US: Organic Acres Double In Three Years

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Scott C. Lucas|21 December 2006

A new report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that organic acreage more than doubled between 2002 and 2005. The USDA web site states that the country has 4,003,973 certified organic farmland acres; 1,722,565 were cropland and 2,281,408 was pastureland. These numbers are up 108% since 2002.

In addition, the article notes that real crop area devoted to organic farming is higher than the figures suggest, because many small landholders or farmers who sell directly to farm markets do not have their operations certified.