April 6, 2023 (Silver Spring, MD) – Mercaris is pleased to announce final 2022 harvested acres for over 25 non-GMO and organic crops are now available. The new data is provided on Mercaris’ Acreage Analyzer tool which enables users to visualize U.S. identity-preserved acreage from multiple angles as well as identify historical acreage and market trends.

According to Mercaris’ final organic acreage estimates, nearly 8.3 million acres of USDA-certified organic land were harvested in the U.S. – across more than 19,000 certified organic farms – during 2022.

“Following a decline in certified organic pasture and rangeland, the area dedicated to organic field crop production accounted for the largest share of total certified organic land,” says Mercaris Vice President of Economics Ryan Koory. “Land utilized for organic field crop production reached nearly 3.7 million acres over 2022, holding mostly flat with the prior year for the first time since 2016 when Mercaris began collecting this data.”

With total organic field crop acres remaining even with the prior year, this distribution of acres across organic crops appears to have shifted over 2022 in response to several market factors.

“Acres dedicated to organic oilseed production increased 23% over 2022, with organic soybeans alone increasing by more than 74,000 acres,” says Koory. “These gains appear to have come at the cost of organic corn and organic small grains with those acres declining 1% and 9%, respectively, over the last year. Organic wheat acres also increased over 2022, supported mostly by a 6% increase in organic spring wheat acres.”

While certified organic acreage held largely steady through 2022, land planted with non-GMO corn and soybean seeds is estimated to have fallen by more than a million acres during 2022. According to USDA data, U.S. non-GMO corn and soybean planting declined 9% year-over-year to less than 10.6 million acres in 2022. }This decline follows a reduction in non-GMO corn and soybean acres and a general increase in the use of GMO seeds across the country. The information above is summarized from the April 2023 Acreage Analyzer data update.

The Acreage Analyzer is exclusive to Mercaris subscribers, for more information on the Acreage Analyzer and the Mercaris platform , please contact us at sales@mercaris.com.