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TOPP West Resources

Federal funding is available to help agricultural producers transition to an organic system of production.  As part of the larger $300 million USDA Organic Transition Initiative, the Natural Resource Conservation Service has begun to make $70 million available to help producers adopt organic management systems in pursuit of certification.  The following resources provide information on specific USDA technical assistance and funding support programs available to farmers. We will continue to update this with additional resources, so be sure to check back often. 

Utilizing NRCS Support on Organic Farms: Tech Note 12

Tech Note 12 provides a wealth of knowledge needed to effectively support the unique requirements of organic producers

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offers funding and technical assistance to help farmers enhance their farming operations, including increasing support for transitioning to organic practices. However, farmers, field agents, and Technical Service Providers (TSPs) may not always be familiar with how NRCS programs can support organic practices. To address this, OFRF collaborated with NRCS to develop a document that equips farmers and field agents with the knowledge needed to effectively support the unique requirements of organic producers. That document is Technical Note 12 (TN-12). Learn more.

The Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP)

Farmers across the U.S. may now receive up to $750 per scope for organic certification costs

As a farmer or a technical service provider to farms, you understand the importance of organic certification. It not only adds value to your products but also opens doors to a growing market of health-conscious consumers. However, the process of obtaining and maintaining organic certification can be costly. The good news is that financial assistance is available through the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) to help ease this burden. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the basic steps to access up to $750 in financial assistance for each organic certification scope, covering expenses paid between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023. Learn more. 

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

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

Farmers and technical service providers know first hand 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… Learn more.

Organic Transition Initiative (OTI)

$75M in cost-share grant funding is available to certified organic and transitioning-to-organic growers under EQIP to meet NRCS’s Conservation Practice Standard for Organic Management (CPS-823).

Organic farmers must manage their land without prohibited inputs for 3 years for their products to be certified. This transitioning period can be incredibly challenging as farmers and their land adjust to new production practices. OTI is intended to help producers implement conservation activities required for certification, receive expert technical support, and recover foregone income due to reduced yields during the transition period through EQIP.

By |2024-11-11T14:17:41+00:00September 26th, 2023|News, TOPP West|
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NRCS Programs on an Organic Farm

How Animal Integration and Crop Rotations Help Sustain Generations of Farmers at Elmwood Stock Farm

Written by Brian Geier

Elmwood Stock Farm is a diversified organic farm in Georgetown, Kentucky, producing mixed vegetables, fruits, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork and value-added products. As a sixth-generation farm, Elmwood has learned to adapt to changing times, shifts in market opportunities, and modifications in state and Federal support programs over the generations. For farmer John Bell, a key to Elmwood’s success has been an ongoing fertility program based on crop-livestock integration and long crop rotations. For the Bell family, the presence of livestock and the practice of crop rotations are part of a family-farm heritage, one that has long been supported by programs like those offered by the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

At Elmwood, land remains in perennial pasture with multi-species grazing for 4-5 years before being opened up for intensive vegetable or grain production for 3 years. This type of fertility program, with a focus on long rest periods and grazing, is not new to the farm. Even before organic certification, John Bell’s parents and grandparents farmed tobacco with a similar rotation, raising hay and cattle on lands for four or more years before switching to tobacco for a few seasons. Utilizing programs like those offered by NRCS is not new to the farm, either. Decades ago the Bell family used programs of the Soil Conservation Service, the precursor to the NRCS, to develop a spring on the farm into a system of gravity-fed tanks for livestock water, a system that is still in use today.

“Long-term, it’s the fertility program that usually determines whether somebody is successful with organic.”
 -John Bell

Early and late-season tomatoes are being produced in 300′ high tunnels at Elmwood Stock Farm.

More recently, Elmwood has utilized the NRCS High Tunnel Initiative three separate times for season extension of high-value, high-demand crops like tomatoes. For years, Elmwood had three, 300’ Haygrove high tunnels, but they wanted to increase production. They also recognized a need for rest periods for their existing tunnels, to mitigate problems with continuous production like salt buildup and nematodes. The first time they used the NRCS initiative to install a 100’ tunnel (the maximum length for that initiative) next to the existing tunnels. Their second year using the initiative, they added another 100’ to that new tunnel, plus they installed another 100’ themselves to bring it to 300’ to match the Haygroves.

Now, at least one tunnel is rested each year, with the plastic off so that rain and weather interact with the soil, which helps mitigate the buildup of salt and nematodes. The third year using the initiative they installed 100’ of what will become the fifth tunnel, so that two tunnels are rested each year.

