Washington organic acreage grows but at a slower pace

Washington Ag April 22, 2009 The number of certified organic farms in Washington increased by 10 percent between 2007 and 2008 and certified acreage by 18 percent. Those estimates are in an annual profile of Washington's organic agriculture issued by Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. Those growth rates are down from 2007. The gross farm gate sales from organic production increased by 48 percent in 2007 to 213 million dollars. WSU's sustainable agriculture specialist Dave Granatstein was involved in compiling the annual profile. Granatstein: "We had continued growth which was not a big surprise. The question in everyones' mind is what is the market doing and of course we don't have those data in hand unfortunately. But I think for tree fruit that was the largest increase and prices do appear to be down. But I my guess is it is more due to just too much new product rather than the market side being way off." Three crop categories dominate Washington's organic acreage; tree fruit; vegetables and forage crops for livestock. Granatstein: "Looking at the U.S. Census of Agriculture, where they did collect some limited organic data nationally, Washington was the number two state for farm gate sales next to California even though we are 18th for acres. So it really points out that our organic sector does tend to be dominated by higher value crops." I'm Bob Hoff and that's Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.