Sales from organic farms see 72 percent increase

U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) recently released the results of the 2014 Organic Survey, which show organic farms in the U.S. sold a total of $5.5 billion in organic products in 2014.

Ten states represent 78 percent of the sales, with California leading the nation with $2.2 billion. Additionally, the industry shows potential for growth in production as approximately 5.300 organic producers report that they intend to increase organic production in the U.S. over the next five years. Another 688 farms with no current organic production are in the process of transitioning into organic agriculture production.

The top five commodities in organic sales were milk ( $1.08 billion), eggs ($420 million), broiler chickens ($372 million), lettuce ($264 million) and apples ($250 million).


Additionally, 63 percent of U.S. organic farms reported selling products to wholesale markets. These sales accounted for 78 percent of U.S. organic farm sales. Wholesale markets, such as buyers for supermarkets, processors, distributors, packers and cooperatives, were serving as the marketing channel of choice for U.S. organic farmers to get organic agriculture products to customers.

Survey results are available at www.agcensus.usda.gov or the Quick Stats database at http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov.