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Learn More About
The Push Towards Organic Farming
According to the Organic Trade Association, the organic food industry has grown on average 20 percent per year since 1990. Consumer demand has been driven by fears about genetic engineering and increased use of antibiotics, as well as diseases such as mad cow. Currently, Americans are the largest consumers of organic products, followed by Europeans, Australians, and the Japanese.
And while interest in organic has grown, less than half of one percent of American agriculture production is certified organic. To be certified by the USDA the product must be at least 95 percent organic -- grown without pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones or genetic engineering.
Organic Farming for American ProducersFor American farmers, the push toward organic farming practices has been spurred by several different factors. Recently, dairy farmers have rushed to convert to organic milk products because of the more stringent regulations that took effect in June 2007.
A U.S. court decided that regulations on organic milk were too lax. Previously, a farmer could feed their cows 80 percent organic feed and 20 percent conventional feed during the first nine months of the yearlong transition. Now, farmers must use 100 percent organic feed. The additional costs associated with this change spurred a larger number of conversions.
To get a better idea on the number of farms converting to organic farming, Organic Valley, a Wisconsin-based cooperative added 269 farmers in 2006, and it will process 45 percent more milk this year. The biggest organic dairy company in the country, Horizon Organic, added 64 organic dairy farmers in 2006 for a total of about 350.
Additionally, rock-bottom prices for conventional milk have also pushed farmers to consider more lucrative alternatives.
Related Articles:
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Number of Organic Dairy Farms on the Rise
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