Organic Food Sales Pt. 2

Organic Food Sales Pt. 2

Rick Worthington
Rick Worthington
The USDA released new numbers which indicate Organic Food Sales are growing in terms of popularity with buyers. Those numbers say farmers and ranchers are responding by offering more in terms of products and acres used to grow organic produce.

Laura Batcha with the Organic Trade Association, says traditional farmers who might be thinking about going part-time or full-time organic have a process they'll need to follow to make that switch.

"It's called transitioning to organic and generally speaking the rules require that the plan be managed organically for three years without the application of what are considered prohibited Farm inputs as well as specific management practices and after 3 years than the land can become certified organic."

And she says it takes some work to make the switch but producers will see benefits from doing so.

"So I think one of obvious benefits is higher crop values and higher profit margins. Some of the additional benefits are soil help on the farm biodiversity on Farm waterways Agro Eco environmental benefits on the farm can't operate disproportionately on long-term contracts in stable prices stable relationships between buyers and sellers so that's another benefit as well."

Crops accounted for 56% of the sale of certified organic production; livestock, poultry, and their products accounted for 44%.

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