U.S. Organic Farm Sector continues to expand.

Most segments of the U.S. organic farm sector have expanded since the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) set uniform organic standards in 2000. About 50 organic certification programs--state and private--are currently accredited by USDA to certify U.S. farmers, ranchers and processors, about the same as before USDA made certification mandatory. USDA's organic rules also streamlined organic import procedures, and over 40 foreign programs are now accredited to U.S. standards.

Certified organic crop acreage increased 11 percent between 2001 and 2003, with large increases for fruits and vegetables and for hay crops used in dairy. Overall, certified organic acreage declined slightly in 2002 from the previous year, as USDA implemented national organic rules, but rebounded in 2003. Farmers in 49 States dedicated 2.2 million acres of cropland and pasture to organic production systems in 2003. Nearly 1.5 million acres were used for growing crops. California, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Iowa had the most organic cropland, and Texas, Alaska and California had the largest amount of organic pasture and rangeland. Certified organic cropland accounted for 0.1 percent of U.S. pasture and 0.4 percent of U.S. cropland, although the share is much higher in some crops, such as vegetables at nearly 4 percent and fruit at about 2 percent.

The number of certified organic livestock animals--beef cows, milk cows, hogs, pigs, sheep and lambs--increased more than fivefold from 1997 to 2003, and rose 15 percent between 2002 and 2003 alone. Dairy has been one of the fastest growing segments of the organic foods industry. Milk cows accounted for over half of the certified livestock animals during 1997-2003, and organic milk cows accounted for 1 and 2 percent of the total in California and Wisconsin, the two top dairy states for both organic and conventional production in 2003.

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Organic cotton and soybeans acreage declined after 2001, despite growth in retail sales of organic cotton and soy-based products. Import competition likely played a role in this. USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service estimates that the value of U.S. organic imports was $1.0-$1.5 billion in 2002, while the value of U.S. organic exports was $125-$250 million. Although consumer spending on organic foods is still small--approximately 2 percent of at-home food sales in 2003--rapid growth is expected to continue in the United States and other major markets, while the competition for these markets is likely to increase considerably.

Organic pasture and rangeland also declined (6 percent) between 2001 and 2003, mostly for rangeland in the West. As LISDA implemented uniform organic standards--including stringent standards for livestock--some organic ranchers switched to the natural meat market exclusively. Although natural meat products may be produced under private standards that go beyond USDA's guidelines, natural meat producers are not prohibited from using antibiotics in production and are not required to use certified organic feed grains or pasture or provide cows with access to pasture.

Catherine Greene

Amber Waves, May 2007

Article was drawn from Amber Waves, Volume 4, Issue 2, Economic Research Service, USDA, May 2006.

RELATED ARTICLE: Certified Organic Agaricus & Specialty Mushrooms

Growers sold 32.5 million pounds of mushrooms that were certified organic during the 2005-06 growing season, down 7 percent from 2004-05. Out of the 32.5 million pounds, 8.76 million pounds, or 27 percent of the total were sold as certified organic mushrooms, while the rest were sold without the certified organic label. This compares to 6.08 million pounds, or 17 percent sold as certified organic during the 2004-05 crop year. Agaricus mushrooms accounted for 80 percent of the mushrooms sold as certified organic, while all specialty mushrooms made up the remainder. These certified organic sales represent one percent of the 2005-06 total mushroom sales. The number of certified organic mushroom growers totaled 33, down two from the previous season. These growers represent 11 percent of the 305 total mushroom producers. (NASS Mushroom Crop Report, 2005-2006) Table 1: Certified organic herbs, nursery and greenhouse, by state, 2005

Cultivated

Cultivated Cut & Wild Greenhouse State Herbs Herbs Mushrooms Nursery* Total

ACRES U.S. total 5,250 183 354 3,331 9,119 Alabama 0 0 0 0 0 Alaska 0 1 0 0 1 Arizona 16 0 0 0 16 Arkansas 0 0 12 0 12 California 1,208 4 26 507 1,745 Colorado 555 3 1 0 559 Connecticut 3 0 0 1 5 Delaware 0 0 0 0 0 Florida 542 0 0 3 545 Georgia 0 0 0 0 0 Hawaii 148 9 0 0 157 Idaho 22 6 0 19 46 Illinois 1 1 140 4 145 Indiana 0 0 0 2 2 Iowa 108 2 0 3 112 Kansas 1 0 0 0 1 Kentucky 5 0 0 4 9 Louisiana 0 0 0 0 0 Maine 41 19 1 5 65 Maryland 23 7 0 2 32 Massachusetts 7 3 0 2 12 Michigan 0 0 0 0 0 Minnesota 28 1 0 17 46 Mississippi 1 0 0 0 1 Missouri 25 0 0 1 26 Montana 20 4 5 3 32 Nebraska 1 0 1 0 2 Nevada 0 0 0 0 0 New Hampshire 0 0 0 1 1 New Jersey 18 80 0 0 98 New Mexico 16 8 0 0 24 New York 79 0 20 17 117 North Carolina 263 0 1 0 264 North Dakota 0 0 0 0 0 Ohio 101 13 4 105 223 Oklahoma 3 0 1 0 4 Oregon 277 12 3 26 318 Pennsylvania 7 2 91 3 102 Rhode Island 0 1 0 0 1 South Carolina 0 0 0 0 0 South Dakota 19 0 0 0 19 Tennessee 0 0 0 0 0 Texas 594 0 2 5 601 Utah 110 0 0 0 110 Vermont 0 0 0 10 10 Virginia 15 0 0 0 15 Washington 990 7 6 13 1,016 West Virginia 0 0 0 0 0 Wisconsin 5 2 40 2,578 2,624 Wyoming 0 0 0 0 0 * includes nursery crops, as well as nursery trees and plant starts. Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, based on information from USDA- accredited State and private organic certifiers. Top 10 States, 2005 Number of Certified Operations California 1,738 Wisconsin 580 Washington 527 Iowa 453 Minnesota 433 New York 427 Vermont 366 Oregon 317 Pennsylvania 308 Maine 288 Cropland Acres California 222,557 North Dakota 143,322 Montana 126,450 Minnesota 116,813 Wisconsin 91,030 Texas 87,124 Idaho 81,220 Kansas 80,180 Nebraska 77,820 Iowa 64,158 Pasture Acres Alaska 1,460,000 Texas 241,353 California 124,026 Montana 103,433 Wyoming 66,290 Colorado 60,766 North Dakota 37,811 Wisconsin 31,308 Idaho 19,412 Nebraska 17,655 Data for all States and previous years are available here.