Polk Small Farms: National Survey of Organic Farmers

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

National Survey of Organic Farmers

Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) Kicks Off
2015 National Survey of Organic Farmers

July 9, 2015 – OFRF’s 2015 National Survey of Organic Farmers will begin landing in e-mail boxes across the U.S. today, asking all certified organic farmers in the U.S. to share their experiences, and let the science community know what areas of research are most needed to advance organic farming.

Organic farmers rely on cutting-edge science to outsmart pests, improve fertility and produce bountiful harvests, without the use of toxic chemicals. Organic researchers across the U.S. are hard at work seeking solutions to organic farming challenges – but they need feedback from farmers in the field.

Survey results will be used to update OFRF’s National Organic Research Agenda, an influential roadmap for the USDA and other research institutions, identifying the issues most critical to the success of organic farmers.

The 2015 National Survey of Organic Farmers will be emailed to every certified organic farmer with a listed email address on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) certification database, which lists a total of 13,352 certified organic farmers. Farmers without a listed email address will receive a mailed postcard asking them to access the survey via OFRF’s website at www.ofrf.org. Organic certification organizations nationwide have also agreed to help distribute the survey to their members.

The confidential survey asks for data on farm size, production and location, as well as collecting detailed information about organic farming challenges and farmers’ most pressing information needs, such as pest control, soil health, water conservation strategies, pesticide drift and GMO contamination of organic crops.

Organic Farming Research Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan, pro-farmer, all-organic research foundation, and a leading champion of American organic family farmers. Our mission is to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems. Since 1990, OFRF has funded 315 organic research projects, and our National Organic Research Agenda report has greatly influenced the USDA’s growing investment in organic farming research.

For more information on OFRF and our 2015 National Survey, please call our office at (831) 426-6606 or visit our website at www.ofrf.org. In addition to the link on our website, the survey can also be accessed at http://opinion.wsu.edu/agresearch/.