John has also utilized incentives like NRCS-EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) to plant overwintering cover crops and to help establish diverse pastures when rotating fields out of their 3 years of vegetable and grain production. In the future, Elmwood may look toward using the CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program) or related programs for support with pasture and forage diversification. In order to maintain organic certification, all requirements of any program must be allowable under the National Organic Program. The NRCS, along with organizations like OFRF, are working to ensure that programs and support are suitable for organic systems.

Click below to listen to a short audio clip where John speaks about the importance of a fertility program to the success of an organic farm. This clip is from a farm visit conducted by OFRF in August, 2023. 

To learn more about NRCS programs and resources for organic farmers, visit the Organic Agriculture page. For more information on Elmwood Stock Farm, visit their website and stay tuned to OFRF for our upcoming release of Tillage Tools and Practices in Organic Farming Systems in cooperation with the NRCS, a resource full of farmer features, including Elmwood Stock Farm.

At right: Farmer John Bell discusses pasture diversification at a production field that was recently planted with multi-species pasture mixes. August, 2023.

By |2024-06-18T18:10:08+00:00September 11th, 2023|Farmer Stories, News|
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Gordon’s Policy Corner: Navigating September’s Shifts

Farm Bill Policy, Funding Implications, and Ways to Stay Engaged

September is a month of transitions. In Vermont it brings the first signals of autumn with cool mornings full of valley fog; in DC it brings a flurry of work before the end of the Federal Government’s fiscal year, which brings with it the expiration of the government’s funding and Farm Bill legislation, which are both in flux right now. 

For government funding, or appropriations, neither chamber has successfully passed all twelve of the necessary spending bills on the floor, which means much of the limited floor time for the rest of the year will be spent on both a continuing resolution and then hopefully passing full funding bills before the end of the year. But, that would mean the other expiring piece of legislation, the Farm Bill, would also need an extension. This is all-but guaranteed with the amount of work needed to bridge the yawning gap between the Senate and House spending bills. Some predict that the Farm Bill will be extended until the spring of 2024, some until after the elections in 2024.

As the Farm Bill and FY24 Appropriations situation continues to clear and muddy itself again, one thing remains certain, continued interaction with policy makers is imperative! We at OFRF want to ensure that you all have the ability to meaningfully engage. But, we also depend on our network and community to help keep us in the know of opportunities, too! Below are three ways you can plug in with OFRF and stay connected.  

  • Communicating with Legislators Workshop Series:

First and foremost, I am excited to share that OFRF is hosting another series of workshops aiming to give researchers and farmers some tools to effectively engage with policymakers. Our goal is to equip individuals within the organic farming community with the tools to effectively engage with and educate legislators about the impact of their organic research. This will be geared to both publicly funded researchers as well as farmers that utilize and participate in research.

There are four workshop sessions available:
– Thurs Sep 21st 7-8:30pm EST
– Wed Oct 11th 1-2:30pm EST
– Mon Oct 30th 5:30-7pm EST
– Tues Nov 21st 12-1:30pm ES
All sessions cover the same material, so you only have to attend one. I hope you will also share this opportunity with your colleagues and networks! Registration is FREE. You can find details here.

  • Field Days with an Organic Component:

Second, we at OFRF are interested in hearing more about research field day opportunities, especially those with organic components, taking place near or organized by you! At OFRF, we are dedicated to fostering the exchange of knowledge and best practices in organic farming. If you know of any field days on the horizon that emphasize organic methodologies, we are keen to explore opportunities for collaboration, participation, or mutual promotion. 

  • Stay Connected with OFRF

Lastly, we always want to stress the significance of staying connected with you and the organic farming community. That is why we’re asking you to highlight any listservs or newsletters your local organizations or extension services operate that we should be aware of! These platforms enable us to learn about upcoming field days, networking events, and initiatives that align with our goals and values.

If you know of any field days that happen annually, especially those with organic components, or of any good newsletters with those events in your region, let me know at gordon@ofrf.org! Thank you for the work you do in the organic community! The possibilities to collectively contribute to the growth of organic agriculture, and empower the next generation of farmers and researchers is an exciting and real opportunity. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or to discuss your work. 

Eat well,

Gordon

By |2024-06-18T18:10:20+00:00September 7th, 2023|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|
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New Crop-Livestock Integration Resources

Introducing our new suite of Resources for Farmers, from Farmers!

In OFRF’s 2022 National Organic Research Agenda (NORA), organic farmers and ranchers across North America shared a common concern about the lack of technical assistance and educational resources available for Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems (ICLS). Integrating crops and livestock results in numerous benefits, however the process can also lead to increased complexity, especially for farmers who must adhere to National Organic Program rules and regulations.

