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Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

Farmers across the U.S. are eligible for significant technical and financial assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Farmers and technical service providers know firsthand that the most significant barriers to developing sustainable infrastructure and production practices are due to time and resource scarcity. NRCS’ EQIP program offers financial assistance and technical support to implement new conservation practices on your farm, with additional support for historically underserved applicants, including socially disadvantaged, beginning, veteran, and limited-resource farmers and ranchers. In this blog post, we’ll provide an overview of what EQIP has to offer and the steps to utilizing this program.

Obtain additional translated materials, or schedule interpretation services for phone calls or in-person visits, at farmers.gov/translations, or request personalized Spanish language support for any USDA resource, at farmers.gov/translations#spanish-request.

Important Points:

  • EQIP is a reimbursement program; most operations will have to pay for improvements up-front and get funding to cover those costs.
  • Do not begin reimbursable conservation activities and projects prior to completion of your application process and contract with NRCS.
  • Contacting your local NRCS office is a key step in determining your eligibility and beginning your application process.
  • Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and will be reviewed on the next ranking date for your state. Begin your application process as soon as possible to ensure completion by the next deadline! Applications are prioritized by local resource concerns and the applicant’s level of need.
    • The 2026 batching deadline is January 15, 2026, for all states. 
  • You will need to create a free online account at Farmers.gov and ensure that it is up to date.
  • If you do not own your land, you will need to submit written permission from the owner with your application.

Step 1. Research Your Options.

EQIP offers support for a broad scope of conservation activities & projects to producers, including both financial and technical support. EQIP provides funds to reimburse costs associated with specific practices or infrastructure projects on a farm. EQIP’s most popular sub-programs include the High Tunnel Initiative, which covers the cost of high tunnel installation for production farms, the On Farm Energy Initiative, which covers the cost of energy-saving equipment and infrastructure improvements such as refrigeration units or greenhouse improvements, and the Organic Initiative, which provides up to $140k to certified organic or transitioning farms to implement conservation practices such as design and installation of efficient irrigation systems, nutrient & pest management strategies, or developing a grazing plan. Funding availability varies by state. As of 2026, not all initiatives are offered in every state. Check with your local NCRS office to determine what funding pools are available in your state.

Front page of a CSP factsheet in English

Step 2. Connect with USDA.

Create or update your account at Farmers.gov, and contact your local NRCS office to get started. Your conservation specialist will confirm your eligibility and help you identify which projects & practices best suit your operation. 

Guiding questions for initial contact with NRCS:

  • “I’m interested in applying for EQIP’s  _initiative(s) of interest_ for my farm to help finance _conservation project of interest_. What do you need from me to get started on my application?”
  • “What additional funding opportunities are available to my farm?”
  • “How soon can a conservationist help me set up a conservation plan (AD 1026)?”
  • “When is the deadline for the next EQIP ranking period?”
  • “I am eligible for the increased and advanced payment option for Historically Underserved farmers. How will this change my application process?”
  • “I _(own/rent)_ my land. What documents will you need for completion of my EQIP application by the deadline?”
  • “My farm is _certified/transitioning_ to organic. What additional will you need for completion of my conservation plan and application by the deadline?”

Step 3. Schedule your conservation plan development.

Your NRCS conservation specialist will work with you to develop a conservation plan for your operation and complete the AD 1026 form.

Step 4. Gather your application documents.

You’ll need your: 

  • Official tax ID (Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number)
  • Adjusted gross income certification (Form CCC-941), which requires your Taxpayer ID Number and AGI from the previous 3 tax years.
  • Deed, or property lease agreement, and written authorization from the landowner to install structural or vegetative practices.
  • Farm tract number (obtained from Farmers.gov or FSA membership).
  • Documentation of organic certification (if applicable).
  • Documentation of your land’s irrigation history (if applicable to project).

Step 5. Complete your application & submit!

Your NRCS conservation specialist will complete & submit your application form (CPA 1200) with you using your established conservation plan and the above documents. 

Step 6. Implement your plan.

If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done. You’ll be provided with guidelines and a timeframe for implementing your plan. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you’ll be paid the rate of compensation for the work.

Apply for EQIP now and unlock a more affordable path to sustainable agriculture. Your farm deserves the support it needs.

All of this information is summarized in a printable, downloadable PDF below, available in English and Spanish.

Cover page of TOPP EQIP Toolkit

English

Español

By |2026-01-15T10:21:50-05:00January 5th, 2026|Federal Assistance, News, Spanish Resources, TOPP West|
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An Organic Approach to Increasing Resilience

Few farmers need official reports to tell them that “increasing weather volatility” and climate change threaten their livelihoods and the resilience of their farming and ranching operations. With historic droughts, wildfires, flooding, and hurricanes in recent years, more farms are facing variable yields, crop losses, increased weed, pest, and disease pressures, and intensifying soil degradation, erosion, and compaction.

By utilizing organic and sustainable practices to build soil health, farmers and ranchers can improve their resilience and reduce risk as our climate changes. While practices can vary depending on your operation, establishing optimum soil organic matter (SOM) and biological
activity will help your operation through the difficult times to come.

By |2026-01-16T11:26:29-05:00December 18th, 2025|Climate Change, Cover Crops & Crop Rotation, Insects & Diseases, Livestock, On-Farm Research, Plant Breeding & Variety Selection, Resource, Soil Health|
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Lessons from the Plains on the Transition to Organic

A Farmer Panel recap from the Transitioning to Organic Farming Conference at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension, and Education Center in Ithaca, NE

By Brian Geier, OFRF Communications Manager.

“I used to write checks to chemical companies. Now I write them to my kids,” explains Tom Schwarz, a 5th-generation farmer from southern Nebraska, while discussing the advantages of organic production. The Schwarz Family Farm has been farming organically since transitioning the farm in 1988. Along with his wife and two kids, Tom raises corn, soybeans, wheat, field peas, alfalfa, oats, and numerous cover crops. He was speaking at the Transition to Organic Farming Conference hosted by the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, alongside two other organic farmers. 

As may be the case for many farmers in rural Nebraska, farming is not new to any of the organic farmers on this particular panel. Each spoke with a familiarity and vocabulary that comes with decades of experience. All three of them are from families who are farming hundreds or thousands of acres, some owned, many rented, in various stages of leases. And all of them had, at some point in the past few decades, switched a portion of their farming enterprises to certified organic production. For these farmers, who carry on family legacies of farming that survived the farm crises of the 1970s and 80s, organic is, among other things, a way to survive. It is also a path toward passing a farm operation onto the next generation that is better, safer, and more profitable than when they started. 

No-till, organic corn at Young Family Farm in Nebraska. Photo credit: Barry Young, farmer-presenter on the “Organic Production: Nebraska Growers’ Perspectives” panel. 

Like most farming, organic is not all easy. Tom presented what he sees as the disadvantages of organic: it is management-intensive (more machinery passes per season), requires extra recordkeeping, and WEEDS (emphasis via capitalization added from Tom’s presentation). “It’s just plain harder,” he explained, citing the need to be able to adapt on the fly and to creatively problem solve.

Matt Adams, who started farming with his dad in 2016 and operates about 600 acres in Seward, Nebraska, also spoke on the panel. He agreed that there can be difficulties with the transition to organic, particularly with having machinery settings or setups needed for larger-scale grain production. “Get everything ready way before,” he warns, “so the day you need to be out there, you’re ready.” 

Matt transitioned non-irrigated land that was previously in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to organic hay and row crops. Since the fields were in CRP, there had been no prohibited substances applied to them, and they were ready to certify, meaning he did not have to steward them through the three-year transition period to organic. But since the land had not been fertilized or cultivated, Matt is finding that yields have been low and weed pressure high, putting extra strain on the need for timely, effective cultivation setups. 

When addressing challenges, the number one source of information for organic farmers is other farmers. And Nebraska’s organic farmers on this panel are no exception. 

