The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) reports that California accounts for 36 percent of all organic production in the United States, with figures for organic production and organic sales con- tinuing to grow. According to the most recent numbers, Califor- nia organic production increased 22 percent from 1,796,080 acres in 2014 to 2,186,551 acres in 2020. This includes a 6 percent increase between 2,064,883 acres in 2019 to the 2020 figure. In regard to the most recent sales of organic products in California, CDFA reports 2020 sales to- taled $11.99 billion, which is an increase of 14 per- cent from 2019. Statewide producer, handler, and processer gross sales in 2020 were $4,109,254,903, $6,200,411,415, and $1,681,671,636, respectively. The top five counties in terms of overall gross sales for 2020 were Monterey County, Los Angeles County, Santa Cruz County, Kern County, and Merced County. The information mentioned above and more can be found in the “California Agricultural Statistics Re- view 2020-2021,” scheduled to be published in early 2022 on the CDFA California Agricultural Production Statistics webpage. CDFA Reports Organic Agriculture in California Continues to Grow
Diversifying Inputs, Diversifying Research
The Rodale Institute Southeast Organic Center (SOC) in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, aims to take the re- search strategies perfected at the Rodale Institute headquarters in Pennsylvania and tailor them spe- cifically for farmers in the Southeast. The team at the SOC has partnered with Clem- son University to study the effects of diverse organ- ic inputs such as cereal rye, harry vetch, and chick- en manure combinations on vegetable production. Comparing Piedmont heavy clay to Coastal Plain san-
EVERY STEP. EVERY SEASON.
Harnessing the power and potential of tomorrow starts with the same agronomic partner you’ve trusted for years. Your Nutrien Ag Solutions ® retail location delivers even greater reliability, technology and solutions to bring your vision to reality than ever before. We’ll help you transform every operational challenge into another chapter of triumph for organic agriculture, year after year.
dy soils, two major land resource areas supporting organic farmers in the Southeast, researchers are focusing on soil health, yield, and nutrient quality under conven- tional and reduced-till systems. While the nutrient analysis is still outstanding, the research team made progress looking at the cover crop biomass in the first year. In 2021, the seeding rate
NutrienAgSolutions.com
of 60lbs/acre rye and 15lbs/acre vetch were founds to be not nearly enough to provide weed control. Biomass between the two sites ranged from 1,200 lbs/acre to 3,000 lbs/acre. However, 4,000 - 10,000 lbs/acre, depending on climate and soil microbial activity, has shown to be necessary for weed control. In the next year of the project, seeding rates will be doubled and reanalyzed.
61
OPN State of Organic Produce 2021
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator