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Little is known about the drivers of organic decertification and it is unclear what production practices farmers adopt after decertification. This article investigated how farm demographics and characteristics, sources of information, and perceptions influence a farmer’s decision to decertify. The data for this article were from a 2012 webbased survey of fruit and vegetable farmers that were part of the Food Industry MarketMaker database. We used a robust probit regression to identify the drivers of organic decertification of fruit and vegetable farmers in the U.S. Demographics; farm’s characteristics, sources of information, and farmer’s perceptions were key factors influencing the decision to decertify. Finding useful information from price reporting services and certifiers decreased the probability to decertify. On the other hand, farmers located in the Midwest, those selling vegetables, and those perceiving the organic certification process as a barrier were more likely to decertify. The total dollars of sales of organic certified foods have steadily increased over the last decade. The 2014 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic survey report showed that fruits and vegetables remain the top two sectors of organic food sales, together accounting for 40% of dollar sales (USDA, 2015). This growth was a response of the increased demand from consumers and large food retailers pushing sales of certified products (Dimitri and Oberholtzer, 2009). However, USDA organic surveys illustrated that the number of certified farms and farmland have suffered important drawbacks. For example, the number of certified farms decreased by 12% from 14,540 in 2008 to 12,818 in 2015 (USDA-NASS, 2016). The growth in consumer demand and retailer interest suggested that economic opportunities existed for organic farms, yet farmers were either consolidating operations or those certified might have opted out of the certification program. This article aimed to understand why farmers who were USDA-certified organic producers chose to decertify. Most of the existing organic foods literature focused on investigating what motivated (or not) farmers to certify organic. Access to markets, price premiums, environmental concerns, and philosophical beliefs were the main drivers of organic certification (Burton et al., 1999; Constance and Choi, 2010; Padel, 2001; Torres et al., 2016; Veldstra et al., 2014; Wiegel, 2009; York et al., 2007). Understanding the organic certification drivers has been useful to develop federaland state-led initiatives to increase organic production. Although studying the drivers of organic certification was crucial to expand the supply of organic foods, understanding why farmers decertified and helping them remain certified could be as impactful to meet the organic goals. We know little about the drivers of organic decertification. Only a few studies have addressed the motivations of farmers to decertify and most of them focused on farmers from California or Europe. Regulatory, market, and production issues were reported as major drivers of organic decertification among farmers who reverted to conventional practices (Klonsky and Smith, 2002; L€apple, 2010; Sahm et al., 2013; Sierra et al., 2008). Moreover, Sierra et al. (2008) cited personal issues as key constraints to maintaining certification among decertified farmers who kept using organic practices. Family and labor health were the top two personal issues that motivated decertified farmers to remain committed to organic farming. Although California agriculture captures most of the certified organic food production, there are important organic industries in other states that are likely to face different challenges. It is unclear what production practices farmers adopted after decertification. For instance, farmers may have switched to conventional systems or remained using organic practices without the use of the certified label (Sierra et al., 2008). Whether decertified farmers kept farming organically or not may suggest the existence of different constraints toward organic certification. For instance, decertified farmers who remained farming organically may have felt aligned with the philosophy of organic agriculture but opposed the corporate organic market (Veldstra et al., 2014). It is also possible that farmers selling locally were able to build trust relationships that motivated them to substitute the certification label and helped them overcome certification costs (Torres et al., 2016). Or, it may be that certification cost was higher than the value they generated in the marketplace (Dimitri and Oberholtzer, 2008). Farmers who switched to conventional agriculture may have faced the lack of market access or price premiums and decided to access wholesale markets without the organic label (Sierra et al., 2008). This study contributed to the literature in two ways. First, we identified the main factors driving organic decertification of fruit and vegetable farmers in the United States using a unique data set of farmers from 16 states that remained certified and those that dropped out of the certification program. Second, this study contributed to the literature by exploring the farming practices adopted by decertified farmers (whether they continued using organic practices or converted to conventional practices) and drew conclusions on their barriers to remain certified. Programs and policies aiming to increase organic certification can use our results to lower decertification rates, which may be as effective as recruiting new farmers to certify. It is also important to understand how to better assist decertified farmers who switch to conventional agriculture and those that remain farming organically. Organic Certification Organic certified farmers are required to follow the National Organic Program (NOP) rules and regulations for the production, handling, and labeling of certified foods. Farmers can be certified by a private, state, or foreign accredited agency, to ensure that products meet all NOP standards. Depending on the type and size of the operation, organic certification may be a significant expense for farmers. Certification fees include application, annual renewal, inspection, and annual assessment fees. After a 3-year transition period of following NOP standards, operations can sell and label their products using the USDA organic label. By using the organic seal, farmers can market their produce as organic and capture organic price premiums. The decision to certify is highly correlated Received for publication 18 Dec. 2017. Accepted for publication 5 Feb. 2018. We thank the USDA-NIFA Organic Research and Education Initiative for funding the research. Assistant Professor. Professor. Corresponding author. E-mail: torres2@purdue. edu. 504 HORTSCIENCE VOL. 53(4) APRIL 2018 with farmers’ expectations that price premiums will offset the cost of certification and potential yield losses (Dimitri and Oberholtzer, 2009). Federal and local governments have created various initiatives to support farmers’ adoption of organic certification. For instance, the previous Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, invested nearly $261 million in 2009–16 in research to support the growth and economic viability of the organic industry (USDA, 2016). These initiatives aimed to generate science-based information and provided economic, marketing, and production information to support the profitability of certified farmers or those interested in certifying. At the state level, cost-sharing programs have spent roughly $11 million to assist farmers with up to 75% of their certification costs (USDA, 2016). The USDA has conducted organic surveys to record the values of certified acreage, operations, and sales. Although the total dollar sales of organic foods increased from $3.2 billion in 2008 to $6.2 billion in 2015, the number of organic farms has decreased (USDA-NASS, 2016). For example, the number of certified farms decreased by 12% from 14,540 in 2008 to 12,818 in 2015. One explanation may be that the consolidation of organic operations has decreased the number of farms to improve efficiency (yield) and respond to growing market niches (Blank and Thompson, 2004). We propose that another explanation for these trends may be that organic farmers decided to decertify because of economic, production, and market constraints that have not helped operations meet their profitability expectations. Organic Decertification The literature has mainly focused on understanding the drivers of organic certification; only a few studies have investigated farmers’ motivations to decertify. One stream of the literature has studied California organic operations (Klonsky and Smith, 2002; Sierra et al., 2008; Strochlic and Sierra, 2007). Although California captures most of the U.S. organic certified agriculture, there are important opportunities for organic industries in other U.S. regions. Another stream of the decertification literature has focused on European farmers. For instance, L€apple (2010) found that Irish certified farmers tended to drop certification after 5 years, right after support payments to organic agriculture ended. It seems that organic farmers faced critical market barriers and struggle to ensure long-term profitability (Sahm et al., 2013). Ward et al. (2004) found that access to organic price premiums was one of the major economic incentives to adopt organic certification. Price premiums could help farmers achieve higher profits and offset yield losses and higher production costs (Dimitri, 2012). However, organic markets could saturate because of an oversupply of certified products or abundance of cheaper imports (Greene et al., 2009). For instance, the latest USDA organic price reports showed lower price premiums for organic grains, apples, strawberries, and carrots (USDA-ERS, 2016). The lack of access to organic price premiums or high-valued markets may have motivated farmer

Identifying Drivers of Organic Decertification: An Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Farmers