“I do have some original thoughts. But I always throw them to the wolves first,” explains Barry Young, the third panelist who operates Young Family Farm in southeast Nebraska. “I should call it ‘Young Community Farm’”, he chuckles, giving credit to past mentors that first taught him about polyculture planting, and acknowledging fellow farmers and family members that he discusses ideas with before trying them. Barry finds that sourcing inputs is one of his biggest challenges. Despite living in farm country, “No one around me was doing what I’m doing,” he said. Still, by persistently asking questions of fellow organic and regenerative farmers, who he finds are more apt to share knowledge than many conventional growers, he has learned to meet main challenges like developing inter-species planting mixes for weed control. 

Organic farmer Barry Young explains his polyculture planting mix for organic wheat, which includes a custom mix of 120 pounds of wheat with 2 pounds of radish and 3 pounds of flax. The flax, a legume, helps enhance the soil microbiome while the radish helps break compaction especially following alfalfa. Both winterkill and the wheat matures as a pure stand for harvest the next season.

Earthworms and good soil structure in a November cover crop at Young Family Farm.

A high biomass (10-ton per acre) pea/oat cover crop following no-till corn planting at Young Family Farm

Corn grows with a soil-building mix in wheat stubble at Young Family Farm.

Secondary roots on organic, no-till corn at six weeks post-emergence at Young Family Farm.

“This is the way we’re intended to farm.”

-Nebraska organic farmer

All three of the farmers spoke about several advantages of organic production, too. One described lying down in a field, observing the increase in bug and bird life following the switch away from pesticides, and thinking, “This is the way we’re intended to farm.” 

Other advantages cited include organic’s market stability, and the regional control and accountability within the market chains. With organic grain production, many farmers are selling niche crops to regional processors who are then selling food back to the community. This creates a market and economy that farmers form long-term relationships with, and it stands in contrast to the volatility and lack of accountability from larger, conventional commodity crop markets where crops are shipped out of state or country for processing. It is “consumer-based as opposed to commodity-based,” Tom points out. 

But ultimately, for Tom and others on the panel, it is about their farms’ future, and that is about the quality of life of the next generation. Today, there are challenges with organic, for sure, but farming has been a difficult profession for generations of Nebraskans. With organic production as at least a part of the farm, Tom feels he is creating something that will be passed on to the next generation and be better than what he inherited. Aside from now being a paid part of the organic operation, Tom notes that “The kids will not be exposed to chemicals like I was,” adding, matter-of-factly, “that’s the biggest reason I do it.”

For Plains farmers interested in learning more about the USDA’s National Organic Program, we encourage you to explore resources and upcoming events hosted by the region’s Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP). You may also want to explore OFRF’s step-by-step guides, printable tools, and farmer experiences to help you access USDA programs and funding, such as the NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the RMA’s Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) program.

By |2026-01-06T16:40:14-05:00December 16th, 2025|Farmer Stories, News|
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Something to be Grateful For: Northeastern State Secretaries of Agriculture Send Letter to Secretary Rollins about OREI

Written by Vinnie Trometter and Gordon Merrick of OFRF’s Policy Team

Before we all rushed to our dinner tables for Thanksgiving, we at the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), organic agriculture researchers, and organic farmers were thankful for actions taken by several state capitols across the country. On November 20th, the state secretaries of agriculture from Connecticut, Delaware, and New Jersey joined Pennsylvania Secretary Redding to submit a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, requesting unreleased FY2025 funding for the Organic Agriculture Research Extension Initiative (OREI) be included on top of new fiscal year funds for the program in FY2026.

OFRF’s policy team spurred this effort because we wanted to make sure that state departments of agriculture were aware that their land-grant universities did not have an opportunity to apply for the largest organic research program under USDA despite it being a permanent and mandatory program under the Farm Bill. OREI represents $50 million out of the $72.5 million which USDA dedicates to answering organic farmer’s questions each year. However, USDA did not release an RFA for the program for FY25, resulting in zero awards being given out. Consequently, researchers have endured disruptions in the continuation of their work and in the delayed study of organic topics that focus on many new and emerging issues facing organic farmers.

OREI recipients are overwhelmingly agriculture researchers at land-grant universities who develop projects in partnership with working certified-organic farms. These projects are critical steps towards finding ways to unlock organic producers’ ability to be more productive and better market their goods. The need for programs that study organic productivity and supply chains is becoming increasingly important because the U.S. has a spiraling organic trade deficit and has lost more than 16% of its certified acreage since 2021. Yet at the same time, domestic demand for organically produced goods grew 5.2% last year, more than double the rate of the overall marketplace.

Shortly after the release of this letter, OFRF received word from USDA that FY2026 OREI funding will include all of FY2025’s monies, which is an outcome we are very thankful for. State-level advocacy is an important and effective strategy that OFRF uses to inform federal officials about the localized impacts of federal policy.

We encourage organic farmers, researchers, and stakeholders to engage with their state representatives, senators, and departments of agriculture to amplify their challenges and successes as it comes to deployment of federal funds targeting organic agriculture research topics.

If you want to read more blogs like this, sign up for our newsletter here; if you want to take a next step in engaging with the policy process at a local, state, or federal level, sign up for our free, email-based Communicating with Legislators course!

Eat well and breathe deep,

Vinnie and Gordon

By |2025-12-09T09:02:15-05:00December 5th, 2025|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|
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Farmer-Led Trials Program Spotlight: Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center

Investigating Seeding Rate of Cover Crops for Biomass and Nutrient Content

Written by Mary Hathaway, OFRF’s Research & Education Program Manager, and Anthony Reyes, FLT Program participant

Anthony Reyes, FLT Program Participant. Photo credit Washington Soil Health Initiative, https://washingtonsoilhealthinitiative.com/2025/02/soil-health-ambassador-anthony-reyes-cover-crops/

Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center is a nonprofit farm in the floodplains of Snoqualmie Valley, WA. Anthony Reyes, the Agricultural Program Manager, manages 81 acres of certified organic land by experimenting and trialing climate adaptive and resilient agricultural practices. Along with his team, he works to reconcile our expanding human needs and the health of our ecosystem through sustainable agriculture, thoughtful management of our forests, ecological restoration, and education.

Oxbow Farm cultivates a variety of different crops well suited to the Snoqualmie Valley floodplain, and maintains a crop rotation to allow the soil to recover and regenerate. Anthony strategically removes fields from production each year and leaves them fallowed in cover crop to help protect the watershed, build up nutrients, and manage weeds, pests, and diseases.

Finding a Cover Crop that Works

Anthony was interested in understanding how to find a cover crop that would meet the needs of the farm – managing climatic challenges, erosion, and weed pressure. Ideally, anything that would be planted would help add biomass and could withstand drought conditions. Manipulating the seeding rate of the cover crops had been one way that the farm had considered better coverage of the soil, and Anthony was curious if the recommended seeding rate was the right density for their soil.

Farm Trial Plan

A portion of the cover cropped trial field.

With technical support from OFRF, Anthony is investigating the impact of seeding rate on biomass and nutrient content for German Foxtail, Pearl Millet, and Sudex cover crops. He will plant single varieties at two different seeding rates: the recommended rate and 25% above the recommended drilling rate.

The trial was arranged in  a randomized complete block design, with 24 rows, each 100’ x 10’ wide, with 1’ pathways and borders on outside rows. Each of the 4 replications contained  6 plots (3 varieties at 2 different seeding rates), for a total of 24 plots.

Measurements were taken from a random 3×3’ quadrat from each plot, including a biomass and leaf tissue sample. These samples were sent to Ward Lab for analysis of biomass, nutrient content, dry matter, and C:N ratio of the crop matter.

Trial updates

The quadrat samples were taken in September and lab results were returned in late October. The OFRF team is now reviewing the data with Anthony, for a full report on how the trial went and findings from the data.

Trial fields at Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center

“I have long been interested in conducting and furthering our on-farm research, having worked on and set up many trials throughout my career. The Farmer-Led Trial Program goes beyond and centers the experience and voice of farmers by identifying us as the content experts and by playing a highly supportive and facilitative role in creating sound research from our identified goals. I have greatly valued the time and care given by OFRF staff and am so appreciative of this program.” 

– Anthony Reyes, Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center

An overhead drone shot of Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center

This is part of a series of blogs highlighting farmers who are participating in OFRF’s Farmer-Led Trials program. Farmers receive technical support to address their production challenges through structured on-farm trials. To learn more about OFRF’s Farmer-Led Trials Program, visit our website page at https://ofrf.org/research/farmer-led-research-trials/ 

To learn more about Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center, visit their website at https://www.oxbow.org/ 

By |2025-12-17T17:31:33-05:00December 2nd, 2025|Farmer Stories, News|
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USDA NIFA Announces 2025 Organic Transitions Program Awards

November 20, 2025

This week USDA-NIFA announced seven new research project awards through the Organic Transitions Program (ORG), totaling over $6 million to support a better understanding of the processes of organic transition and the best ways to support farmers who are in that process.

Photo of electric weed control equipment from https://theweedzapper.oldschoolmanufacturing.com/electric-weed-control-organic-farms/

The ORG program funds research and extension work that help those farmers stay competitive during the transition process, while also strengthening our understanding of the ecological benefits related to organic production. This program prioritizes the development of educational tools for farmers, technical service providers, and extension to support a farm during the sometimes tumultuous transition process.

The awards announced are going to Land Grant Universities across the country, and taken together, these projects are tackling some of the most pressing challenges facing organic and transitioning farms. 

The projects represent a continued step towards supporting practical, farmer-focused science that will help more producers transition successfully to organic systems, maintain profitability, and meet growing consumer demand for organic food. 

They also highlight the continued importance of programs like ORG and the Organic Research and Extension Initiative in driving innovation across the organic sector and beyond. We are looking forward to the release of the FY26 OREI and ORG Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs).

Want to stay in the know about opportunities for funding like this? Sign up for our newsletter.

By |2025-11-20T12:57:32-05:00November 20th, 2025|News|
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OFRF Launches National Organic Farmer Survey to Shape the Future of Organic Agriculture

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Nov. 19, 2025 — The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) has launched its 2025-2026 National Organic Farmer Survey, a nationwide effort to understand the challenges, priorities, and needs of organic and transitioning farmers. The survey will remain open through February 28, 2026, and will inform research, education, and policy decisions that directly impact the future of organic agriculture in the United States and across North America.

Since 1990, OFRF has worked to support the producers who grow the nation’s food and fiber. Farmer input is central to the organization’s work. Insights from previous surveys, including the 2022 National Organic Research Agenda (NORA), have guided farmer-led research projects, influenced university and Extension priorities, and helped policymakers direct more resources to organic producers.

“Organic farmers are experts in their fields, and their perspectives must guide decisions about agricultural research, education, and policy,” said Brise Tencer, executive director of OFRF. “This survey ensures that investments in the organic sector reflect the real needs of producers on the ground.”

The survey is open to all certified and in-transition organic farmers nationwide. Participation takes approximately 25 minutes, and upon completion, all respondents will receive a discount code to Johnny’s Selected Seeds and have the opportunity to enter to win prizes, including boots from The Original Muck Boot Company, FELCO pruners, and a farm consultation with a veteran organic farming expert.

Dr. Alex Woodley, associate professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at North Carolina State University, emphasizes the importance of this survey: “It’s important to make it clear that the surveys OFRF conducts on farmers’ needs are incredibly valuable. I’ve used the results to justify knowledge gaps in my grants, and that’s been really important. Getting a pulse on what farmers need right now is something we don’t always know—especially because I’m in research, not full Extension—so these surveys have been really important to me.”

Farmers can access by using this link or by emailing communications[at]ofrf.org. The survey is available in English and Spanish, and paper copies are available upon request. The 2022 NORA report, which shares the findings from the most recent survey, can be found at www.ofrf.org/research/nora/.

– end – 

About Organic Farming Research Foundation

The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, with a remote team based across the U.S., works to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems. OFRF cultivates organic research, education, and federal policies that bring more farmers and acreage into organic production. For more information about OFRF, please visit our website: www.ofrf.org.

 

Media Contact

Ashley Dulaney, Communications Director, OFRF
ashley[at]ofrf.org, ‪(518) 310-6771‬‬
P.O. Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA 95061

Photo in featured image: Claire Lichtenfels, Whitestone Mountain Orchard in Tonasket, WA

 

*Updated Jan. 14, 2026, to reflect the extended survey close date.

By |2026-02-10T15:44:39-05:00November 19th, 2025|News, Press Release|
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Advancing Organic Agriculture: Examining How to Make the Midwest a Center of Organic Oat and Buckwheat Production with Congressman Scott Fitzgerald

Different buckwheat flour formulations are being tested by evaluating different milling techniques. This photo shows light (left) vs. dark (right) buckwheat flours, which have different flavor and texture properties.

By Dr. Nicole Tautges with support from Vinnie Trometter, OFRF Policy Manager

As the Research Director of the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in Wisconsin, I recently had the opportunity to meet with Congressman Scott Fitzgerald’s (R-WI-05) staff to discuss how the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) program supports our research developing markets and supply chains for Midwestern organic oat and buckwheat producers.

Growing Small Grains for Big Impact

Carbohydrates make up about 75% of the calories in a typical diet, with most of those carbohydrate calories coming from grains. However, grains have received very little attention in terms of origins/sourcing, health benefits, quality factors, and organic share of consumption. Even for basic grain items like wheat flour, few consumers know where their flour comes from, or the differences among grains other than wheat.

This is where organic oat and buckwheat come in. Not only can these grains replace wheat for many uses but they are also more nutritious and excel in organic crop rotations. Our research focuses on how the Midwest can become a center of oat and buckwheat production in the United States. There is much work to do considering most of the oat and buckwheat consumed in the country is imported. However, there is no reason why these grains cannot be grown right here in the Midwest if the right markets and supply chains are in place.

Our research seeks to accomplish this by highlighting the nutritional and crop rotation benefits while building the knowledge and supply chains needed to make these grains more widely available. We do this by organizing focus groups with farmers and other grain supply chain actors to understand what the problems are, and design research trials to address management knowledge constraints.

Oat variety trial—different oat varieties that are currently available are being tested in organic production environments (oats are typically not bred under organic conditions, and can perform differently in organic production systems).

Our trials cover all segments of the oat and buckwheat supply chain. On the grower side, we intend to perform organic fertility trials to improve nutrient recommendations for growers. For example, we are testing no-till establishment of spring oats, which helps ensure earlier planting and higher-quality food-grade oats. We have also completed a trial that demonstrates buckwheat can be planted after small grain harvest in the same season, with enough time to produce a harvestable crop. On the processing side, we are performing milling and processing trials with oats and buckwheat. Lastly, we are performing product testing with consumers, to better understand consumer preferences and to provide guidance to organic grain millers.

Collaboration and Networking are Key to Success

We are collaborating on this project with partners such as Dr. Jacob Jungers at the University of Minnesota, the Artisan Grain Collaborative, Rooster Milling in East Troy, WI, and several dedicated organic farmers across the Upper Midwest.

To share our results, we host field days, present at grower conferences, give webinars, and post videos on YouTube and Facebook. These efforts ensure that both farmers and consumers can see what’s happening and why it matters.

Support from the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) has been fundamental for us. OREI is one of the few USDA programs that consistently supports organic research, which has often been neglected compared to conventional agriculture, despite rising consumer demand for agrochemical-free food.

Sharing Organic Research with Midwest Policymakers

It is important now more than ever to communicate to our legislators how organic agriculture research plays out on the ground. Agricultural science can feel abstract and difficult to understand for those outside the field. And let’s be honest—scientists aren’t always the best communicators! By sharing names, faces, and stories from real farms, we help policymakers connect research to human impact in their districts.

Buckwheat is a pseudocereal and a staple grain of northeastern Europe. It is actually in the rhubarb family! It has a pyramidal shaped grain (the dark brown part of the flower as seen above) that can be milled into flour, or dehulled and the “groat” eaten in porridge or granola.

I feel confident that I connected human impact with our research when I spoke with Congressman Fitzgerald’s staff. I deeply appreciated how receptive his office was to learning about innovative farming practices happening right here in the 1st Wisconsin Congressional District and across the Midwest. With so many demands on their time, it meant a lot to see agriculture innovation recognized as important.

