Despite continuing interest in organic feed production, organic crops production is not keeping pace, says analyst.

However, non-biotech or non-GM feed crops have been expanding more quickly to meet increased market demand, said Dan Kowalski, director in the knowledge exchange division at CoBank.

He published a report recently on both organic and non-GMO specialty grains, assessing the impact and opportunity for growers. It is estimated that it would require an additional one to five million acres of US agriculture land to meet the domestic demand for organic corn and soybeans for feed.

US feed producers have been turning to imports organic feed ingredients to meet their needs, he said.

“US producers still have financial incentive to grow organic crops,” he told FeedNavigator. “However, the strong US dollar, and lower costs associated with organic production in some other countries could cause more foreign organic acreage to be added. If organic production continues to rise overseas, and imports are abundantly available in the US, it will drag on prices, reducing domestic incentive for growers.”

GMO-free production