Oregon Public Broadcasting

Organic farm acreage continues to grow at a fast pace in Washington state, but not as fast as in 2006 and 2007. This according to a new report by Washington State University. Correspondent Anna King reports.

Total organic acres in Washington grew at an 18 percent clip last year. That  compared with a blistering 27 percent growth rate the year before.

The rock star of the organic crops is tree fruit. We’re talking stuff like organic apples, cherries and apricots.

Farmers increased tree fruit acres by 55 percent last year to nearly 17,000 acres.

WSU ag researcher David Granatstein co-authored the market report.

David Granatstein: “There is defiantly risk involved, but in something like apples where you have a lot of growers, a lot of expertise and support in the industry and we’ve got a wonderful environment for it. So I think for apples it’s a little less scary than other crops.”

Wenatchee-based fruit marketing giant, Stemilt, says sales of organic apples are holding up well in this recession -- up 15 percent so far this year.

Granatstein says going organic is expensive, so markets would really have to go bad before growers would want to give up the certification and go back to conventional farming.

Online:

See the report