Celebrating Oregon's Organic Week

With the Fruit Grower Report, there are numerous wineries, tree fruit growers and packers that market organically grown. Oregon Governor Kate Brown is celebrating their efforts by proclaiming September 11th through the 17th as Organically Grown in Oregon Week and Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba welcomes the special focus on a fast-growing sector of the state's ag economy:

COBA: "I think the take home message for Oregonians about organic agriculture is it is a vibrant part of Oregon agriculture. We are one of the top states producing organic agriculture in the United States. It's really, really nice to have a week that we can celebrate that success story."

Oregon ranks eighth in the nation in number of organic farms and fourth in the nation in sales of organic agricultural products. The numbers just keep growing:

COBA: "On the farming side. It certainly fits into a number of our producer's management plans for their operations, whether they've gone completely organic or dedicated a portion of their farm to organic. And we know that the returns they get are very positive, which is great."

On the consumer side, Coba says the increased demand for organic is reflected in the amount of products now available in grocery stores or on restaurant menus. Even Oregon's export markets are more often asking about the array of organic products the state has to offer. Oregon's organic agricultural production is worth celebrating, but I think it should be 365 days a year, not just one week!