This biennial survey provides a comprehensive picture of the state of organic farming from the farmer’s perspective. In late 1997 and early 1998, a 15-page questionnaire addressing the 1997 production year was sent to 4,638 certified organic farmers throughout the United States. A quarter of these farmers (1,192) from 44 states responded. The results from this survey provide information that should be useful to researchers, farm advisors, field consultants, policy makers, organic farming and sustainable agriculture advocates, as well as farmers and ranchers. The survey results are presented in the following eight categories.

Organic Farming Research Priorities

The objectives of this section were to identify the research priorities of organic farmers and to assess farmers’ interest and willingness to be both practitioners of and collaborators in on-farm investigations. Farmers were asked eight questions about topics of organic farming research and their experience with on-farm experiments and collaborations with researchers. OFRF suggests that in order to provide research that is useful to organic farmers, these farmers should be utilized as a resource.

The top six topics ranked by order of importance include: 1) weed management, 2) the relationship between fertility management and crop health (pest and disease resistance), 3) relationship of organic growing practices to nutritional value of product, 4) soil biology, 5) crop rotations, 6) cover cropping.

Survey results also indicated that 62 percent of farmers are interested in collaborating in organic research projects; 23 percent reported previous experience in collaborative research.

Information Resources

This section was designed to ascertain the information needs of organic farmers, identify ways to meet these needs, and identify resources that are currently useful to farmers. The information needs most often reported were in the categories of pest management, production methods/systems, and soil management.

Some of the useful sources of information reported in the survey were:

Personal Contacts: other farmers, field consultants, suppliers, grower’s associations.

A list of the favorite resources provided by the survey respondents, including contact information when possible, is provided as an appendix to the OFRF report.

Products Grown and Marketed

Gathering information on the quantity and range of organically grown products and the identity of the markets where they are sold prompted the questions in this section. Respondents were also questioned about the role of organic value-added products. Results show that the 1,192 survey respondents included:

• Vegetable and ornamental growers (57%)
• Field crop growers (52%)
• Fruit, nut and tree crop growers (40%), and
• Livestock (and by-products) producers (27%)

Thirty-one percent of the respondents also produce value-added products such as salad mix or dried fruits and vegetables.

Organic Marketing

This section presents information on marketing and the economics of organic production in the U.S. The OFRF survey is one of the few places where these kind of data are reported. Although economic and marketing information changes quickly, it is hoped that other researchers will use this as a basis for further study. The availability of raw marketing data, such as median farmgate prices for various organic products, allows farmers to make more informed planning decisions.

Survey results showed that most organic producers market their product wholesale (80%). Other producers primarily market directly to the customer (13%), or direct-to-retail (7%). It was interesting to note that more than half of the respondents plan to increase the number of acres in organic production; only 2 percent intended to decrease their organic production.

Organic Management Concerns and Strategies

The objectives of this section were to determine the most pertinent concerns (soil management issues; weeds, diseases, and pests; compatibility of genetically modified organisms) and to identify the most commonly used management strategies and materials.

A summary of organic producers’ greatest concerns showed the following:

• Soil fertility and/or soil tilth management issue of greatest concern: building and maintaining organic matter levels
• Most difficult pest to manage: weeds
• Most frequently listed weed problems: foxtail, pigweed and quackgrass
• Most difficult weeds: Bermuda grass, Johnson grass and bindweed
• Most frequently listed insect pests: cucumber beetles, flea beetles, aphids, and Colorado potato beetles
• Most difficult insect pests: plum curculio and tarnished plant bugs

The most difficult animal pests and diseases were also reported in this section.

The most commonly used management strategies were crop rotations, mechanical tillage, hand weeding, cover crops, compost applications, beneficial insect habitats, and using disease resistant varieties.

Of the 1,192 respondents who responded to the statement, “Genetically engineered (recombinant-DNA) inputs are compatible with organic farming systems,” 72 percent somewhat or strongly disagreed, 10 percent somewhat or strongly agreed.

Organic Production Constraints and Challenges

The questions posed in this section of the survey attempted to identify the barriers to organic production and marketing that farmers and livestock ranchers have experienced. Of the 1,161 farmers who answered the question, 58 percent began farming with organic production while 40 percent made the transition from conventional production. The 40 percent were asked what were the greatest barriers to the transition to organic production. Again, the largest response was weeds. Other often listed barriers included lack of information and experience and inability to identify markets for transitional/organic products.

Exploring current constraints to organic production and marketing, the highest ranked concerns included the cost of organically allowable inputs, uncooperative or uninformed extension agents, and lack of consumer understanding about organic food.

Livestock producers included price/and or availability of organic feed and lack of organic production regulations and developed market as their greatest barriers to organic production.

Organic Certification

This section identified farmers’ levels of satisfaction with organic certification. Farmers were also questioned about their concerns and hopes regarding implementation of the National Organic Program.

When farmers were asked to rate their own certification agency’s performance in a number of categories, certifiers were given high scores for adherence to certification standards, credibility as a certification agency, and quality of inspections.

This survey was distributed shortly after the controversial proposed federal organic rules were released by the USDA. It is interesting to note that farmers’ greatest hopes regarding the federal organic standards were: 1) that the rules establish a level playing field for all U.S. organic producers, 2) that a stringent standard be implemented, and 3) that there be greater consumer education and awareness about organic food and farming.

Farm Management and Demographics

This section presents demographic information of the survey respondents. A description of the types of farming operations represented by survey respondents include:

• All organic operations (75%)
• Mixed organic and conventional operation (24%)
• Single family operations or family partnerships (87%)
• Full-time farmers (62%)
• Part-time farmers (37%)

There were respondents from 44 states; the largest number (179) were from California, the second largest number (90) were from Washington state. This section also includes information on acreage owned and farmed, income, years of farming experience, age, and education.

In addition to reporting the actual data received in each section, this report also offers a discussion of the implications of the results in each section including comparisons to the results of OFRF’s previous two national surveys. A highlight of this report is the Commentary offered at the end of several sections, each one contributed by a different organic farming expert. OFRF welcomes inquiries for specific cross-tabulations within this large database.

For more information: Organic Farming Research Foundation, P.O. Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, Tel: (831) 426-6606, Email: research@ofrf.org, Web site: www.ofrf.org

DEC. 602  Contributed by Bev Ransom