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Ag Census shows more organic farms in Indiana

By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Organic farming is on the rise in Indiana, and the number of young farmers has decreased, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture.

The 2007 census, released earlier in February, shows 287 farms in the state reported themselves as organic, said Greg Preston, director of the state’s field office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. In 2002, 132 farms reported that they had some organic sales.

Organic agriculture was first counted in the 2002 census, Preston said. The census is done every five years.

There are probably more operators who farm organically, but whose farms have not yet been certified organic, Preston said.

The increase in organic agriculture is to be expected, said Kent Yeager, director of public policy for the Indiana Farm Bureau.
“People are seeing an opportunity present itself,” Yeager said. “People are finding a lot of direct marketing opportunities. They’re finding the public wants to buy from someone they know. There’s a connection with a person.”

The statistics service plans to further study organic agriculture by conducting an organic census later this year, Preston said.
The census also showed the number of farmers under 25 years of age, and listed as the principal operator, decreased nearly 30 percent.

“It really does surprise me,” Yeager said. “I thought in the last couple of years, it seems like I’ve been seeing a lot of younger farmers. It seemed to me there were a lot more younger farmers.”
The timing of the decrease also is a surprise, Yeager said.
“This comes at the end of two really good years for agriculture,” he said. “If we can’t get them interested in agriculture after the last couple of years, I don’t know what that says.”

The average age of Hoosier farmers listed as the principal operator increased from 53.7 years in 2002 to 55 years in 2007.

The census was a mixed bag for the greenhouse and floriculture industry, said Roberto G. Lopez, an assistant professor and floriculture extension specialist at Purdue University.

The number of farms producing greenhouse floriculture crops, such as cut flowers, garden and foliage plants, dropped from 569 in 2002 to 460 in 2007. The number of farms producing greenhouse vegetables and herbs increased from 49 in 2002 to 91 in 2007.
“In the last two years, energy costs have gone through the roof for heating greenhouses,” Lopez said. “Several operations have gone out of business. Also, several operations have become bigger. And more consumers are purchasing flowers at big box stores rather than at a garden center or retail store.

“As for vegetables, there’s been more of a demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables,” he said. “People want to know where their food is grown.”

Census numbers showing an increase in market value of crops and livestock probably are a reflection of when the census was conducted, Yeager said.

The combined market value of crop and livestock production in the state increased 73 percent, from $4.8 billion in 2002 to $8.3 billion in 2007.

“The census was done at the end of a really good two to three year period,” he said. “A year from now, it probably won’t be that good. We’re coming off a good year for most farmers, especially grain farmers.”

Yeager said he’s not as optimistic for the next couple of years.
“When we reach these new price plateaus, we always manage to sink back,” he said. “We’ve seen the big jumps in income, but I’m afraid it won’t be the same a year or two from now.”

Census forms were sent to farmers at the end of 2007, with a request that farmers consider the entire calendar year of 2007 when filling them out, Preston said.

“This is just a snapshot of how things were at a given time,” he said. “There’s been a huge change in just one year. That’s a part of the problem of just doing it once every five years.”

Other items of interest from the census include:

•Indiana ranks tenth in the nation in the total value of agricultural products sold. The state ranks third in the number of layers, fourth in soybeans produced for beans, and fifth in the numbers of hog and pigs, and in corn produced for grain. Indiana ranks seventh in the number of turkeys, and eighth in the total value of crops including nursery and greenhouse.

•The number of farms with women listed as the principal operator increased from 4,520 in 2002 to 6,377 in 2007.

•The state has 83 farms that raise bison, up from 79 in 2002; 47 farms that raise elk, up from 35 in 2002; and one farm that raises mink, up from zero in 2002.

To see the complete census report, go to www.agcensus.usda.gov/index.asp

2/25/2009