That’s the feel of the 2014 Organic Production Survey, released this week by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. It’s the first comprehensive snapshot of organic agriculture since 2008.
The survey reports a 72 percent increase in organic sales since 2008. But it also reports the overall number of organic farms and total acreage of farm and ranchland under organic production has decreased over the same time period.
The survey also shows that organic production remains geographically concentrated on the West Coast, the Northeast, and the North Central region. California continues to lead the country in number of organic farms, acres and sales—generating 41 percent of our country’s organic agricultural sales. Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon and New York also have large numbers of organic farms and sales of organic products.