I’m incredibly grateful to the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) for facilitating this meeting. Without their support, I wouldn’t have had the chance to share our stories directly with lawmakers.

Looking ahead, whether it be research trials or policymaker conversations, our work is about building bridges—between farms and markets, between science and consumers, and between research and policy. Oats and buckwheat may be small grains, but they represent a big opportunity for healthier diets, more resilient farming systems, and stronger local food economies in the Midwest.

Use Your Voice

Interested in sharing your research with legislators and the importance of continued public investment in organic research? Enroll in OFRF’s self-paced email course, Communicating with Legislators. This free, educational workshop is designed to equip researchers within the organic farming community with the tools and resources they need to effectively engage with and educate policymakers about the impact of their work.

Dr. Nicole Tautges

By |2025-11-11T10:09:01-05:00November 10th, 2025|News|
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How OFRF is Building Bipartisan Support for Organic Research Programs in Congress

Written by Vinnie Trometter and Gordon Merrick

As we alluded in last month’s Policy Corner, there is some semblance of good news legislatively regarding OFRF’s policy priorities!  Reps. Eugene Vindman (D-VA-07) and Mike Lawler (R-NY-17) introduced OFRF’s flagship marker bill, the Organic Science and Research Investment (OSRI) Act in the House of Representatives with broad sector support. With a companion bill already introduced in the Senate by Sens. Fetterman (D-PA) and Schiff (D-CA), this legislation is now introduced in both chambers.

At its core, the OSRI Act is about finally investing in the research capacity needed to keep pace with a fast-growing organic sector. This bill would:

  • Increase funding for the only two USDA research programs dedicated to organic research: the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and the Organic Transitions Program (ORG).
  • Direct USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area to catalog existing organic research and recommend pathways to expand the work.
  • Charge the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) to examine the economic impact of organic agriculture on rural and urban communities.
  • Continue the growth of the Organic Data Initiative, ensuring robust market and production data remains available to farmers, businesses, researchers, and policymakers.

Taken together, these provisions would strengthen the scientific foundation of organic agriculture, ensure farmers have access to regionally relevant research, and support a new generation of scientists committed to agroecological approaches.

Bipartisan By Design

The bipartisan approach we are pursuing is an intentional attempt to communicate that the growth of the organic agriculture sector is a national priority, not a partisan project, and we aim to have the cosponsor list reflect that reality.

While quiet support for organic agriculture does exist across both parties, public leadership on organic issues has historically been stronger among Democrats. That’s shifting. Interest in soil health, regenerative systems, and farmer-driven innovation is growing in Republican circles, but many offices prefer to see key agricultural interests and members support policies before they cosponsor legislation.

This strategy is especially important because the House introduction occurred at the outset of what has become the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history. In an environment where basic governing has become difficult, moving new legislation requires patience, persistence, and a fundamentally nonpartisan posture. That is exactly how OFRF operates, and we are here to meet this moment.

Moving Forward

Because of the current political landscape exacerbated by the current shutdown, Farm Bill 2.0 discussions have slowed to a standstill. But this pause also creates space. As Congress turns back toward core Farm Bill negotiations in the coming months, the OSRI Act is well-positioned to gain traction, especially if organic research is understood as an economic development and competitiveness package rather than a niche priority.

That’s why your outreach matters.

Over the coming months, OFRF will continue to share targeted district-level information, elevate producer voices, and build bipartisan support so that organic research is properly valued, and fully funded, in the next Farm Bill. Check out our Communicating with Legislators course and reach out to us to get started!

OFRF and our allies are continuing to meet with Congressional offices to highlight how organic research delivers tangible benefits to farmers through practical tools to strengthen on farm resilience, expanded market opportunities, and rural economic revitalization.

At a moment when the organic sector is the fastest growing segment of U.S. agriculture, the need for its fair share of research investments has never been clearer. Farmers are on the front lines of climate disruption and supply-chain volatility, and organic research projects have actively provided methods to help them continue to thrive.

When the tide rises for organic research, all producers benefit.

Stay tuned for more, and thanks for being in this work with us.

Vinnie and Gordon

By |2025-11-05T13:00:46-05:00November 5th, 2025|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|
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