Economic Research Report No. (ERR-188) 52 pp, July 2015
by William McBride, Catherine Greene, Linda Foreman, and Mir Ali
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service has published a new analysis of cost-of-production differences between conventional and organic crop production systems using data from targeted surveys of organic corn, wheat, and soybean production.
Certified organic crop acres more than doubled between 2002 and 2011 as acreage increased from 1.3 million acres to over 3 million acres. A large part of this growth was in major field crops—corn, soybeans, and wheat—where certified organic production increased about 264,000 acres. Results of the study provide information about potential economic returns from organic field crop production on commercial farms and the additional costs incurred from producing organic. Findings of the research suggest that significant economic returns are possible from organic crop production, mainly due to organic price premiums.