Why Do Organic Farmers Decertify?

Organic foods, one of the fastest growing food segments, continues to offer new economic opportunities for farmers in the US (Greene et al., 2009; Constance and Choi, 2010). The Organic Trade Association (OTA) projects a market growth of at least 14% for the 2013-2018 period. According to OTA, the 2010 growth rate of organic food sales was nearly 8%, higher than the growth of total food sales (0.6%). Yet, organic certification remains low in the US (Greene et al., 2009). Most studies focus on understanding what motivates (or not) farmers to certify. Findings show a wide array of factors related to production, markets, and the certification process (Kremen et al., 2004; Park and Lohr, 2006; Sierra et al., 2008; Park, 2009; Dimitri, 2012; Veldstra et al., 2014). To our knowledge, the literature has not yet conducted large-scale research on what motivates farmers to decertify (Strochlic and Sierra, 2007).

This article answers what are the main factors driving decertification among organic farmers. We use a 2012 online survey of 4,312 fruit and vegetable farmers from the Food Industry MarketMaker database. The survey includes questions regarding demographics, management, and attitudinal factors. The sample for this study includes 383 farmers, out of which 81 (21%) are no longer certified or started the certification process but did not achieve certification. We use a probit regression to find what are the key factors driving organic decertification.

Results suggest that farmers in the Midwest and those facing market barriers are more likely to decertify. It is likely that market access and reliability, especially in the Midwest, are driving farmers to discontinue certification. Experienced farmers and those using university extension services have a lower probability of decertification. An explanation is that providing research-based information and accumulating human capital allows farmers to respond to certification issues. We expect that farmers with more information regarding certification can develop systems to maintain or improve profitability.

This article contributes to the literature in two ways. First, we use a unique dataset of fruit and vegetable organic farmers to investigate what drives the choice of decertification. Second, this study bridges the gap in the literature by providing the main factors of decertification. Scholars, extension educators and specialists, and government agencies can use these results to advocate for research-based extension resources that help famers to face market challenges. Findings demonstrate that policy design should be state- and region-specific rather than national in nature.