October, 2002

Overview

Organic farming has been one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture for nearly a decade. Certified organic cropland for corn, soybeans, and other major crops more than doubled from 1992 to 1997, and doubled again between 1997 and 2001. Two organic livestock sectors—poultry and dairy—grew even faster. ERS collected data from State and private certification groups to calculate the extent of certified organic farmland acreage and livestock in the United States. These are presented in 39 tables showing the change in U.S. organic acreage and livestock numbers from 1992 to 2001. Data for 1997, 2000, and 2001 are presented by State and commodity. Data for 2000 and 2001 for the first
time include the number of certified operations, by State.

The complete report is at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/organic/