Organic Products

Farms and ranches in the United States have grown fewer and larger for many years. The family farm is regularly pronounced dead, but family farms manage to stay in business year after year. These farms have managed to find a way to remain competitive, successfully negotiating the currents of increasing regulation and competition both domestically and internationally.

So how do Sierra farmers stay competitive in the domestic and international marketplace? Nothing can compete with a locally grown, tree-ripened or vine-ripened piece of produce sold in a local farmer’s market or roadside stand. People love to buy local produce, and restaurants want high-quality produce from local farmers. Organic produce, as a category, is the fastest growing category in the produce world, yet only accounts for 6-7 percent of produce sales. Since a growing segment of the population is willing to pay for organic produce, there appears to be ample room for more organic production.

The gross sales of organic products nearly quadrupled in California between 1998-2004. Sales increased from $196 million to $752 million according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s State Organic Program (SOP).

California counties in the SOSA region accounted for nearly $161 million in organic sales in 2004. That number is skewed because of the heavy agricultural regions in Butte, Fresno, Kern, and Tulare counties. Removing those counties results in sales of roughly $50 million including nearly $9 million in Placer County alone.

Download data Organic Ag CA 2004

The total acreage in organic production is heavily influenced by the recent development of organic rice fields in Butte County. These fields, roughly 1.4 million acres, account for 79 percent of all California organic acreage. Removing the Butte rice fields from the equation and California’s organic acreage actually drops to nearly 120,000 acres.

However, removing the gross sales of Butte County rice only effects the statewide gross sales by 1.1 percent. Organic farmers are producing higher value crops on less acreage.
The variety of top-selling crops varies greatly from county to county. The amazing diversity of organic agriculture within the Sierra Nevada includes wine grapes, rice, pears, raisins, peaches, carrots, herbs, tomatoes, chickens alfalfa, lettuce, sweet corn, cattle, turkeys, kiwi fruit, walnuts and almonds.

Nationally, organic foods have shown a similar rise in sales nationally. According to the March 2006, Nutrition Business Journal’s report “U.S. Organic Food Industry VI” organic foods sales totaled $13.8 billion in 2005, an increase of 16.2 percent from 2004. Organic food sales have nearly quadrupled from 1997-2005 and have experienced an average growth of 18.35 percent annually during this period.

Even more telling, the organic food sales share of the nation’s total food sales has grown each since 1997, the first year comprehensive data was available to the Organic Trade Association, the group that conducts the surveys for the report. Nonetheless, in 2005, organic sales only represented 2.48 percent of total food sales in the United States. There’s plenty of room to grow.

Download data Organic Sales Growth USA 1997-2005

Certification

In February 2004, California became the nation’s first state to receive approval for a State Organic Program (SOP) from the United States Department of Agriculture. The California organic industry’s requests some standardization and the federal 1990 Organic Foods Production Act resulted in the creation of the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s State Organic Program (SOP). By creating its own program, California will administer and enforce the National Organic Standards.

The SOP was created at the request of the California organic industry and as a result of the federal 1990 Organic Foods Production Act. The SOP enforces organic labeling laws to ensure the agricultural products are indeed organic through coordinated efforts with the California Organic Food Advisory Board, US Department of Agriculture and the California County Agricultural Commissioners.

In 1997 the Nevada Legislature passed the Nevada Organic Certification Law, allowing the Department of Agriculture to apply for USDA accreditation as an organic certifier of agricultural products grown or processed in Nevada. The department received accreditation five years later from the USDA National Organic Program.

The Nevada Organic Certification Program helps to ensure that organic products are grown according to organic standards. Nevada's law applies to organically produced agricultural products, including fruit and vegetables, fiber and livestock feeds. An agricultural product may not be sold in Nevada as organic unless it is certified organic.