick - even if you're certified organic.

The organic market is growing at an average of 20 percent every year, according to Barnes. The size and costs of his farm, however, prevent him from selling to retailers and grocers. He sells the bulk of his produce through the Boulder Farmers' Market or his own stand at 95th Street and Arapahoe Road.

He and other local farmers belong to Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA - a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes the community's farm. Members pay a fee ranging from $450 to $650 at the beginning of the growing season. This allows them to go directly to CSA farms and pick up $20 worth of produce for a period of 22 weeks.

Barnes, like most other area farmers, sells whatever produce he can spare from his 20-acre farm to area restaurants. With the high demand, the pressure continues to force local farmers to try and produce more.

"There are dreadfully few of us," he said. "For produce such as vegetables, there are less than 10 organic farms in Boulder County."

In 2003, Barnes and Tisdale made $8,000 apiece before taxes. Last year, they each made roughly $30,000 each - after expenses but before taxes. Barnes said this amount is average for a small-scale organic farmer.

While it's been a good growing season, Barnes said staffing problems have made him so busy planting that he's had a hard time getting the necessary help to sell his eggplants,
onions and cherry tomatoes, which are still out in the field waiting to be harvested.

"People come to work here thinking they're going to save the world, and then they see what it's about - hard physical labor and long hours in the heat and the snow - and they lose interest," he said. "We get people who think they want to have their own farm but then they see how much work they have to do for so little pay."

With the high price of land, most of Boulder County's organic farmers lease the acres they farm. One of the few land owners is Karim Amirfathi. He owns the 7.5-acre Boulder Altan Alma Organic Farm, which produces more than 60 different kinds of sprouts, as well as vegetables, fruits and seeds. Much of Amirfathi's revenues are generated through sales at the Boulder Farmers' Market, area restaurants and juice bars.

Amirfathi said keeping a steady staff is one of his biggest challenges. With an average pay scale of $16,000 to $17,000 per year for hard work and long hours, many employees won't stay for long.

"The other problem is training them to do everything," he said. "If your employees forget to water the crop, it's gone. If bugs come, you can lose the harvest."

The Altan Alma Organic Farm is not yet certified because of the high costs involved. However, everything is guaranteed organic on the farm.

"Sometimes the smaller farms just can't afford to be certified," he said. "It can cost thousands of dollars."

According to Anne Cure, who co-owns the Boulder-based Cure Organic Farm with her husband, Paul, much of the cost of running an organic farm goes toward supplies and organic seeds - due to high demand there's not enough organic-certified seed to go to all the farms requiring it.

The six-acre Cure Farm is completely certified organic. In addition to vegetables, Cure also raises pigs, sheep and hens. It also has an apiary to produce honey. The Cure Farm generates revenue at the Boulder Farmers' Market, and it sells produce to restaurants in Boulder and Denver. Cure said she occasionally sells to Whole Foods Market whenever there's a particularly heavy crop.

Some farmers are tempted to grow their business with the high demand for organic products. Others prefer to grow the local industry instead.

"You can either get caught up in that rev to keep getting bigger, or you can encourage other farmers to step up and start providing food to the community as well," Cure said.
Cure Farms chose the latter.

To further this mission, Cure Farm takes on two interns every season and gives them the opportunity to learn all the aspects of running a farm. It also hosts a seven-week camp every summer where children can plant and harvest their own crops of vegetables, which are donated to area seniors.

The farm invites volunteers to come out on Thursday mornings and help plant and harvest in exchange for produce.

"We see the opportunity for growth, but all the farmers in the county are asking themselves if they want their business to grow. Farming is a lifestyle as well as a job,"
Cure said. "Organic farming is turning into a big business, and that wasn't the goal of the organic movement when it started in '70s. It was meant to connect community members with their farmers and get people back working on the land. We can't feed the whole county, but we can provide tools to teach them to feed themselves."