Harvesting organically grown Deglet Noor dates on Woodspur Farms, the biggest organic date grower in the U.S. This 84-year-old grove of dates has been managed organically for over five years. It differs from conventional date growing in that only natural fertilizers (they use chicken manure and wood compost) can be used, no herbicides can be used (they disk the rows between the palms 2-3x per year). Last year Woodspur produced 7.5 M lbs. of Deglet Noor dates and 8 million lbs. of Medjool dates on a total of 3,000 acres in the Coachella, Yuma, and Blythe areas of the Sonoran Desert. The market for dates has been growing, especially for the organic segment of the market, with primary use in baked goods and power bars.