California Organic Transition and Gas/Diesel Prices Fall Again

**California Certified Organic Farmers and other organic certifiers are helping growers with paperwork, inspections and logistics to transition to organic production.

To be certified as organic growers, producers must go through a three-year transition in which they stop using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or other prohibited materials.

During the transition, their crops can’t command price premiums of organic products.

The number of U.S. farms transitioning to organic has dropped 71% since 2008.

**USDA says sales of grains climbed week-to-week during the week ending on December 8.

Corn sales totaled 958,900 metric tons, a sharp jump from 692,000 during the previous week.

Guatemala and Mexico were the top buyers.

Wheat sales rose to 469,000 metric tons, a sharp rise from 190,000 during the previous week.

Exports were reported at 255,900 metric tons, down slightly from the previous week.

**The nation's average gas price fell again last week, falling 11.9 cents to $3.09 per gallon.

That’s down 57.1 cents from a month ago and 20 cents from a year ago.

The national average for DIESEL fell 14.1 cents last week, reaching $4.77 per gallon.

GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan says, while the decline should take the national average under $3 soon, that should soon fade as oil prices have held in the $70 per barrel range.