All farmers and handlers are required to maintain written Organic Plans detailing their management practices. The cost of organic at the checkout counter is deceiving, because it doesn't take into account all of the hidden costs of conventionally-grown foods. Soil building practices used by organic farmers are more costly than the use of chemical fertilizers. Because organic farmers do not use synthetic herbicides to control weeds, weed control costs are higher on organic farms. Organic growers don't receive government farm subsidies and don't benefit from the majority of federally-funded research which helps conventional farmers reduce costs.
Organic farmers have an added cost of compliance with organic certification standards.
And, most importantly, the indirect costs of conventional food production, air and water pollution, eroded soils, health care costs for farmers and consumers aren't factored in at the checkout counter. Once those are implemented, all organic food production in the United States must comply with the same regulations. Organic is one of the fastest growing segments in the retail market. For the seventh consecutive year, the organic industry has posted double digit sales growth of 20 percent or greater, with a 26 percent growth for the industry recorded in 1996. While organic grocery sales currently comprise less than one percent of all grocery sales in the U.S., that number is expected to grow to 3-5 percent by the year 2000.