Oral Testimony

Thank you Mr. Chairman. My name is Mark Lipson, and I represent the Organic Farming Research Foundation, which was founded in 1990 by organic farmers to promote the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming practices. The nation’s 10,000 organic farmers and ranchers are the leading innovators of ecologically-based agriculture, and their entrepreneurship is the foundation for organic’s economic success. On behalf of these producers I thank the leaderships of the Committee and the Subcommittee for this historic opportunity. We respectfully look forward building the record with you, and crafting federal policy that contributes to the well-being of our entire food and farming system.

Organic agriculture makes strong and unique contributions to all of the U.S. strategic goals for agriculture: productivity, conservation, rural development, safety, and trade. Because of these multiple benefits, support for improving and expanding organic agriculture is one of best investments that you can make with the limited resources available to you. The highest-payoff target in this investment strategy is research and education.

Organic agriculture strives for crop and livestock production that is wholly based on natural processes of soil fertility, and ecological management of pests and diseases. While most agricultural technology is directed at simplifying the farm or ranch landscape, organic systems require complexity and diversification. Successful organic agriculture is management and information-intensive. There is no simple recipe, but knowledge is always the key ingredient.

Lack of research and education is inhibiting U.S. production, and thus there is an accelerating decline of U.S. share in rapidly growing domestic and international organic markets. Notably, this basic lack of research and extension capacity applies to both novices making the transition, and veteran growers facing technical limits to expansion.

The lack of statistical data and current market information is hurting organic producers and inhibiting growth in several ways. Capital and credit can be difficult to obtain because there isn’t reliable data to back up business plans and budgets. Organic producers are currently charged a 5% penalty surcharge on crop insurance premiums. Both credit and insurance obstacles are directly related to the lack of data on organic production and market economics.

It is also notable that the regulatory program is affected by the lack of research support. NOP is trying to answer many complex regulatory questions (e.g, livestock care, grazing management, organic seed production) not fully anticipated in 1990 law. All of these issues need - but severely lack - scientific data to inform policy formulation.

In production, marketing, and cost-effective regulation, information is the limiting factor for growth and success. Thus the demand for organic research, education, and statistical data is stronger even than the consumer demand which is driving our industry.

As in all of agriculture, federal policy plays a key role in meeting the need for information and data. Deliberate federal investment in organic research and extension did not begin until 2001, and remains miniscule. Overall, USDA has been spending about $2 billion/yr. on research, extension, education, economics and statistics. Less than 1% is specifically directed at the needs of organic production, processing and marketing.

With these very small resources, there is very good work being done in each of USDAs research agencies. Overall, these programs have succeeded at creating a good set of prototypes in scattered parts of the country. But we have only begun to address the backlog of basic and applied organic systems research.

OFRF has provided recommendations for policy targets and program objectives in the 2007 Farm Bill that will strategically scale-up these efforts. There are a variety of ways to meet these targets. We look forward to discussing these as the committees proceed to work on specific legislative proposals.

America wants organic foods and fiber. Americans want organic family farms in their landscape. We need a diversity of approaches to the serious challenges of dietary health, energy and environmental conservation, and rural economic development. Modest investments in scaling up organic agriculture can provide a tremendous return to our land, our health and our economy.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. We ask that we may extend our comments in the written record with additional data.