Engaging the Organic Conventionalization Debate - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 159

Table 9.1 U.S. organic certified farm operations: 1992-2007; Certified organic farmland: 1992-
2005 (in thousands of acres) and Certified livestock: 1992-2005 (in thousands)
% change

Item 1992 1997 2002 2007 2008 92-97 97-02 02-07 07-08

Operations a 3,587 5,021 7,323 11,352 12,941 40 46 55 14

Total farmland 935.5 1,346.5 1,925.5 4,290.0 4,816.0 45 43 123 12

Pasture/
rangeland

532.1 496.4 625.9 2,005.0 2,005.0 7 26 220 8

Cropland 403.4 850.1 1,299.6 2,284.9 2,655.4 111 53 76 16

Animals
Livestock

11.6 18.5 108.4 363.3 475.8 59 485 235 31

Poultry 61.4 798.3 6,270.2 12,184.6 15,518.1 1,201 685 94 27

Source: Economic Research Service ( 2012 )
a Does not include subcontracted organic farm operations

supply chains (Dimitri and Greene 2000 ; Organic Trade Association 2008 ; Dimitri
and Oberholtzer 2009 ; Driftmier 2009 ). Significant entry into the organics market
is expected to continue because it remains one of the fastest growing sectors of the
agrifood system (Organic Trade Association 2008 ).
Although certified organic land in the US doubled between 1992 and 2002 and
then doubled again by 2007 (see Table 9.1 ), domestic supply still lags substantially
behind domestic demand, especially in the area of organic inputs for agrifood
manufacturing (Greene et al. 2009 ). Data reported in Table 9.1 reveal that the
number of certified-organic operations and total farmland acres increased more
rapidly in the post-NOP years than before, providing some indication that the NOP
increased adoption and production. The rate of increase was higher for cropland
than for operations, indicating that the size of certified-organic operations increased
after the NOP. The average size of the certified-organic farm increased from 268
acres in 1997 to 477 acres in 2005, supported by the rapid increase in certified-
organic pastureland. In 2007, 866 of the 11,352 operations had 500 or more acres
and accounted for 60 % of the certified-organic farmland (Dimitri and Oberholtzer
2009 ; Economic Research Service 2012 ).
Comparable data is not available for the years after 2008 but the National
Agricultural Statistics Service ( 2012 ) “2011 Certified Organic Production Survey”
provides some useful information. They conducted a survey of all USDA-certified
organic producers, but did not include in this research the floriculture, Christmas
trees, and mushroom producers that were included in the 2008 and previous surveys.
Based on a 76 % response rate, the 9,140 USDA-certified organic farms reported
$3.53B in sales: $2.22B from crops and $1.31 from livestock. The average sales
per farm was $414,725, compared to $217,675 in 2008. California was by far the
largest producer with 39.3 % of sales, followed by Washington (8.4 %), Oregon
(6.6 %), Texas (4.7 %), and Wisconsin (3.8 %). Crops made up 62.9 % of sales,
followed by livestock and poultry products (29.5 %) and livestock and poultry
(7.6 %) (National Agricultural Statistics Service 2012 ). By the end of 2011, there