Organic food sales in the United States grew from $3.6 billion in 1997 to an estimated $28 billion in 2012.

Organic food sales amount to roughly 4 percent of the total food dollars spent by consumers of the nearly $800 billion U.S. food sales annually.

Looking strictly at organic food sales, growth has been especially rapid since 2002, when USDA established national standards for organic agricultural production and processing.

In response to the rise in demand for organic products, a growing number of farmers have adopted organic production practices and established new marketing channels.

Farmers known for early adoption of innovative practices tend to operate larger farms and have higher levels of schooling and stronger links to outside sources of information than other farmers.

How closely does this model of innovation adoption fit U.S. organic farming?

With strong, yet relatively small growth in organic food sales, the adoption of organic farming is still relatively rare: only 1 percent of U.S. farms are organic.

Data from USDA's 2007 Agricultural Resource Management Survey reveal small farms (annual sales under $250,000) operated as a principal occupation were more apt to adopt organic farming than other small or large farms, so at least one characteristic associated with early adopters large farm size is not critical in organic farming.

In the same period, however, farmers who have at least a bachelor's degree were more likely to have adopted organic practices, so higher educational attainment may play a role in the decision to farm organically. Nearly 70 percent of America's organic farms are in the Northeast or Pacific regions, and education appears to be particularly important as a predictor of organic farming in these areas.

Among farmers in the Pacific region with at least a bachelor's degree, 8 percent are organic farmers.

Only 2 percent of farmers without a bachelor's degree have adopted organic practices.

The pattern in the Northeast is similar, although not as striking.

When education and reliance on outside expertise are considered together, 10 percent and 14 percent of farmers, respectively, in the Northeast and Pacific regions who had at least a bachelor's degree and also used both paid farm management advice and the Internet were organic producers, compared with 0.1 percent or fewer farmers with none of these three characteristics.

Extensive econometric analysis shows that all three characteristics education, access to management advice, and Internet use are independently associated with the adoption of organic farming.

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John Berry is the agricultural marketing educator for Penn State Extension, Lehigh County.

Information for this article is taken from: Farm Activities Associated with Rural Development Initiatives, by Faqir Bagi and Richard Reeder, USDA, Economic Research Service, May 2012.