Fall 1994 (v6n4)
Organic Farming
Research Foundation. 1994
In 1993 the Organic Farming
Research Foundation (OFRF) mailed an eight-page survey to every certified
organic farmer in the United States that belonged to any of the fifty-four
organic verification organizations and chapters that would share their
lists with OFRF. Five hundred fifty surveys (20%) were returned from growers
in 39 states.
The survey was designed and
conducted by Erica Walz and Bob Scowcroft of OFRF, in consultation with
a survey advisory committee comprising Jill Auburn, Associate Director,
UC SAREP; Brian Baker, Technical Program Coordinator, CCOF; Faustino Munoz,
UC Cooperative Extension, San Diego County; and Harry MacCormack, former
Research and Education Director, Oregon Tilth.
Survey Results
Information Resources.
Approximately SS percent of organic farmers consult newsletters and magazines
for information; the same proportion obtain information from other farmers.
A smaller but still significant portion of the respondents (greater than
50%) get information from catalogs and books, by attending meetings, and
consulting suppliers, buyers, and extension advisors. Substantially fewer
organic farmers use electronic media (TV, video, radio, audio and computer),
but those who do may use them quite frequently (e.g., 27 times per year
for radio; 12 times per year for computers).
Organic farmers rate other
farmers the most useful source of information, followed closely by newsletters,
magazines, and all types of meetings. Electronic media are considerably
less useful as rated by all farmers in the survey, but those who report
using them rate them about as high as some other people that they consult
(suppliers, buyers, and extension advisors). About one- third of the farmers
surveyed said that they felt that existing sources of information generally
met their information needs on organic farming; about sixty percent said
they did not, and a small percentage did not reply.
Organic Farming Research.
Nearly one-third of the farmers surveyed have participated in on-farm
organic farming research projects. The farmers provide the land most of
the time, and define the problem for study and provide labor for the research
more than half the time. They frequently provide financial support and
materials and equipment (40-45% of the time), but less commonly (10-20%
of the time) publish or distribute the research results. Over 80 percent
of the farmers said that they would be interested in participating in
on-farm organic research projects if the resources were available.
Organic farmers' high priorities
for research span a wide range of topics including consumer demand for
organic products, the relationship of growing practices to crop quality
and nutrition, and the relationship between plant nutrition and resistance
to pests. Other high-priority topics include crop rotation, soil biology,
public policy, marketing, cover crops, green manures, and habitat management
and other approaches to pest control. Figure 1 shows what organic farmers
consider to be their worst pests.
Commodities and Markets.
Most of the farmers surveyed (over 60%) grow vegetables. Herbs, tree
fruit, field crops, root crops, vine fruit, or flowers are each grown
by at least one fourth of the farmers. Greenhouse crops, beef cattle,
and eggs are each grown by 10-20 percent of the farmers. Livestock are
most frequently used as a fertilizer source for use on the farm, and somewhat
less often as a primary or secondary source of income. The median number
of commodities grown is between 6 and 10, although more than 20 percent
of the farmers grow over 25 commodities.
Nearly half the farmers sell
direct on-farm and nearly half sell to wholesalers. Farmers' markets,
restaurants, and retail stores are also popular outlets (about one-third
sell to each). Over two-thirds of the farmers marketed 76-100 percent
of their produce as organic in 1992.
Demographics. Organic
farms are family farms: 84 percent of respondents are sole proprietors
or family partnerships. Nearly half of them made 25 percent or less of
their 1992 net family income from farming, but nearly one-fourth made
76-100 percent of their 1992 net family income from farming. The median
gross income from the farm in 1992 was $15,000 to $30, 000, but about
one-fifth of the farms grossed $100,000 or more.
The respondents have been
farming, on average, sixteen years, ten of them organically, and they
average 46 years old. Three-fourths are male. Over two-thirds have completed
college, and one-fifth hold graduate degrees, in everything from anthropology
to zoology.
Complete results of this
survey are available for $5.00 from OFRF, P.O. Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA
9SO61. Tel. (408) 426-6606.
(JSA.L 07)
Contributed by Jill Auburn
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