There’s some new data from the Organic Farming Research Foundation that outlines the state of organic agriculture in North Dakota. Although our state lags behind the national average of organic farming and processing, there are some solid numbers that should be explained.
To start with, there are 113 organic farms in North Dakota encompassing 106,000 acres. That’s down from it’s all-time high of 142 farms. But those farms and 69 separate organic businesses generate annual sales of $19 million.
The top crops coming from those acres include spring wheat, buckwheat and hay. Numerous other lesser known options exist here including cattle and sheep, poultry, grapes and vegetables.
Several elevators now exist within the state that handle 100 percent organic grain.
Consumer demand drives this, according to OFRF and the organic agriculture market is projected to grow another 28 percent through 2029 because of that demand and interest in climate-resilient agriculture.
Eighty-six percent of North Dakota consumers purchase organic products, which is well above the national average. It’s a simple equation, consumer demand is far outpacing local supply.
Part of that drive is that over the past 10 years, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture has promoted the growing and use of organic products. Pride of Dakota Holiday Showcases promote organic agriculture and organic products made from those farms. Traditionally, the Ag Department has also reimbursed farmers and ranchers for some of the costs associated with organic certification.
Supermarkets in the state have also made it a point to get a slice of the organic pie. Nearly all of the major supermarkets in North Dakota, Leevers Foods, Hornbacher’s, Cash Wise, Family Fare, Marketplace Foods, Target, Walmart and Natural Grocers, have all increased their organic product lines.
These local increases in wholesale and retail has prompted the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to award more than $2 million in grants to the state’s research institutions for organic research, which translates to more than $40 million in economic activity.
North Dakota State University has played a crucial role in organic agriculture, investing more than $1.3 million in research on organic farming since 2021 that directly answers farmers concerns.
Dakota College at Bottineau has also been involved in organic research, but it is somewhat limited in its scope, catering primarily to its horticulture department and its partners.
One cutting-edge research project, according to OFRF, is investigating the scalability of already identified effective water – and bio-based mulch systems as an alternative to plastic mulching, which is an important system in organic production.
The Agricultural Research Service has historically funded eight projects in the state researching organic topics, but none of them are currently active.
Nationwide, organic research and growth continues to explode at a rate of 20 percent annually. Fruits and vegetables from California, apples, cherries and garlic from Washington, blueberries from Michigan, okra and sweet potatoes from the Carolinas and would you believe, organic cattle and beef from Hawaii, are all part of a nationwide push to meet robust consumer demand.
The Florida Department of Agriculture is also involved in serious research in organic oranges and orange products, as well as organic strawberries and tomatoes. These are major agricultural export products from the state of Florida and studies are looking at increasing shelf life of these products without jeopardizing flavor since strawberries and tomatoes, at least, will spoil faster than their conventional counterparts.
Certified organic farming is not new in North Dakota. It’s been around for at least 52 years and some of those pioneers who started the trend are either still farming or are advising younger farmers on how to be better organic producers.
