Despite continuous growth in demand for organic food and farm products, US domestic supply is not keeping pace. Increasing domestic supply requires, in part, that more farms transition to certified organic production. This in turn requires a better understanding of the transition process. This paper reports on a national survey of farmers transitioning to organic certification through participation in the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program Organic Initiative (EQIP-OI). Our analysis focuses on what motivates farmers to undertake transition to organic certification and what obstacles they confront in the process. The survey population included farmers in the midst of the transition process and farmers who began transition but decided not to pursue organic farming, allowing us to compare both groups to farmers who successfully transitioned to certified organic. Because farmers do not control all of the factors that influence their success, we use a ‘spheres of influence’ framework to analyze obstacles at four levels: the farm, local and regional infrastructure, the marketplace and policy. Our results improve our understanding of the transition process and apply to a wide range of stakeholders and service providers who support farmers in different ways, through crop research, infrastructure development, market development and policy.

尽管对有机食品和农产品的需求持续增长，但美国国内供应并没有跟上步伐。增加国内供应在一定程度上需要更多的农场过渡到经过认证的有机生产。这反过来又需要更好地了解过渡过程。本文报告了一项关于农民通过参与美国农业部 (USDA) 自然资源保护局 (NRCS) 环境质量激励计划有机倡议 (EQIP-OI) 过渡到有机认证的全国调查。我们的分析侧重于是什么促使农民向有机认证过渡，以及他们在此过程中遇到的障碍。调查人群包括转型过程中的农民和开始转型但决定不从事有机农业的农民，使我们能够将这两个群体与成功转型为有机认证的农民进行比较。由于农民无法控制影响他们成功的所有因素，我们使用“影响范围”框架来分析四个层面的障碍：农场、地方和区域基础设施、市场和政策。我们的研究结果提高了我们对转型过程的理解，并适用于通过作物研究、基础设施开发、市场开发和政策等以不同方式支持农民的广泛利益相关者和服务提供商。由于农民无法控制影响他们成功的所有因素，我们使用“影响范围”框架来分析四个层面的障碍：农场、地方和区域基础设施、市场和政策。我们的研究结果提高了我们对转型过程的理解，并适用于通过作物研究、基础设施开发、市场开发和政策等以不同方式支持农民的广泛利益相关者和服务提供商。由于农民无法控制影响他们成功的所有因素，我们使用“影响范围”框架来分析四个层面的障碍：农场、地方和区域基础设施、市场和政策。我们的研究结果提高了我们对转型过程的理解，并适用于通过作物研究、基础设施开发、市场开发和政策等以不同方式支持农民的广泛利益相关者和服务提供商。