Appendix A. 
Statistical Methodology 
THE SURVEY POPULATION 
The target population for the 2014 Organic Survey 
was all farms and ranches meeting the standards of 
the National Organic program (NOP) administered 
by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service 
(AMS). The 2014 Organic Survey defined three 
organic operation groups - certified, exempt, and 
transitioning. A certified farm meets NOP standards 
to market under the “USD A Organic” seal. An 
exempt farm also meets the criteria for marketing as 
organic but, because of annual sales less than $5,000, 
is exempt from fees associated with certification. A 
transitioning farm produces organic products by the 
NOP standards but has not met the three-year 
organic practices requirement. (NOP standards are 
available on the internet at www.ams.usda.gov/nop .) 
The 2014 Organic Survey mail list was built from 
several sources: all operations in the United States 
that indicated they were certified, exempt, or 
transitioning to organic production, or showed 
potential, in the 2012 Census of Agriculture; all 
operations included in the 2011 Certified Organic 
Survey; and producers on the 2013 Agricultural 
Marketing Service Certified List. AMS locates and 
lists certified organic producers, processors, and 
handlers meeting the standards of the NOP. 
Extensive review was conducted to identify and 
remove any duplication. 
The final mail list included 16,992 farms that met the 
above criteria. Table A provides the sample counts 
and response rates for the United States and for each 
state. The response rate is an indicator of quality of 
data collection. The response rate for the 2014 
Organic Survey was 63 percent. 
DATA COLLECTION 
Method of Enumeration 
The 2014 Organic Survey was conducted primarily 
by mail. It was supplemented with Computer- 
Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI), Computer- 
Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI), and 
Computer- Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). 
Report Form 
A 16-page 2014 Organic Survey report form was 
designed to collect data from certified, exempt and 
transitioning farms as defined by the National 
Organic Program (NOP). The report form content 
was developed using questions from the 2008 
Organic Production Survey and the 2011 Certified 
Organic Production Survey, and from input from the 
USDA’s Office of the Secretary and Risk 
Management Agency, as well as the organic 
industry. Cognitive testing of the form was 
conducted in five states with operations in the target 
population. The report form collected information 
about organic production of field crops, vegetables, 
fruits, trees nuts, berries, floriculture crops, nursery 
crops, mushrooms, Christmas trees, maple syrup, 
livestock and livestock products, production 
practices, production expenses, marketing practices, 
value-added production, and other information about 
an operation’s characteristics. See Appendix B for a 
copy of the final report form and instruction sheet. 
Report Form Mailings and Respondent 
Follow-up 
The initial mailout occurred in January 2015. The 
mail packet included a cover letter with instructions 
on how to complete the survey online and response 
2012 Census of Agriculture Appendix A A - 1 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
