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Christina Herrick Posted by Christina Herrick|April 21, 2015

USDA recently announced the organic industry continues to show remarkable growth domestically and globally, with 19,474 certified organic operations in the U.S. and a total of 27,814 certified organic operations around the world.

According to data released by the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP), the number of domestic certified organic operations increased by more than 5% over the last year. Since the count began in 2002, the number of domestic organic operations has increased by more than 250%. The certified operations list is available online.

“Growing demand for organic goods can be especially helpful to smaller family operations,” says Tom Vilsack, agriculture secretary. “The more diverse type of operations and the more growing market sectors we have in American agriculture, the better off our country’s rural economy will be.”

Along with programs to support conservation, provide access to loans and grants, fund organic research and education, and integrated pest management, USDA administers organic certification cost share programs to offset the costs of organic certification for U.S. producers and handlers nationwide.

Now, USDA is using funding from the 2014 Farm Bill to develop the Organic Integrity Database, a modernized certified organic operations database that will provide accurate information about all certified operations that is updated on a regular basis. The system will allow anyone to confirm organic certification status using the online tool, support market research and supply chain connections, allow international verification of operator status to streamline import and export certificates, and establish technology connections with certifiers to provide more accurate and timely data. The initial launch is planned for September 2015.

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Additional information about USDA resources and support for the organic sector is available on the USDA Organics Resource page at USDA.gov/Organic.

Source: USDA news release

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Christina Herrick is former Editor of American Fruit Grower magazine and Western Fruit Grower magazine, published by Meister Media Worldwide. See all author stories here.