News from the California Farm Bureau

Achieving organic targets may require creating new markets

In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration announced California will aim to convert 10% of its cropland to organic agriculture by 2030. Those targets could be a heavy lift in light of recent trends in organic acreage. In 2022, the most recent year with data reported, about 4% of the state’s cropland was organic, and after years of expansion, the share of acreage that was organic had declined for two straight years. Some stakeholders are pushing for the state government as a major food buyer for schools, prisons and other publicly fun...