At OFRF we know the #1 source of information is other farmers so at the end of last year we put out a call for connection with farmers engaged in crop-livestock integration. We want to thank everyone that responded! With your help, OFRF is proud to release a suite of resources focused on Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems (ICLS) informed by interviews with four highly-experienced organic producers who shared their challenges, successes, and advice. We also want to say thank you to Organic Valley’s Farmers Advocating for Organics program for supporting this project.

The farmers featured in this series are:

The suite of resources includes:

All of this can be found on our website at https://ofrf.org/crop-livestock-integration/

By |2024-06-18T18:11:07+00:00September 5th, 2023|News|
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Organic + Regenerative: messaging resources coming soon

By Brise Tencer, OFRF Executive Director

Consumers are showing an increasing interest in understanding the environmental impact of their food choices. Meanwhile, farmers, who are on the front lines of climate change, are actively exploring farming practices that can contribute to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. This alignment presents a unique opportunity to promote transformative practices through research, education, and on-farm trials. However, it’s crucial to expand our efforts to educate a wider audience about the farming systems responsible for generating these benefits and how to effectively scale up these systems.

Although the term ‘regenerative’ has gained widespread traction among farmers and the food industry, definitions of the term vary widely. Organic farmers have long been engaged in regenerative practices, yet organic is often overlooked as a climate solution. Organic agriculture, grounded in principles that collaborate with nature, foster healthy soil, and contribute to clean water, biodiversity, and thriving farm communities, encompasses the essence of holistic and regenerative farming.

OFRF is working to help articulate the benefits of organic by sharing the latest scientific insights on pesticides, soil health, and biodiversity and by clarifying the  regenerative facets inherent in the organic standards. We have been hard at work reviewing a plethora of resources and science on these questions and we are preparing to launch a suite of messaging resources about the ways in which Organic is Regenerative; stay tuned for an upcoming introduction of these valuable resources!

By |2024-06-18T18:12:39+00:00August 14th, 2023|News|
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Celebrating Midsummer Growth: OFRF team expands

By Dominica Navarro, OFRF Deputy Director

As farms bustle with midsummer abundance, OFRF is also excited to celebrate growth. In the month of July, we welcomed three new members to our organization! We are elated to see the team grow and with added capacity, OFRF looks forward to continuing to serve organic and transitioning farmers across the nation. Meet our newest members:

Policy and Communications Intern – Adam Bagul

Why is organic important to you?  “Organic agriculture is incredibly important to me because I don’t want to eat poison and I do not want my fellow Americans eating poison either. I firmly believe that agricultural standards (as well as overall food standards) are in desperate need of reform, which makes me very proud to contribute to OFRF’s work.” 

One upcoming work-related thing you are excited about: “As a part of this work, I have had the pleasure and privilege of writing this month’s policy corner blogs and I am very excited to see it posted on the website.” 

Favorite thing to grow in the garden: “While I haven’t had the chance to grow fruits or vegetables myself, I always thoroughly enjoyed eating the tomatoes grown in my dad’s box garden, back when he lived in Tennessee.”

Read more about Adam here. 

Senior Scientist – Heather Estrada

Why is organic important to you? “At its heart, organic farming exemplifies a holistic or systems-approach to farming, which intrigues me as an agronomist and self-confessed soil biology nerd. I’m also really grateful for the continued efforts to preserve the integrity of the organic label and for the freedom of choice that brings to our food system.”

One upcoming work-related thing you are excited about: “OFRF’s soon-to-be-released Crop-Livestock Integration materials. The farmer interviews are super inspiring and informative for aspiring growers—everyone did an awesome job on these! Also, I am excited to be working with such a great team at OFRF and beyond.”

Favorite thing to grow in the garden: “Berries, no contest. Strawberries, raspberries, and honeyberries (haskaps) are favorites.”

Read more about Heather here.

Research and Education Engagement Coordinator – Jose Perez Orozco

Why is organic important to you? “One of the fundamental organic farming principles is to care for a living soil and the entire farming ecosystem. To do that, organic farmers nurture their soil, and protect their water, biodiversity and other natural resources. Today, more than ever, we need this type of holistic resource management to care for ourselves and our earth.”

One upcoming work-related thing you are excited about: “I’m really excited about connecting with farmers, learning from them, and also providing all the technical support I can. I will be leading OFRF’s Farmer Learning Trials. In this role, I’m looking forward to seeing how farmers’ ideas become on-farm trials that can help them improve their farming operation.”

