Source: Micheal Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 3/13/17


Among the challenges to organic food production in the United States is a lack of organic meat processors and USDA meat and poultry inspectors in the North Central region of the country.

This, according to a recent report from Santa Cruz, Calif.-based research and organic advocacy nonprofit the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

In the “National Organic Research Agenda Report”, the group concluded that although sales of U.S.-produced organic food exceed $6 billion annually, federal funding into organic production hasn’t kept pace.

Additional needs cited by the more than 1,000 organic farmers who participated in the survey include the need for research into how to get the best-marbled meat through genetics.

Forty-one percent of farmers who responded to the National Organic Farmer Survey produced animal products, with the most commonly produced animal product being beef followed by poultry and dairy.

“A commonality among recent surveys and research reports has shown a significant lack of funding related to organic animal agriculture,” according to the report. “The reason for this discrepancy compared to funding for plant-related research efforts is unclear. It may be due to a lower number of animal producers as compared to plant producers, the lower number of proposals submitted to funding agencies on animal production topics, or the high cost of animal research.”

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