United States
March 2010

Source: Organic Trade Association Newsletter

The 2008 Organic Production Survey conducted as a follow-on to the 2007 Census of Agriculture counted 14,540 organic farms and ranches in the United States, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Represented were a total of 4.1 million acres, of which 1.6 million acres were harvested cropland and 1.8 million acres were pasture or rangeland. The remaining acres were not in active production.

Of those farms, 10,903 were certified to the U.S. National Organic Program, and 3,637 were exempt from certification. The survey collected 2008 data from operators of farms that were either
USDA-certified organic, were making the transition to organic production, or were exempt from certification because of annual sales totaling less than $5,000.

Nearly 20 percent of the nation’s certified and exempt organic farms were in California (2,714 farms). Wisconsin, with 1,222 farms, was second. Other states placing in the top ten were Washington (887 farms), New York (827 farms), Oregon (657 farms), Pennsylvania (586 farms), Minnesota (550 farms), Ohio (547 farms), Iowa (518 farms), and Vermont (467 farms).

The survey also found that organic farms had average annual sales of $217,675, compared with $134,807 for U.S. farms overall. Meanwhile, average production expenditures were higher for organic farms, at $171,978, than for all farms nationwide, at $109,359.

A four-page fact sheet about the findings is posted by NASS at http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/Fact_Sheets/organics.pdf. The entire results are available at http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/Organics/index.asp .

Meanwhile, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) is expected to post statistics on organic agriculture through 2008 on its web site, www.ers.usda.gov/data/organic, soon. ERS data are
based on certified organic operations as reported by USDAaccredited certification agencies.
 
Preliminary figures show U.S. certified organic acreage grew in 2008, with approximately 4.5 million acres of farmland—2.6 million acres of cropland and 1.9 million acres of rangeland and
pasture.

Although certified organic rangeland and pasture declined between 2005 and 2008, certified cropland was up 51 percent, and certified farmland was up 11 percent overall. Organic livestock
sectors have grown even faster since 2005, particularly for organic dairy and egg production. ERS collected data from 53 USDAaccredited State and private certification groups to calculate the
extent of certified organic farmland acreage and livestock in the United States in 2008.

Organic agriculture has become a substantial part of many farm sectors, particularly among horticultural specialties. For example, over 5 percent of apple, carrot and lettuce acreage in the
U.S. is certified organic.

Website: http://www.ota.com

Published: March 29, 2010