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On November 11, 2017

Sales of organic agricultural production continued to increase in 2016, when U.S. farms produced and sold $7.6 billion in certified organic commodities, according to data released recently by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Results of the 2016 Certified Organic Survey show that 2016 sales were up 23 percent from $6.2 billion in 2015. During the same year, the number of certified organic farms in the country increased 11 percent to 14,217, and the number of certified acres increased 15 percent to 5.0 million.

California, with $2.9 billion in certified organic sales, continued to lead the nation in certified sales, accounting for 38 percent of the U.S. total. It also had the largest share of certified organic acres and farms. Three states had more than 1,000 certified farms: California (2,713), Wisconsin (1,276), and New York (1,059).

“The results of the 2016 Certified Organic Survey show the continued interest and growth in organic foods,” according to Hubert Hamer, NASS Administrator. “The survey provides the only comprehensive source of national and state data on certified organic production. It was expanded in 2016 from previous years to include fresh and processed information separately for all fruit and berry crops, as well as to include grape data by variety.”

Ten states accounted for 77 percent of U.S. certified organic sales, virtually the same share as in 2015 and 2014. Crops accounted for 56 percent of the sale of certified organic production; livestock, poultry, and their products accounted for 44 percent. Organic production encompasses a wide range of commodities, including livestock and poultry products (primarily milk and eggs), with 2016 sales of $2.2 billion; vegetables, $1.6 billion; fruits, tree nuts, and berries, $1.4 billion; livestock and poultry, $1.2 billion; and field crops, $763 million.

The top commodities in 2016 were: Milk – $1.4 billion, up 18 percent, Eggs – $816 million, up 11 percent, Broiler chickens – $750 million, up 78 percent, Apples – $327 million, up 8 percent and Lettuce – $277 million, up 6 percent. Other top organic crops were strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, hay, spinach, and mushrooms.

NASS conducted the 2016 Certified Organic Survey in conjunction with USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). “RMA relies on the information to expand crop insurance options and set price elections for organic production, “said RMA Acting Administrator Heather Manzano.

The survey is a census of all known U.S. farmers and ranchers with certified organic production in 2016. Producers must meet the standards set out by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service’s National Organic Program and be certified compliant by an approved agent of the program. Survey results are available at www.nass.usda.gov/organics<https://www.nass.usda.gov/organics/> or the Quick Stats database at https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov<https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/>.

To Learn About The National Ag Census

In just a couple months, farmers and ranchers across the nation will start receiving the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Producers can mail in their completed census form, or respond online via the improved web questionnaire. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service has extensively revised the online questionnaire to make it more convenient for producers.

“The updated online questionnaire is very user-friendly – it can now be used on any electronic device, and can be saved and revisited as the producer’s schedule allows,” said NASS Census and Survey Division Director Barbara Rater. “Responding online saves time and protects data quality. That’s our mission at NASS – to provide timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture. Better data mean informed decisions, and that’s why it is so important that every producer respond and be represented.”

New time-saving features of the online questionnaire include automatically calculating totals, skipping sections that do not pertain to the operation, and providing drop-down menus of frequent responses.

The census website will continue to be updated with new information through the census response deadline of February 5, 2018. One recently added feature is a new video from Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue reminding all producers to respond when they receive their 2017 Census of Agriculture in the mail later this year.

Revisions and additions to the 2017 Census of Agriculture aim to capture a more detailed account of the industry. Producers will see a new question about military veteran status, expanded questions about food marketing practices, and questions about on-farm decision-making to better capture the roles and contributions of beginning farmers, women farmers, and others involved in running the business.

Response to the census of agriculture is required by law under Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113. The same law requires NASS to keep all information confidential, to use the data only for statistical purposes, and only in aggregate form to prevent disclosing the identity of any producer. The time required to complete the questionnaire is estimated at 50 minutes. In October, NASS will make a census preparation checklist available on the census website to help producers gather necessary information in advance.

Conducted once every five years, the census of agriculture is a complete count of all U.S. farms, ranches, and those who operate them; it is the only source of uniform, comprehensive, and impartial agriculture data for every state and county in the country. Farmers and ranchers, trade associations, government, extension educators, researchers, and many others rely on census of agriculture data when making decisions that shape American agriculture – from creating and funding farm programs to boosting services for communities and the industry. The census of agriculture is a producer’s voice, future, and opportunity.
For more information about the 2017 Census of Agriculture, visit www.agcensus.usda.gov or call (800) 727-9540

To Learn About New Pollinator Research
A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will enhance an innovative Penn State graduate training program in entomology and ecology aimed at helping to solve the multifaceted problem of pollinator decline.
The $262,000 award will support the Graduate Training Program in Integrative Pollinator Ecology<http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/graduate-training-program> offered by Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research<http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators>. The funding comes from the National Needs Graduate Fellowship Program sponsored by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The five-year USDA grant will support three graduate fellows for three years each, according to Christina Grozinger<http://ento.psu.edu/directory/cmg25>, director of the Center for Pollinator Research. Additional funding for a fourth student will be provided by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences’ Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology<https://www.huck.psu.edu/content/graduate-programs/ecology>.

“The goal of our program is to provide students with holistic training, not only across science disciplines, but also in terms of communicating science to diverse audiences,” said Grozinger, distinguished professor of entomology<http://ento.psu.edu/> in the College of Agricultural Sciences<http://agsci.psu.edu/>.

Nearly 90 percent of flowering plant species and 75 percent of global agricultural crops use animal-mediated pollination to set seed and produce fruit. Pollination services contribute $25 billion to the U.S. economy in the form of increased crop yield alone and $20 billion in additional value to agriculture-related sectors.
But scientists are seeking solutions to sharp declines in managed and wild pollinators around the world. American beekeepers lose an average of 30 percent of their honey bee colonies each winter and 25 percent during the summer to a combination of factors, including parasitic mites, viral diseases and loss of habitat and food sources.
“It’s critical that we find approaches that will support abundant and diverse communities of pollinators in our agricultural lands to ensure robust and sustainable pollination services,” Grozinger said.
“Pollinator issues don’t have a simple solution, they are complex and challenging,” she stressed. “We want to train the next generation of scientists to take an integrative approach and tackle real-world issues at multiple levels, whether it’s looking at genomics, physiology, behavior, chemical ecology, evolution or other fields.”
Grozinger explained that fellows in the program have two co-advisers, each from different scientific disciplines. The graduate students have flexibility to create projects that span their co-advisers’ disciplines, leading to new research directions for the Center for Pollinator Research.
Translating and communicating scientific information to various audiences is a cornerstone of the program, Grozinger noted. “We want fellows to incorporate outreach into their projects and to take leadership in communicating with appropriate audiences,” she said. “It could be reaching out to K-12 students, growers, beekeepers, policymakers or others.”
The application deadline for the program is Dec. 20. More information is available on the Center for Pollinator Research website<http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/graduate-training-program>:

Quote Of The Week: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison