Monthly Archives: March 2022

By Ferd Hoefner, OFRF policy advisor

On March 9, Congress finally produced the government funding bill for the fiscal year that started last October. Since October the government has been funding by a series of continuing resolutions that tracked the previous year’s budget amounts. Congress will now vote on the new final appropriations bill over the course of the next week, at which point it will be signed into law by the President. With April 1, the halfway point of every federal fiscal year, close at hand, it thankfully will not be held up any longer, and hope springs eternal that they would finish the annual appropriations process by the September 30 deadline each year.

The following are some brief bill highlights from the organic research perspective:

Organic Transitions Research – After winning a $1 million increase last year, we were successful in adding another half million increase this year, bringing the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 22) total to $7.5 million. In report language added by the Senate, USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is directed to focus the increase on the role of organic in mitigating climate change.

Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education  – Though not an organic-only research and extension program, SARE was an early and continues to be a regular contributor to organic research. Following on a $3 million increase last year, the new bill for FY 22 includes another $5 million increase, bringing the total for the current year to $45 million for this NIFA competitive grants program.

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative – AFRI, by far the largest of the NIFA competitive grants programs, does not contribute nearly as much to organic farming research as it should, but has nonetheless been an occasional source of organic-specific funding or more frequently research that may contribute to organic systems less directly. It will receive its third straight $10 million annual increase, to reach $445 million for FY 22. In its report language, the Senate also directs NIFA to increase the number of organic research projects funded under AFRI, so that will bear watching as grants are awarded later this year.

Agricultural Research Service – While the final FY 22 bill does not include any specific funding provisions for organic farming research by the federal labs and field stations that make up ARS, earlier House report language requires the agency to develop a five-year plan for organic food and agricultural research encompassing all relevant crop, animal, nutrition, and natural resource national programs. We expect that plan to help bear fruit when Congress takes up the FY 23 agricultural appropriations bill later this year.

Organic Production and Market Data Initiative – The new bill includes level funding of $500,000 for the National Agricultural Statistics Service and an increase of $500,000, to a total of $1 million, for the Agricultural Marketing Service to further the objectives of the Organic Production and Market Data Initiative. Congress directs the increase for AMS to improve annual reporting by organic certifiers to calculate organic acreage and yield estimates more accurately on a country-by-country basis.

Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative – In an exciting comeback story, Congress is providing $14 million for the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI), a technical assistance and outreach program within the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s conservation technical assistance budget. Well managed grazing land is central to organic livestock and dairy production and plays a predominate role in climate change mitigation efforts. GLCI has not been funded by Congress for well over a decade, so its rebirth this year is a most welcome addition to the conservation and grazing toolbox.

Organic Farming Research Foundation is hosting the 2022 Organic Agriculture Research Forum (OARF) at the 42nd Annual EcoFarm Conference. This year’s event will be held virtually, March 9-18, with field days scheduled in April-June 2022.

The following OARF workshops will be conducted online:

Research Report-Back: Soil Health on Organic Farms in the Central Coast
Tuesday, March 15, 1:15PM-2:30PM PT

Scientists from the UC Berkeley Soil Health Project will present the results of their soil ecology, bird ecology, and social science research on the topic of soil health on organic vegetable farms. We studied 18 organic farms to learn about different farming practices and innovations farmers are using to protect the soil. Organic lettuce and vegetable growers along the Central Coast of California use many different practices to support soil health, from cover cropping and composting to planting hedgerows. How does the farming model affect the challenges and opportunities for using soil health practices? How does the use of these practices impact nutrient cycling and soil carbon, suppression of foodborne pathogens in soil, and conservation of bird communities? In this session, we report back on our research over the past two years and share our findings on the benefits and challenges of implementing practices that build soil health.

Findings from the 2022 National Organic Research Agenda and Listening Session
***Presented by OFRF
Wednesday, March 16, 1:15PM-2:30PM PT

The Organic Farming Research Foundation regularly surveys organic growers, farmers, ranchers across North America to understand their challenges and research needs. They use these findings to publish the National Organic Research Agenda (NORA) report. This report informs OFRF research, education and advocacy programs and has also historically served as a critical roadmap to inform the USDA and Congress on how to leverage public investments in organic research and technical assistance. In 2019 OFRF surveyed over 1,000 farmers and held 16 focus groups with both established certified organic growers and transitioning growers. In this listening session we will summarize the findings of the most recent NORA report, and then open the floor for dialogue on the future needs within organic production systems.

Farmer to Farmer Panel on Soil Health/ Grupo de agricultor a agricultor sobre la salud del suelo
Thursday, March 17, 11:15AM-12:30PM PT (Note: En Español / In Spanish)

Two organic vegetable farmers with highly diversified organic production will share their experiences with using practices to build soil health. What works? What have they changed over time? And what challenges do they face that they are still working on? These two growers have participated in the UC Berkeley Soil Health Research project and will share some data about their farms in terms of soil microbial diversity and fertility as well as their reflections on how their farming practices have influenced these measurements.

Agricultores de productos orgánicos con alta diversidad en la producción orgánica compartirán sus experiencias con el uso de prácticas para crear la salud del suelo. ¿Qué es lo que funciona? ¿Qué es lo que ellos han cambiado a través del tiempo? Y, ¿cuáles son los retos en los cuales ellos todavía están trabajando? Estos tres agricultores han participado en el UC Berkeley Soil Health Research (proyecto de Investigación de la Salud del Suelo de UC Berkeley) y compartirán algo de los datos acerca de sus operaciones agrícolas en términos de la diversidad microbiana y la fertilidad, así como sus reflexiones sobre cómo sus prácticas agrícolas han influenciado estas medidas.

Controlling Spotted Wing Drosophila Organically
Friday, March 18, 1:15PM-2:30PM PT

Despite increasing pressure associated with SWD on a wide range of fruits, there are few organic options for its control. This session will explore research on integrated techniques that are proving effective without the use of prohibited insecticides. Some of these techniques include attractants, netting, trapping, biological control, and more. Because this pest is now widespread in soft fruit, fighting it is very important.

By Ferd Hoefner, OFRF policy advisor

Engaging with government agencies on topics of mutual interest is a critical aspect of working to advance improved public policy and resource allocations for organic farming. OFRF does that type of work on an ongoing basis. Two recent examples – concerning conservation and research – illustrate the point.

In February, OFRF hosted a working meeting with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff and a wide variety of organic stakeholders. Over 20 people participated, including representatives of NRCS, OFRF, the Organic Trade Association, National Organic Coalition, Organic Farmers Association, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and National Center for Appropriate Technology, among others.

It was the first organic stakeholders call on conservation programs in several years and OFRF was pleased to organize and facilitate the conversation. Participants dove into a variety of topics, including organic issues related to:

• the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program, including the organic initiatives, state allocations, participation rates, and conservation enhancements beneficial to organic systems;
• the difficulty in finding organic certifiers who are interested in writing conservation plans and ways to expand outreach;
• the recent transition from Conservation Activity Plans (including so-called CAP 138, the Transition to Organic CAP) to a more flexible, three-part framework of Conservation Planning Activities, Design and Implementation Activities, and Conservation Evaluation and Monitoring Activities;
• the Conservation Reserve Program’s Organic Field Border Buffer Initiative;
• the role of organic in USDA plans to promote climate-smart farming; and
• emerging plans for a USDA organic transition initiative.

The conversation was lively and aided immensely by the knowledge, commitment and passion of Lindsay Haines, a 34-year NRCS veteran who serves as the agency’s National Organic and Pest Management Specialist and is herself a farmer. Coming out of the call, three subgroups were formed for follow-up conversations. One of those, on new and revised CSP enhancements to better serve organic farmers has already occurred in early March. At that time, OFRF consultant Mark Schonbeck shared with the group a detailed list of enhancements for agency consideration for the 2023 CSP enrollment year and beyond. A second small group, on issues related to Technical Service Providers and conservation planning activities will meet later in March. The third group, on organic’s role in climate mitigation will happen in early April.

OFRF has also been involved in agency discussions about organic research activities and funding with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. In 2021, OFRF had several meetings with ARS national program leaders as well as one with the agency head to prod the agency to develop a comprehensive plan for organic research and substantially ramp up funding. We proposed that today’s meager funding reach at least a pro rata share compared to organic’s position in the marketplace, which would come to about $100 million a year, about an eight-fold increase over current funding levels.

We are very pleased to report that recent meetings with ARS national program leaders have demonstrated a renewed commitment to organic farming research. A plan has been put together along with an associated budget.  It is still in the agency clearance process, so we have not yet seen the full details. We do know, however, that it would include organic systems research, research on diverse faming environments, climate mitigation research, and cross disciplinary research funds. Among the outcomes anticipated would be new crop varieties, innovative pest management techniques, new organic feed options, climate change mitigation advances, and post-harvest improvements. We commend ARS for taking our concerns to heart. OFRF will share a summary once the details become publicly available.