Favorite thing to grow in the garden: “Mint, basil, and creating a native landscape in my non-food garden.”

Read more about Jose here.

By |2024-06-18T18:13:31+00:00August 10th, 2023|News|
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What August Recess means for Organic Ag Advocacy

This month’s Policy Corner has a guest author, OFRF Policy and Communications Intern, Adam Bagul.

Almost as if chased away by the potent combination of heat and humidity that has descended upon the District of Columbia, our Senators and Representatives have returned back home to their districts for the August recess. Congress Members usually use this time to hold town hall meetings or to be available for in-district meetings. This break from the hustle and bustle of Capitol Hill presents a golden opportunity

Photo credit: Adam Bagul

for constituents to connect with their policymakers. Since 2023 is a Farm Bill year, let’s take a moment to delve into the Farm Bill process, a linchpin of agricultural policy, and use this recess to mobilize support for bills that will ensure a robust future for organic and sustainable agriculture in the United States.

The Farm Bill is a comprehensive piece of legislation that shapes agricultural policy, nutrition programs, and rural development initiatives for the next five years. My internship with the Organic Farming Research Foundation has provided me with a front-row seat to this intricate process. I’ve witnessed various organic and sustainable agriculture advocacy organizations, all working towards a common goal – a resilient and sustainable agricultural future. I’ve worked to promote different marker bills, legislation used to signal positions on issues within our legislative bodies. This work has helped me to see that the Farm Bill isn’t just an obscure collection of irrelevant policies; it’s about our farmers, our land, our health, and our food security. The bills that make up this Farm Bill will dictate the immediate future of agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry of the US.

The August recess allows Congress to step back into their home districts, reconnect with their roots, listen to their constituents’ concerns, and gain a better understanding of local issues. Showing legislators that farms and organic businesses are part of your community, how they make an impact in their districts, and communicating what support they need to be successful are important actions to take during this period. As citizens passionate about agriculture and rural development, this is our moment to be heard. Meeting with policymakers might seem daunting, but it’s an avenue that holds immense potential to create change. Here are a few tips to make the most of your interaction:

  1. Plan Ahead: Reach out to your Congressperson’s local office to schedule a meeting. Be clear about the topic you wish to discuss and your objectives for the conversation.
  2. Do Your Homework: Familiarize yourself with the Congressperson’s stance on agricultural issues and the Farm Bill. This shows your commitment and helps tailor your conversation. Additionally, familiarize yourself with the marker bills being considered this year. OFRF has great resources for you to do so.
  3. Bring Data: Numbers and statistics can be persuasive. If you’re discussing the impact of a certain policy, back it up with relevant data. Another piece of information to bring could be lists of organizations within your legislator’s district that are in support of initiatives or bills that you support.
  4. Be Concise and Clear: Time is often limited. Clearly articulate your main points and concerns. Provide real-life examples to illustrate your arguments. Constructing a rough road map of how you’d like to share information with your legislator is a helpful way to ensure every point that you’d like to make is included.
  5. Engage Emotionally: Share personal stories that highlight the real-world implications of agricultural policies. Emotionally compelling narratives can leave a lasting impression.

These principles for successful conversations with our elected legislative officials are a part of my daily work as an intern at OFRF. Amidst this bustling realm of policy and legislation, my internship experience has been informative and rewarding. From diving into research on agricultural sustainability to participating in policy discussions, I’ve gained invaluable insights into the complexities of policy advocacy in the United States. At OFRF, much of my work consists of drafting and sending communications to congressional staffers, conveying the significance of marker bills centered around organic farming research for the impending Farm Bill, such as the Organic Science Research Investment (OSRI) Act and the Strengthening Organic Agriculture Research (SOAR) Act. Similarly, sitting in on meetings between various organic and sustainable agriculture advocacy organizations has been edifying. Witnessing the behind the scenes work and shared determination to drive positive agricultural reform has been nothing short of inspiring. 

One particular initiative that I have been working with is the Safeguarding Agricultural Research (SARF) letter. This letter is a call for legislators to prioritize and protect agricultural research funding, written by OFRF, signed by organizations, businesses, and farmers from all over the US. The purpose of SARF advocacy isn’t just for Universities to receive more money for research; it’s about ensuring that our farmers have access to the knowledge and tools they need to overcome challenges. It’s about fostering innovation that leads to more resilient crops, sustainable practices, and a brighter agricultural future. My internship with OFRF has illuminated the necessity of agricultural advocacy: as engaged citizens we have a duty to communicate our priorities to our legislators and secure our commitment to the land and crops that sustain us. The August recess is an occasion for us to advocate for policies that bolster initiatives like SARF, in turn advocating for the resilience and vitality of American agriculture. Our voices, together, have the power to shape the future of our fields and farms.

