Slowest growth rate for organic food sales since 2009
Organic food is everywhere, from nationwide retailers to the local corner store, and facing increased price competition that slowed sales growth to its lowest rate since 2009, said the Organic Trade Association in an annual report on Wednesday.
After three delays, USDA withdraws animal welfare rule for organic farms
The Agriculture Department carried out its plan, announced in the early months of the Trump administration, to kill a 2017 regulation that would have given livestock on organic farms more elbow room than factory farms routinely allow for chickens, hogs, and cattle.
U.S. organic farm total rises 15 percent in a year, says consultancy
The booming U.S. demand for organic food is fueling a rapid expansion at the ground level, with more farms turning organic and growers devoting more land to feedstuffs for organic cattle and poultry, says Mercaris, which monitors the sustainable agriculture sector. "We look forward to seeing imports edge downward in coming years" as domestic corn and soybean production increases.
Organic standards board discusses, doesn’t vote on, ‘Is hydroponic organic?’
At its three-day spring meeting in Denver, the National Organic Standards Board delayed, until fall at the earliest, a decision on whether hydroponic crops should be classified as organic production, said The Packer magazine. As a result, "hydroponics will be considered organic for a while longer," as they have for 15 years.