New OFRF report shows rapid increase in organic research, though gap remains

Santa Cruz, Calif (July 24, 2003) -  The total number of organic research acres in the U.S. land grant system has more than doubled between 2001 and 2003, yet it still lags far behind the proportion of U.S. farmland that is certified organic, according to a new report by the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

The report, State of the States: Organic farming systems research at land grant institutions 2001-2003, is the second edition of a report on publicly-funded organic research and education first published in 2001. It will be officially released July 26 at a farm tour organized by Dave Vetter of the Grain Place, an organic farm and processing plant in Marquette, Nebraska. During the tour, farmers and researchers will discuss organic research at land grant universities in the Midwest.

“Fourteen states that had no organic research acres in 2001 now do,” commented Jane Sooby, OFRF’s Technical Program Coordinator and author of the study. “Now, farmers in 36 states can benefit from organic research plots at their land grant university. We’d like farmers in all states to be able to do that.”

The OFRF study found that, overall, organic research occupies only 1,160 acres (0.13%) of the 885,862 available research acres in the land grant system. A recent USDA report documents that overall, 0.3% of all U.S. farmland is certified organic. In high-value crops such as vegetables, a full 2% of U.S. acreage is certified organic. OFRF found that certified organic research acreage is only 496 acres (0.06%) of the total available research acreage. This represents a trebling of the 154 certified organic research acres that OFRF reported in 2001, a growth trend that OFRF expects will continue. The OFRF Board has set a goal that 10% of federal agricultural research funds be directed to organic research by 2006.

The five states having the strongest organic research programs in 2001 - Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, North Carolina, and West Virginia - are joined by new programs in Washington and New York. South Carolina, Maryland, Florida, and New Hampshire have emerging organic research programs and are bringing research land through the transition to certified status. Michigan and California both have relatively high numbers of organic research projects being conducted, but lack a centrally coordinated organic research program. Land grants in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have notably few resources for the large numbers of organic farmers in these states.

OFRF considers the effort made to certify research areas as organic to be an indicator of a land grant institution’s level of commitment to organic research.

“If they have certified organic research acres, they are much more likely to provide accurate information to local organic growers,” said Bob Scowcroft, OFRF executive director. “They have made a long-term commitment to organic, and are held to the same standards that the farmers are.” Federal organic standards require that farms be certified organic if the farm products are to be marketed as organic.

The land grant system consists of 68 land grant universities, a national network of agricultural research stations, and Cooperative Extension personnel in every U.S. county. Because the land grant system is funded with federal tax dollars, OFRF expects it to respond to the needs of all its constituents, including the growing number of organic farmers.

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Attention editors:
“Highlights” for specific projects in various states are available in a PDF document here.

Further information on organic research being conducted in your state is accessible by downloading the full report. Additionally, OFRF staff is available to e-mail or fax any portion of the report that is specific to your readership.

The Organic Farming Research Foundation’s purpose is to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming practices. To that end, our mission is to sponsor research related to organic farming; to disseminate research results to organic farmers and to growers interested in adopting organic production systems; and to educate the public and decision makers about organic farming issues.