Organic Food Sales Jump

Organic Food Sales Jump

Rick Worthington
Rick Worthington
Sales of organic agricultural production continued to increase in 2016, when U.S. farms produced and sold $7.6 billion in certified organic commodities. That information was just released by the USDA.

Results of the 2016 Certified Organic Survey show that 2016 sales were up 23% from 2015. During the same year, the number of certified organic farms in the country increased 11%, and the number of certified acres increased 15%.

Laura Batcha with the Organic Trade Association, says that's very good news for the industry...

"I think the thing that is really important when you look at those numbers is every year we track market growth in the marketplace to Consumers and we've seen double-digit growth for consecutive years. In regards to what we haven't seen is growth in terms of acreage and farmed production within the United States. It's kept pace with what's happening in the market so over the last decade we've seen a widening Gap between what happening in terms of acres and on the farm across the country and what's happening in the marketplace and it's created an increased dependence on imported organic products and a reduction in seeing farmers in the US take advantage of the opportunity in being in the Organic Market."

Organic Food - it's not just a trend for farmers and ranchers anymore.

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