ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN OHIO - AN ECONOMIC-PERSPECTIVE

Production agriculture is under pressure to become more environmentally sound and sustainable. The current intense use of farm chemicals is a major source of contention. There are several ''technologies'' that may allow farmers to produce with fewer chemical inputs. The economic incentive for a farmer to adopt one of these technologies is influenced by the relative costs of the various inputs, relative values of outputs, and the physical nature of input and/or output substitution. This paper evaluates farm-level profitability of organic farmers relative to ''conventional'' farms by statistical comparison of random samples of all Ohio farms and of Ohio certified organic producers. Results suggest that while Ohio certified organic farmers receive premium prices for commodities and have dramatically reduced expenditures for fertilizers and other chemical inputs, they also realize reduced yields and have smaller farm units. Whole-farm profits do not differ greatly between organic and conventional farms. This fact relies importantly on the existence of premium commodity prices. A significant increase in the volume of organic marketings, without offsetting increase in the demand for organic commodities, would result in substantial reductions in organic price premium.