USDA 2008 National Organic Production Survey: National Acreage and Crop Yields

Recently, there have been some large-scale surveys of U.S. organic farmers. In early 2010, USDA released the results of a 2008 survey of 14,540 organic farms with estimates summarized nationally for over 60 crops. While the USDA Report did not contain yield estimates, the Report did tabulate the data needed to make average national yield estimates (total production volume and total acreage). The CropLife Foundation, using the USDA 2008 organic survey report, calculated average yields on organic farms and compare them to yield estimates for all farms for 64 crops.

The survey suggests that is very difficult to grow a commercially-acceptable crop without synthetic chemical inputs for control of weeds, insects and disease organisms. These difficulties are reflected in the low rate of organic crop acreage in the U.S. (less than 1%) and the lower yields on organic farms (30-38% lower).

The main results were as follows:

Largest Yield Differences:

Smallest Yield Differences:

What Percentage of Surveyed Crops are Organically Grown?

For the full article, datasets, and please visit our links below.

CropLife Foundation Yield Comparison on Convention Vs. Organic Farm Results

Results in excel format

Powerpoint Summary of the 2008 Organic Survey By University of Minnesota

USDA Report - Census of Agriculture: Organic Production Survey (2008)

Charts (Click picture for larger version)

Organic Fruit and Nut Crop Yields Vs. Conventional Crop Yields

Organic Vegetable Crop Yields V. Conventional Crop Yields:

Organic Field Crop Yields Vs. Conventional Crop Yields

Organic Fruit and Nut Acreage vs. Conventional Acreage:

Organic Field Crop Acreage vs. Conventional Acreage:

Organic Vegetable Acreage vs. Conventional Acreage: