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The State of Organic Farming
Insights from the US secretary of agriculture and other leaders on the current landscape and future of farming in our nation and beyond
EACH SUMMER, ORGANIC FIELD DAY at the Rodale Institute main campus in Pennsylvania brings together farmers from around the country and several foreign countries so they can learn firsthand about the latest findings of the research team and network with others. The 2024 event was the largest gathering ever and featured a panel of distinguished guests, including Tom Vilsack, the first US secretary of agriculture to visit a Rodale Institute Organic Field Day. More than 500 attendees listened attentively as these leaders discussed the opportunities and challenges for organic farmers and the food system. Here are a few memorable highlights.
Small farms are struggling to compete with corporate-scale operations. “From a profit perspective, from an income perspective, 2021, 2022, and 2023 were the best years collectively that the country’s farms experienced in the last 50 years,” Vilsack said. “But if I go around and talk to farmers about that, they look at me like I’m not telling them the truth. There’s a reason for that: The [top-earning] 7.5 percent of farms got 85 percent of the income in the three-year period. That left 1.7 million farms to share in 15 percent of the record income.
The Panelists
(above, from left to right)
TOM VILSACK, US Secretary of Agriculture
GARY HIRSHBERG, Organic luminary and cofounder of Stonyfield Organic
CHRISTA BARFIELD, Organic farming ambassador and James Beard Award Winner
RUSSELL REDDING, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture
Support for family-scale farms can build a stronger food system and a healthier environment. “What we ought to be doing with our resources is figuring out ways [to help] farm families of any size be as entrepreneurial as they possibly can be to create better value for whatever it is they’re raising,” Vilsack said. The USDA is implementing plans “to encourage farmers to be more sustainable in what they do and be rewarded for it, to increase significantly our transition away from fossil fuels to more bio-based products, and to create a more resilient food system—a local and regional system that’s always with us and won’t break down in a pandemic.”
State-level leadership makes a difference. “Every state has a brand, and part of Pennsylvania’s brand is our agriculture,” said Russell Redding, the Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture. “It’s not good enough to know just how food was produced. We believe it’s important to know where it was produced and that connectedness between the state’s brand and identity of agriculture. Our PA Preferred marketing brand is connected to the strength and power of organic farming and is part of the state’s future.”
“Certified organic” is a trusted standard. The marketplace for organic products “exists because there is a formal, concrete legal definition and standard and a formal legal certification process that requires rigorous documentation, inspection, verification, and penalties for noncompliance,” said Gary Hirshberg, cofounder and former CEO of Stonyfield Organic dairy products.
Younger consumers care about their choices. “Gen Zers are currently 14 to 24 years old and now represent 20 percent of the US population, and by 2030 they’re going to be 40 percent,” Hirshberg said. “There’s clear evidence that they are maniacal about what they eat, where [their food] comes from, how it’s grown, who’s growing it, and how the animals are being treated. They demand transparency. They demand simple labels. And they don’t trust the government or businesses to protect them. The only standard that they actually trust, according to the research, is ‘certified organic.’ ”
Farming is health care. “I tell my team that wellness is key and food truly is medicine,” said Christa Barfield, farmer, entrepreneur, and Rodale Institute board member. Farmers “are not just producing delicious, incredible food; [they are growing] preventative health care—for us and for the planet,” Hirshberg said. “And it is the cheapest form of health care.”
Consumers benefit from education. “Educate your friends and neighbors— those who are in farming and those who are outside of farming—about the important role that farming plays in their lives,” Vilsack said. “Regardless of what you’re eating, what you’re drinking, what clothes you’re wearing, what house you live in, or what table you’re eating on, it is thanks to a farmer,” Barfield said. “We need to remind people of that.”
Farming is common ground. “I think agriculture is the one way we can potentially reunite this country,” Vilsack said, “and create a sense, once again, of community—that we are connected to each other and that our fates are connected.”
