Elizabeth

As you might have been reading, hearing, or seeing in the news, the federal government is in the midst of a limited shutdown following a lapse in appropriations legislation. In plain terms, this means Congress has failed to pass the bills that keep the lights on; and when that happens agencies can’t spend money they don’t have.

Most federal employees are placed on furlough until funding is restored. Some, deemed essential, are required to continue working without pay until a deal is reached. For some historical context, the last government shutdown occurred during the 2018 Appropriations debate, which also coincided with the Farm Bill debate (time is a flat circle). Once funding resumes, all employees typically receive backpay (although that is now being called into question), but the programs they administer lose time that can’t be made up.

This particular standoff stems from broader political battles over domestic spending, primarily subsidies that make health insurance under the Affordable Care Act more . . . affordable. But whatever the cause of a shutdown, the result is the same: a complete freeze in all federal work which impacts the entire country. We’re in a historic period of partisan brinksmanship, and it is directly affecting the nation’s programming at USDA, especially for organic producers and the agricultural research they depend on.

Organic Programming During a Shutdown

For organic producers, this shutdown hits several critical programs at once, including:

• The Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP), which helps farmers recoup part of the cost of certification, and operates through the Farm Service Agency (FSA). With nearly all county FSA offices closed, farmers may find it hard to submit and process their cost-share applications.
• The National Organic Program, the regulatory and enforcement agency operated by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), has furloughed nearly all of its roughly 40 staff members. That means no compliance, no enforcement, no rulemaking, and no certification review or accreditation activities until the government reopens.
• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff, who provide critical in-the-field conservation support have also been sidelined. This affects all farmers, but hits organic operations as well. Farmers use NRCS conservation programs to address resource concerns on their operations, like erosion control and biodiversity conservation.

The delays stemming from the shutdown will ripple across the entire agricultural sector, but especially the organic sector. From the small diversified producer waiting for their NRCS or OCCSP cost-share funding, to the certifier waiting for regulatory guidance.

Impacts on Research Programming

The shutdown does not only impact the programming that directly serves producers, but also the underlying research infrastructure that provides the foundation for all regulatory frameworks for agricultural systems.

At the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the agency that administers competitive grant programs, only 13 of roughly 400 employees remain on duty. That means functionally no work is able to be continued on releasing Requests for Applications (RFAs), and no new awards can move forward. Many competitive grant programs, like the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), are already running nearly a full year behind their normal grant cycle.

Meanwhile, the Agricultural Research Service faces similar disruptions. This can be particularly harmful at this agency given that it manages long-term research trials vital to understanding soil health, pest management, livestock research, and climate adaptation. When these programs pause, data collection and continuity is lost, impacting the ability for these projects to deliver results to farmers.

Even data collection efforts like the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are affected. The organic sector depends on ERS and NASS for production and market data, which informs everything from policy development to private investment. Losing access to this data hampers strategic planning for an entire sector. It is also worth noting some of dissonance here: this shutdown comes just months after a 100% increase in funding for the Organic Market and Production Data Initiative was included in the budget reconciliation package, a recognition by both Congress and the Executive branch how vital this work is.

What Happens Next?

No one can predict how long this shutdown will last. We do know that the deadlock in Congress is real, and it’s being played out at the expense of federal workers, farmers, researchers, and the general public alike. The USDA exists to carry out the policies Congress enacts and provides funding for. The current shutdown doesn’t just interrupt that process, it undermines it. The longer it continues, the more it erodes public trust in the government’s ability to deliver for rural America.

There isn’t a clear path forward for action yet, but OFRF will continue tracking these developments closely, and sharing what they mean for organic producers and researchers across the United States. In the meantime, we are looking forward to sharing good news regarding legislative work next month!

Until then, eat well and breathe deeply,

Gordon

By Gordon Merrick, OFRF Senior Policy & Programs Manager

In today’s political environment, defined by complexity, shifting political winds, and consistently competing interests, clarity and consistency matter more than ever. That’s why it is all the more important that OFRF stays grounded by always adhering to one simple principle: our work must be rooted in the real needs of the organic farming and research community. Whether we’re advocating for research funding in the halls of Congress, submitting comments to the USDA, or analyzing the impacts of federal programs and decisions, we’re guided by what we hear directly from farmers, researchers, and partners across the United States.

OFRF Policy Priorities

OFRF’s policy work centers around three core goals:

1. Invest in Organic Research that supports all farmers in building ecologically resilient, economically viable farming operations
2. Expand access to technical assistance and financial tools that empower producers to implement research-backed, systems-based practices
3. Grow organic as an economic engine, especially in rural communities, by ensuring federal policy recognizes and supports organic production systems as a public good

These priorities aren’t abstract, they’re rooted in field experience, producer feedback, and a clear-eyed assessment of what it takes to make organic agriculture succeed on the ground and in communities across the United States.

Our commitment to our community’s needs

OFRF does not set our policy agenda from an ivory tower or an echo chamber. We’ve committed to revisiting and updating our priorities annually in direct response to feedback from the communities we serve. We take seriously our responsibility to represent the diverse perspectives within the organic sector. That means staying connected to the farmers navigating certification, the researchers searching for funding that will facilitate their work, and the businesses and communities that depend on organic production.

That’s why we brought these priorities to our recent Organic Stewardship Council meeting. Producers like Anna Jones-Crabtree of Vilicus Farms reminded us that while organic systems offer tremendous benefits, too many federal programs still fail to recognize or accommodate how organic works. This on-the-ground story mirrors national research findings: current USDA programs are not designed with organic and agroecological systems in mind. This results in lost support, unfair pricing assumptions, and policies that treat organic like an outlier, rather than a proven system that feeds people and restores land (for reference, about 15% of our produce is organic by volume, but organically managed land represents less than 1% of all farmland).

The real experiences and stories shared in this discussion weren’t one-offs. They are part of the intentional work we do at OFRF in every conversation, farm visit, and research partnership. We aim to update our priorities annually in collaboration with farmers, researchers, and movement leaders. Through OFRF’s work with grass-tops organizations and directly with farms across the country, we work to build spaces for people to tell us their stories about what is changing on the ground. Whether it’s ensuring USDA’s technical and financial assistance programs are applicable to organic farms or fighting for parity in research investments, OFRF’s priorities are shaped by what people tell us they need, not what sounds good in D.C.

What you can do

There’s a reason this work feels more urgent right now. As several farmers noted in our recent conversations, organic is at an inflection point. Market premiums are narrowing. Other labels and claims are muddying consumer understanding. And more than 15,000 USDA staff are leaving the agency, threatening institutional memory and slowing urgently needed reforms.

OFRF doesn’t have all the answers; but we do have a clear mission: to cultivate organic research, education, and federal policies that bring more farmers and acreage into organic production.

If you are a farmer with organic acreage, a researcher studying organic agriculture topics, or just someone who has a story to share on the importance of organic agriculture, we are here to listen. If you want to make sense of the current policy landscape, we are here to help: our new, free, self-paced Communicating with Legislators email course is designed to support you in telling your story loudly and clearly. Farmers are doing the work. Our job is to make sure policy catches up. 

We’re here to make sure your voice is not only heard, but acted on.

Eat well and breathe deeply,

Gordon

P.S. You can catch up on recent editions of Gordon’s Policy Corner here.