Survival and growth of organic farms over the long-run

Abstract

We analyze a detailed record of organic farm entry, exit, and growth for Washington State covering nearly all organic farms dating back to the beginning of the organic industry to better understand the relationship between farm characteristics, market conditions, and farm success. We find that organic farms are most likely to exit in the first 2 years after entering. Changes in industry scale and concentration are driven by exit and size adjustment decisions made by larger farms, whereas small farms are less sensitive to market conditions and have higher exit rates and lower growth rates.