Abstract
Field trials were conducted in Minnesota and Wisconsin during 2022–2023 to evaluate production costs and net returns associated with a soil biodegradable paper mulch compared to three polyethylene (PE) plastic mulches in an organic day-neutral (DN) strawberry system. Assessing the economic viability of soil biodegradable mulch is critical for organic growers who may need to transition away from PE plastic mulches to comply with USDA-AMS National Organic Program (NOP) standards. To date, no published research has directly compared the economic performance of NOP-compliant biodegradable paper mulch in organic strawberry production. Our results indicate that while the paper mulch incurred higher initial costs and required more labor for weather-related maintenance, it yielded positive net returns when DN strawberries were marketed through direct-to-consumer channels at premium prices. Despite being the least profitable option overall, the biodegradable paper mulch represents an economically viable alternative to PE mulches under certain market conditions and offers promise for future NOP-compliant organic production systems.