Gov. Josh Shapiro wants Pennsylvania to be the nation’s leader in organic farming.
That would mean tripling the state’s organic sales to keep pace with much bigger California.
Still, according to Ag Secretary Russell Redding, that’s not the idle dream of a suburban governor who calls himself “competitive as hell.”
Pennsylvania, currently third in organic sales, actually has the potential to leapfrog Washington and California within a few years, Redding said April 11 during a visit to the Rodale Institute with the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.
To put Pennsylvania on top, Shapiro has proposed $1 million in the state budget to create a Center for Organic Excellence. The state has similar centers supporting dairy, beef and poultry.
Pennsylvania’s projected path to pre-eminence is based on maintaining its organic sales gains of almost 50% since 2019.
Redding expects the state would do so by growing organic sectors where it already leads the nation — poultry and mushrooms.
The state grows most of the nation’s mushrooms, organic or otherwise, and producers have made strides toward organic management of the phorid fly, Redding said.
Pennsylvania gets almost 90% of its organic sales from livestock, poultry and eggs. But the poultry industry’s organic growth depends on the availability of organic grain, much of which comes from out of state.
In partnership with Cargill and Rodale, Fredericksburg-based Bell & Evans offers premiums to farmers during their three-year transition to organic. That’s a period when land must be managed organically but products don’t qualify for the organic seal.
Pennsylvania might be able to grow more organic grain, but getting high quality and yields could be tricky. Organic farmers have few tools for managing grain diseases.
“What we've experienced is the challenge of managing the grain within an environment of 41 inches of natural rain,” Redding said.
Though casual observers may still pigeonhole organic farming as small-scale produce growing, the sector is diverse in both commodities and scale. It adds up to a big industry in Pennsylvania, where almost two-thirds of the state’s organic operations gross at least $100,000 annually.
With $1 billion in annual organic sales, Pennsylvania has almost twice the sales of fourth-place Texas and is only narrowly behind No. 2 Washington, according to USDA.
Organics produce 9% of Pennsylvania farmgate revenue, compared to 2% nationally. The state’s organic sales are higher than for cattle, hogs or produce.
Shapiro’s effort to make Pennsylvania No. 1 in organic production continues a goal of his predecessor, fellow Democrat Tom Wolf.
Under Wolf, Redding launched the 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Bill, which benefited a variety of ag sectors.
It included expanded organic marketing opportunities, as well as free technical assistance for farmers interested in transitioning to organic through the Kutztown-based, internationally known Rodale Institute.
Source: lancasterfarming.com
Photo Credit: istock-elenathewise
Categories: Pennsylvania, Government & Policy, Livestock, Poultry