The 141 organic producers placed themselves into one of three categories. Table 1 summarizes the number, years of experience, and acreage figures of these producers. Some 59% checked "all organic," 23% were "mixed organic and conventional operation," and 18% were "in transition towards being certified organic." The total number of acres farmed is larger than the organic acres listed since many of the respondents provided figures on their total land owned or rented, including farmstead and wooded areas. It is interesting to note that the total acres farmed of the mixed organic/conventional operations are more than twice the size on average of units that are all organic. Transitional respondents are often those who recently entered into farming.
Table 1. Categories, Years of Experience, and Acre Size of Ohio Organic Growers. |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Years Farmed Organically | Years Certified Organic | Total Acres Farmed | Average Organic Acres | |
| All Organic | 83 | 11.1 | 4.6 | 118.5 | 99.4 |
| Mixed | 33 | 10.9 | 2.9 | 343.4 | 84.6 |
| Transitional | 25 | 4.4 | 0 | 55.5 | 34.3 |
| Total producers | 141 | 9.9 | 3.9 | 160.6 | 84.4 |
To enable some detailed analysis and organizing of comments, respondents were further coded by the organic products they produced: a = agronomic, v = vegetable, f = fruit, and l = livestock. Many were combinations of these products, e.g., a grower growing soybeans, tomatoes, and sheep organically would be coded "avl." Table 2 illustrates the organic product makeup of survey respondents. Table 3 shows the acreage and category makeup of the farm types where there were at least 10 survey respondents representing that farm type. There is an obvious acreage size difference between those who grow agronomic crops and horticultural crops.
Table 2. Product Makeup of Ohio Organic Producers (n=141) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farm Type | a | af | al | av | avfl | avf | avl | f | l | v | vf | vl | vfl |
| % | 25 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| a=agronomic crops, v=vegetables, f=fruit, l=livestock or livestock products. | |||||||||||||
Table 3. Acreage and Categories of Representative Farm Types (At Least 10 Respondents). |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farm Type | n | Acres Farmed | Organic Acres | All Organic | Mixed Operation | Transitional |
| a | 35 | 347 | 131 | 51% | 29% | 20% |
| al | 20 | 212 | 145 | 45% | 40% | 15% |
| v | 30 | 15 | 15 | 74% | 6% | 19% |
| vf | 12 | 9 | 5 | 50% | 42% | 8% |