If you have questions about OFRF’s policy advocacy work, or want to know how to get involved, please reach out: gordon[at]ofrf.org. As Gordon says:

Eat well,

Adam

By |2024-06-18T18:13:40+00:00August 10th, 2023|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|
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Heather Estrada (she/her/hers)

Research & Education Senior Scientist

email: heather[at]ofrf.org

Heather Estrada has been a part of the organic farming community for the past 20 years, as a scientist, professor, grower, and advocate. She has worked with transitioning and certified organic farmers in the field, conducted organic crop and weed research, and has spent much of her career educating students in regenerative organic farming principles and practices. 

Heather started her organic agriculture career in Edmonton, Canada, studying and researching organic wheat breeding and agronomy. She graduated from the University of Alberta (BS, Crop Science; PhD, Plant Science) and then moved to Kalispell, Montana to work as a cropping systems research agronomist with Montana State University. Heather switched her career focus to education in 2012, taking on the role of college professor and Agriculture program director at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell. While there, she created degree programs and curriculum, started a working educational vegetable farm on the college campus, and taught classes such as plant science, soil nutrient management, integrated pest management, practical farm production, and building community food systems.

Heather is looking forward to bringing her experience and passion for research and education to OFRF, and hopes to make a meaningful contribution to the lives of farmers through her work.

By |2024-06-18T18:13:47+00:00August 1st, 2023|Staff|
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Frog Song Organics

Frog Song Organics

Frog Song Farm is a highly diversified farm producing vegetables, herbs, flowers, orchard crops, pork and poultry products, and legumes. John Bitter was one of the farmers that OFRF spoke to in a series of interviews about Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems, the practice of raising livestock and crops on the same farm, overlapping on the same ground in ways that can benefit the animals and the plants, as well as the whole farm ecosystem.

Farm name: Frog Song Organics
Farmer name: John Bitter
Location: Eastern Alachua County, near Gainesville, Florida, (traditional homelands of the Seminole Tribes, the Republic of Timucua, the Miccosukee Tribe, and Mascogo).
Products: Diversified mixed vegetables, flowers, herbs, pastured pork, eggs.
ICLS practices: Grazing & terminating cover crop, cleaning up crop residue, breaking pest cycles.
Years certified organic: Since 2012.
Acreage: Manage 62 acres, mix of leased and owned with 20-40 acres in production at a time.
Type of livestock: Pigs, chickens.
Markets: Farmers Markets, CSA, wholesale distribution, and home delivery/custom boxes.
Years in operation: Since 2011.
Farm crew size: Employ ~30 people. Half the team is directly involved in daily crop production.

Balancing Act: How Frog Song Organics Integrates Livestock and Crops

When John Bitter and his wife Amy started Frog Song Organics on 5 acres in 2011, a vision of how to carefully scale-up the farm was long in the works. They both had several years’ experience working with farms in the area, and each knew nearby markets well enough to know they had opportunities to grow. Looking ahead, they had also spoken with the owner of neighboring land about leasing additional acreage in the future. 

Fast-forward 12 years, and Frog Song Organics is a 62-acre operation with about 30 full-time employees and 20-40 acres in production at any one time. Located less than a 2 hour’s drive from several markets, Frog Song provides organic products year-round to four farmers markets and wholesale accounts in Gainesville, Orlando, St. Augustine, and Tampa, and through an online-order, customizable-box CSA program. 

At this stage, John is happy with the size of the operation, and focused on improvements to the overall farm. “Now we’re just trying to fill in the efficiency of what we are doing. We don’t really want to get a lot bigger but we want to get more efficient and more profitable, being able to do more with less resources, essentially,” he said. 

Frog Song is a highly diversified farm producing vegetables, herbs, flowers, orchard crops, pork and poultry products, and legumes. For John, balancing the livestock and crop enterprises is key. “Something to think about is how all this scales,” he said. From his perspective, scaling “needs to match the fertility, the planting, and the marketing…and if one of those is way out of whack, the business might fail.” So while Frog Song could produce a lot more pork and eggs, keeping a system that is balanced, where the amount of livestock fits the crop systems, is John’s recommended strategy. “People are looking at one way or the other, like ‘I’m going to be a pig farmer or a chicken farmer’, well, that’s 1/8th of what you do, or 1/12th of what you do, and you base the rest on what grows really well in your area and what resources you already have available rather than trying to bring in too much of the resources that will end up driving you out of business. If you depend too much on other resources, eventually, when the prices of those resources change, your business model will have to change, very rapidly, or else you won’t stay in business.” 

Why integrate livestock with crop production?

Speaking about why John and Amy decided to include animals from the onset, John says, “The primary reason we integrate livestock is to turn a liability into a resource.” For Frog Song, that means pigs are brought into sweet potato fields following harvests to help clean up 

‘seconds’ and bits left behind that can otherwise harbor pests. In the warmth of the southeastern region where Frog Song is located, a sweet potato weevil thrives. The highly mobile bug can ruin inventories and crops in fields. Non-organic controls include herbicide applications to sweet potato fields following harvests, or soil fumigants. As an organic farm, Frog Song had to find other methods. “We decided pigs were the best way to plow over the land without using a lot of diesel. So the pigs will take sweet potato scraps and turn it into something that’s a very high-value product: organic bacon. Better than organic, it’s actually pasture-raised and on organic pasture!”

Another liability-turned-to-resource can be seen in the orchards. Chickens are ranged under established (2 years old or more) stone fruit trees after fruiting. As they scratch and peck around the trees, they effectively reduce plum curculio, millipedes, cutworms and other lepidoptera pests. To make the most of the benefits of the chickens’ manure, feed is concentrated around the base of fruit trees to maximize the time they spend scratching weeds and leaving behind manure. 

Cover crops and livestock integration

On farms with integrated systems of crops and livestock, cover crops can provide valuable forages. At Frog Song, cover crops are planted year-round, and almost always include a multi-species mix. From November to February, winter rye, coker oats, and wheat are planted. Buckwheat, 4 types of millet, and sorghum-Sudan grass go in from March to October. And from April through August, John plants Sunn Hemp as a stand-alone. All of these crops, in addition to certain cash crops like the sweet potatoes, are eventually grazed by animals. 

Sunn Hemp is planted as a stand-alone cover crop in a pear orchard. “This would be a good time to graze it down by pigs, if you needed to. Sunn Hemp is kind of our backup plan for pig grazing. We try to have enough millet and sorghum and buckwheat after the sweet potato crop, and if we fail at any time, then we have acres and acres of the Sunn Hemp that would be a decent forage for them.” John recommends grazing sunn hemp only until about 20 inches tall. At about waist-high, it becomes too tough, high in a particular acid, and the pigs “just won’t eat it,” he says.  Also of note: for grazing pigs in this area, the fence would be placed to exclude the pigs from the pear trees. 

The choice of which cover crops to plant for grazing centers around three questions for John. One, will the animals eat it, and at what stage is best to start grazing? Two, how much does it cost to establish, in both time and expenses, especially given that the cost of cover crop seeds can vary from year to year? And three, how does the crop fit in with the rotation? The answer to that third question, for Frog Song, has special implications for legume cover crops. Since one of Frog Song’s cash crops is legumes, they need at least 3 years in the rotations without legumes in order to avoid building up diseases like white rot. Sunn Hemp seems to be a distant enough relative that it remains in the cover-crop mix at Frog Song, and does not contribute to buildup of diseases affecting legume cash crops

The switch to on-farm breeding

For years at Frog Song, piglets were purchased off-farm, but after some time, John decided it was best to breed their own pigs on-farm. “After being in business for some years,” he explains, “sometimes the piglets aren’t there when you need them to be there, in your cycle.” Since beginning on-farm breeding with Red Wattle Hogs, the animals are bred and available at times that suit the farm, and the animals “stayed in good health and stayed productive.” 

To maintain healthy genetics, a few sires from different lines are brought in to live on site. A few sows cycle through the “Honeymoon Suite” to breed with them, and then are introduced to farrowing pens, which are “good spots on the farm…basically giving the sow the best of what there is in that moment of the year,” with plenty of shade and quality forage. Within 7-14 days, the piglets have begun to graze the forage and are learning the cycles and systems of Frog Song. 

“Certain animals can be pretty much addicted to grain,” John explained. “They won’t go forage for themselves, they’ll just wait for when the grain comes, then they get really nasty to have to battle out their siblings or bunkmates for that grain. In our system, we’re looking for the pigs who just want to go plow up any part of their block, go find their own sweet potatoes, and there’s really no way that a bully pig can dominate that system: they’ve all got plenty to eat, they’re stress-free, and by the time they get to the end of the block, there’s a new block waiting for them.”

Adaptations in infrastructure for livestock

Two of the most important pieces of infrastructure for livestock at Frog Song are electric fencing and animal housing. Training workers so that each understands how electricity flows through an entire fencing system has been key to being able to troubleshoot problems in the field quickly without slowing other parts of the operation down. And to keep a careful eye on the electric systems, John recommends having one person who is responsible for checking systems at least once a day. At Frog Song, handlers check the systems twice a day. Electric fencing is key to the paddock systems at the farm, typically set up as block-paddocks that are fractions of a longer, rectangle-shaped field. The animals move across the field into a new paddock every 5-7 days. 

For livestock housing, one important adaptation has to do with the clay soils at the farm: John has moved away from anything with wheels, such as chicken houses on trailers, because clay gets into tire seals, ruins them, and the seals need to be replaced often. New housing structures are custom-built using 2-inch metal tubing, in a design that can be picked up with a front-end loader and easily moved with a tractor.  

Risks of raising animals and crops together

Understanding the risks of raising livestock is simple, but it is of the utmost importance. John explains, “How do you grow vegetables and raise animals at the same time? This is a really important part to talk about. This is where the farm can go really wrong if you don’t acknowledge your risks. But the risks are simple: you don’t want to get manure in the product in any way possible!”

The plans for dealing with this simple risk are taken seriously. In order to know where the risks lie, the farm identifies where manure is traveling, from paddocks to packing shed or plantings. These “Critical Control Points” (CCP’s) are part of the farm’s HACCP plan (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Systems plan), which means they are “identified, verified, and validated” so they all get met. With animals moving around the farm often, John starts thinking about where the manure will go the moment he starts designing the layout of fields. 

That means thinking about the flow of water. “I’d say, start there, as a farmer,” he suggests, “you need to look at ‘Which way does every drop flow?’ As it comes out of the sky and hits your farm. Then you need to know where your paddocks are, where you’re going to raise your crops, and what kind of crops you are going to raise (low or high risk).” Having staff trained in safe handling and protocols for visiting anywhere on the farm with manure or entering packing areas is also a necessary part of managing the CCP’s and risks of manure. 

Benefits you can see: soil fertility

Despite the risks, workload, and infrastructure needs, having pigs and chickens is an integral part of what makes Frog Song successful. When asked about the benefits of the 12+ years of crop-livestock integration at the farm, John spoke about one key indicator of soil health: the health of the cover crops. In the first few years, some fields barely sustained a cover crop. Other fields with more clay had large incongruencies in growth over the area and in how water moved through them (areas with poor drainage and large puddles). Now these same fields produce uniform, lush patches of cover crops, and as John reflects on a decade-plus of integration, he says, matter-of-factly, “every year certain blocks are getting better.”

By |2024-06-18T18:14:01+00:00July 26th, 2023|Crop Livestock Integration|
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OSRI Act Introduced

Today, the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) is happy to deliver to the leadership of Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry a letter in support of the Strengthening Organic Agriculture Research Act. OFRF and the undersigned believe this bill represents significant investments into answering research questions that organic producers continue to grapple with. 

“We are excited to be able to work with Organic Champions in Congress to help ensure there are resources available to support the success of organic farmers and ranchers across the nation. Over the last several years OFRF has collected robust information from farmers about their research and education needs and these bills would provide much needed investment in solutions to these problems. These bills are also an important signal to early career researchers that organic agriculture research is an important, respected, and securely-funded area to engage in,” – Brise Tencer, OFRF Executive Director. 

The 2018 Farm Bill was an important step towards recognizing the status of the organic agriculture industry, OREI reached mandatory funding levels. The organic agriculture market has continued to mature over the past five years of the Farm Bill, partly due to this increased investment. For this growth to continue, organic producers must be given their fair share of resources dedicated to agricultural research. This bill intends to do just that with the 2023 Farm Bill.

In the Senate, Senator Fetterman is joined by Senators Booker, Brown, Casey, Gillibrand, Welch, and Wyden to introduce the Organic Science and Research Investment Act. This legislation would increase the resilience of U.S. agriculture, create economic opportunity for producers, and result in improved ecological vitality of the landscape by:

  1. Creating the Coordinating and Expanding Organic Research Initiative. This initiative charges the Research, Education, and Economics agencies at USDA to catalog the current, ongoing research on organic food and agriculture topics and provide a path to increase organic agriculture research conducted and funded by the USDA.
  2. Directing the USDA to develop a plan to increase organically managed acreage. This plan will formulate how the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the sole in-house research operation at USDA, will dedicate a portion of their research fields to organic agriculture research.
  3. Bolstering programs operated by the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The OSRI Act would provide stair-stepped budget increases to the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), expand the statutory priorities to include climate change, organic alternatives to prohibited substances, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. The bill would also provide first-time Congressional authorization for the Researching the Transition to Organic Program (RTOP), currently known as the Organic Transition Research Program (ORG).
  4. Boosting funding for the Organic Production and Market Data Initiative (ODI). The data produced through the ODI is essential for the development of risk management products and targeted market development. The OSRI Act directs the Economic Research Service (ERS) to conduct a full, systematic evaluation of the economic impact organic agriculture has on rural and urban communities, taking into account economic, ecological, and social factors.

We at OFRF are excited about this opportunity to support the expansion of organic agriculture research, and look forward to working with our partners and collaborators to advance the OSRI Act in the Senate, and the SOAR Act in the House this Farm Bill season.

View the final OSRI Act sign-on letter here.

Download an informational one-pager to learn more about What the OSRI Act does, Why it’s Important, and How you can Help

View our OSRI Act Toolkit, for resources on how you can help spread the word

Support for the OSRI Act

“The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition strongly endorses the Organic Science and Research Investment Act (OSRI Act). The OSRI Act makes meaningful investments in providing organic producers with the research and tools they need to continue to improve upon already climate friendly and resilient farming systems and meet the growing market demand for organic products. In addition to increasing investments in critical organic research programs such as the Organic Agriculture Research and Education Initiative (OREI), this bill provides a structure for USDA to coordinate and expand organic agriculture research across REE agencies. This will increase the scientific research and economic data and analysis these agencies are able to provide so that both organic and conventional agricultural producers can sustain and improve their operations while helping us reach meaningful solutions for the climate crisis.” Nick Rossi, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

“As one of the oldest and largest organic certification agencies in the country, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association applauds Senator Sherrod Brown for his leadership on the Organic Science and Research Investment Act of 2023.  The increased research investments and coordination across the many USDA agencies will help farmers overcome production hurdles and implement holistic approaches to farming that result in better water management, water quality, soil health and resilience.  It is critical that we focus on the development of new public plant cultivars and livestock breeds that are regionally adapted and appropriate for organic production in this time of increasing weather extremes. “  Amalie Lipstreu, OEFFA Policy Director

“The National Organic Coalition is thrilled to see the introduction of the Organic Science and Research Investment Act, and we appreciate the work of Senators Fetterman, Booker, Brown, Casey, Gillibrand, Welch, and Wyden to champion this bill. Research is key to tackling the many challenges farmers face and organic research benefits all farmers. In fact, many of the farming practices embraced by organic farmers, such as cover cropping and other regenerative agricultural practices, are now being adopted across the board to protect soil health and natural resources.” Abby Youngblood, National Organic Coalition

“The Northeast Organic Dairy Producer Alliance supports all the requests in the OSRI Act as a very necessary stage in the growth and stability of organic agriculture. Farmers need accurate data in establishing risk management, deciding to transition to organic and establishing a sustainable business plan. This is not available to the majority of organic commodities and presents difficulties in establishing safety net programs, disaster programs and incentives for transitioning to organic production.” Ed Maltby, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance 

“By investing in organic research, adding climate mitigation/resilience to legislative goals of OREI, and fully recognizing the contributions of Traditional Ecological Knowledge to climate solutions, the OSRI Act will go far toward building an equitable, resilient, and climate-friendly agriculture and food system.” Mark Schonbeck, Virginia Association for Biological Farming

“The Women, Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN) recognizes the critical need for organic research for the responsible co-creation of just and ecological food and agriculture systems. The passage of the OSRI Act will provide vital funding to support this research.” Juliann Salinas, Women, Food and Agriculture Network

“This program has not only been a benefit to our faculty in staff working on organic agriculture, but has supported the transition of a lot of our partnering farms in the southeast.” Crystal James, Tuskegee University

“While organic agriculture makes up more than 6% of the food sales market, ARS and NIFA devote less than 2% of their research dollars to organic research. The policies in the OSRI Act signal to researchers that organic agriculture research is valued.” Jaydee Hanson, Center for Food Safety

“As a leader in organic rice and rice products, we are supportive of these efforts to grow and nurture the organic farming industry. We applaud the Senate’s leadership here and urge the body to adopt this legislation.” Natalie Carter, Lundberg Family Farms

“Continued funding and increased funding is necessary for equitable research for organic agriculture practices, materials, outreach and leading in promoting climate smart agricultural practices.” John McKeon, Taylor Family Farms

By |2024-06-18T18:14:44+00:00July 12th, 2023|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|
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