F arm to F ork California Leads the Way: Organic Farmers to Harvest Record Acres in 2019 By Victor Martino U.S. organic farmers will harvest a record number of acres across America this year, according to the just-released Annual Acreage Report from Merca- ris, the leading authority on organic crop data in the country. This is pretty big news considering the weather and trade challenges farmers has been experiencing since early 2018. According to the report, farmers will harvest 3.1 million acres of U.S. land certified for organic production in 2019, an increase of 7% over 2018. Much of the increase, according to Mercaris, is driven by a surge in new certified organic field crop operations across all U.S. states. The West- ern U.S. and High Plains regions saw the largest jump in organic harvested crop acres this year. Overall total organic acreage will reach 8.3 million acres this year, according to Mercaris. In addition, 18,155 U.S. farm operations are now certified as compliant with the USDA National Organic Pro- gram standards. This is a 3% increase from 2018. California leads the nation in organic crop acres, with more than double the acreage of second- ranked Montana. It’s not surprising that acreage devoted to organic is on the rise because sales of organic produce, dairy, meat and packaged food products has been growing by 8% to 12% over the last decade, ac- cording to USDA and the Organic Trade Asso- ciation. In other words, consumer demand for organic products is not only solid, it’s also grow- ing. Organic represents only 5% to 6% of total food sales in the U.S., according to research firms IRI and Nielsen. It’s a niche -- but a solid and profitable one for farmers, food-makers and gro- cers, all of which earn much higher margins on organic than they do on conventional crops and food products. The business case for growing organic I prefer, as do many farmers -- including those who grow both conventional and organic crops -- to view organic farming as a business proposi- tion rather than through a political lense. There’s plenty of that on social media. An increasing number of U.S. consumers are demanding and buying organic products -- fresh produce and dairy are the two leading categories -- and smart, entrepreneurial farmers, along with an increasing number of corporate farmers, are therefore grow- ing organic crops, producing organic milk, and feeding livestock organic grains so the meat they Continued on Page: 10 Organic cantaloupes from Del Bosque Farms, Firebough, California 4 My Job Depends On Ag Magazine -October 2019 Issue 63Agricultural Tractors International 574 Tractor 4 Cylinder Diesel Engine, Runs Great and ready to go. Give me a call. 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