Oregon's Organic Ag

September is Organic Harvest Month nationally, a month that also includes Organically Grown in Oregon Week. It used to be that organic agriculture was considered by many to be a fringe sector of the industry with a narrowly-focused market base. That is no longer the case.

ROTH:  Organic agriculture has found a way to appeal to people from a local standpoint, from a nutrition and health standpoint, from a differentiation standpoint.

Oregon Department of Agriculture Marketing Director Gary Roth says the state has been a pioneer and leader in organic production for years.

ROTH:  Oregon was actually the first state in the country to have an organic food law and we have seen the state and the Department of Agriculture and the many partners of the organic production and processing community come together and help this industry grow and be a vital contributor to the overall breadth of Oregon agriculture.

More than 550 Oregon farms report they market organic products with sales exceeding 194-million dollars, which ranks third of all states. Nationally, total organic food sales has jumped more than 10 percent in the past couple of years. The growth in popularity is a reflection of the times, and September is the time to celebrate organic agriculture in Oregon. Roth says there is at least one  major reason to celebrate organic production in Oregon this year.

ROTH: The breadth and assortment of different organic products that our fellow Oregonians have to choose from. Because we grow so many different crops here in Oregon, we have so many different organic crops to offer as well.

That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.