1. LUMBRICUS TERRESTRIS ARE THE MOST PROFITABLE 'CROP' FOR ONTARIO DAIRY FARMERS.
- Author
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Steckley, Joshua
- Subjects
- *
EARTHWORMS , *DAIRY farmers , *HAY , *DAIRY farms , *CORPORATE profits , *FIELD crops - Abstract
Nearly the entire North American and European supply of the bait worm Lumbricus terrestris is hand-picked from southwestern Ontario dairy farms. This "Canadian nightcrawler" industry is largely a cash business that operates 'underground,' with very little information about how the 'worm pickers' engage with dairy farmers and the cash rents they receive. In this paper, I provide a brief background of the industry and how it came to rely on Ontario dairy farms as sites of L. terrestris production. I describe the three prominent arrangements dairy farmers have with pickers that correspond to rental rates that range between $200 and $1500 CND per acre. I then compare these prices with average farmland rental rates in the region and estimated net income from growing field crops typically planted by dairy farmers (corn, soy, alfalfa/hay). By comparing this information, I suggest L. terrestris is the most profitable 'crop' that southwestern Ontario dairy farmers could grow, followed by a discussion of why more farmers decide not to engage with the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023