California's Organic Agriculture - 1992-95

Laura Tourte and Karen Klonsky

UC Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, Davis, CA. 1998

A comprehensive report on organic farming in California has recently been published by the UC Agricultural Issues Center. Statistical Review of California's Organic Agriculture 1992-1995 contains detailed information on industry size, organic commodities, geographic distribution of production, farm profiles for registered and certified organic growers in California, and the state's registered handlers. The study is based primarily on information reported to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) as required by the California Organic Foods Act (COFA) of 1990.

Industry trends, including patterns of entry and exit from the CDFA Organic Program are also discussed in the report, as are some potential impacts of proposed federal regulations for organic agriculture. Some of the key findings in this study are that:

• The number of registered organic farms increased from 1,157 to 1,372 for a total gain of 19 percent.

• Registered organic crop production acreage increased from 42,302 to 45,070, reflecting a more modest gain of 7 percent. (These figures exclude land that was double or multiple cropped, fallow land, land utilized for livestock production such as range and pasture, and land utilized for farm buildings, houses and roads.)

• The value of production for registered growers went up from $75.4 million in the first year to $95.1 million in the third year, posting an overall gain of 26 percent.

• Vegetable crops, and fruit and nut crops generated 95 percent of the total registered sales from approximately 80 percent of the state's registered acreage in all three years.

• The San Joaquin Valley accounted for the largest number of registered organic acres, with about one-third of the state total each year. The Sacramento Valley was second with approximately one-fourth of the total acreage.

• The Central Coast-Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley were the two regions that captured the highest revenues in all three years: combined they accounted for over half of the state's total sales value.

• In all three years over half of the value of registered organic production was claimed by 2 percent of growers who grossed over
  $500,000 each.

Although registered organic agriculture accounted for less than 1 percent of the total value of production in the state in all three years (excluding livestock, poultry and related products), production generally has exceeded the state's rate of yearly increase in total agricultural value. The expanding market for California's organic production suggests considerable gains in production and marketing efficiency, enhanced consumer demand or both.

The information contained in the report would be valuable to farmers, agribusiness, policy-makers, public interest groups, educators, researchers and investors for making informed decisions about business strategies, teaching and research agendas, and institutional policies.

Statistical Review of California's Organic Agriculture 1992-1995 was prepared by Laura Tourte and Karen Klonsky, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis, in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture Organic Program. The full report can be ordered by contacting UC Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, California 95616 Tel. (530) 752-2320, FAX (530) 752-5451. The cost of the report is $18.00 including shipping and handling.

For more information: Laura Tourte, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; ljtourte@ucdavis.edu

DEC.555 Contributed by Laura Tourte