California has set new benchmarks as part of the effort to convert conventional ag production into organic systems. In the state’s 2022 Scoping Plan for Achieving Carbon Neutrality, a goal was established to increase organic production to 20 percent of cultivated acres in California by 2045.
New milestones have now been established in the recently released report, California’s Nature-Based Solutions Climate Targets. The report lays out acreage targets of having 10 percent of annual and perennial croplands be organic systems by 2030, and 15 percent by 2038.
Data from the California Department of Food and Agriculture indicates that the first threshold is nearly met. The most recent California Agricultural Statistic Review notes that of the 24.2 million acres of land devoted to farming and ranching in 2021, nearly nine percent of that was organic production site acreage.
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Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West