office

Thelma Velez, PhD (she/her/hers) is OFRF’s Research & Education Program Manager. Thelma joined Organic Farming Research Foundation in 2021 and brings over 12 years of experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems to the organization.

When she isn’t working, Thelma enjoys cooking and baking, rock climbing, and making art. She resides in Florida with her family and dog Mocha (a Boykin Spaniel and Lab mix), and visiting the Everglades National Park (both pictured right).

Tell us about yourself.

I am a creative problem solver.
I love to cook and make things with my hands.
I am a Latina of Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous descent.

Why do you care about organic farming and/or organic research?

My mother exposed me to organic food in the early 90’s. When my friends were out eating fast food, my mother was insistent on feeding us healthy and organic salads, legumes, and home cooked meals. By the time organic became a health fad, I was already attuned to the deeper value of organic farming for the benefit of the environment and our many ecosystems. I choose organic for the planet, not just for my health.

Who is your farming, research and/or food hero – and why?

My farming and food-system hero is Leah Penniman, the founder and co-Director of Soul Fire Farm and author of Farming While Black. Leah is a pioneer, a visionary, and a doer, and I find her tenacity and drive inspiring. The mission and work being done at Soul Fire Farm is honorable and just, and to top it all off, she is a kind and compassionate human with a stellar smile.

What are you excited about working on at OFRF?

In terms of projects, I am excited about working to develop educational and research materials that help us support farmers. I enjoy working at OFRF because I see value in the work that we do with farming communities across the nation. I am also excited to work on ways to better engage diverse audiences and support BIPOC farmers and researchers.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I really appreciate (and like) the entire OFRF team. Our staff is great!

Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) toured the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Salinas, Calif. with Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), a co-sponsor for H.R. 2803, the Agricultural Resilience Act (ARA). This tour of the organic fields took place on Saturday, January 15, 2022, and marks the second time Rep. Panetta’s congressional office has visited the ARS site with OFRF.

“Central Coast farmers and ranchers have always been on the leading edge of organic production, thanks to their hard work and partnerships with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and organizations like the Organic Farming Research Foundation,” said Congressman Panetta. “I remain committed to elevating the needs of the organic producers I proudly represent, so they can continue to have the tools they need to adapt to climate stressors, invest in soil health, and succeed in the twenty-first century.”

The Congressman and others in attendance were led on a tour by Dr. Eric Brennan, USDA Research Horticulturist. Dr. Brennan previously was awarded an OFRF on-farm research grant and his staff position at ARS was heavily advocated by OFRF nearly 20 years ago. He is the only dedicated organic ARS researcher in the country and his position is admittedly underfunded. Tour group members shared with Rep. Panetta their need for an increase in funding for organic at ARS countrywide, with a clear national strategy on how the agency can better serve the organic farming community.

“There could be an incredible opportunity to hire additional scientists and technicians to grow organic research,” said Brise Tencer, Executive Director for Organic Farming Research Foundation.

The tour discussion also touched upon the importance of organic research to help improve growers’ farming practices such as cover cropping and composting. Dr. Brennan was joined by organic grower Phil Foster and Bill Wintermantel, Research Plant Pathologist and Acting Research Director at USDA.

OFRF, whose mission has been to advance the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems, has invested in over $3M and awarded over 350 grants for on-farm, science-based research. All OFRF-funded research results are accessible online for free.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide pandemic assistance to cover certification and education expenses to agricultural producers who are certified organic or transitioning to organic. USDA will make $20 million available through the new Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program (OTECP) as part of USDA’s broader Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, which provides new, broader and more equitable opportunities for farmers, ranchers and producers. 

Applying for Assistance

Signup for 2020 and 2021 OTECP began on Nov. 8, 2021 and ends February 4, 2022. Producers apply through their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office and can also obtain one-on-one support with applications by calling 877-508-8364. Visit farmers.gov/otecp to learn more.

Eligible Expenses 

OTECP funding is provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Certified operations and transitional operations may apply for OTECP for eligible expenses paid during the 2020, 2021 and 2022 fiscal years. For each year, OTECP covers 25% of a certified operation’s eligible certification expenses, up to $250 per certification category (crop, livestock, wild crop, handling and State Organic Program fee). This includes application fees, inspection fees, USDA organic certification costs, state organic program fees and more.

Crop and livestock operations transitioning to organic production may be eligible for 75% of a transitional operation’s eligible expenses, up to $750, for each year. This includes fees charged by a certifying agent or consultant for pre-certification inspections and development of an organic system plan. 

For both certified operations and transitional operations, OTECP covers 75% of the registration fees, up to $200, per year, for educational events that include content related to organic production and handling in order to assist operations in increasing their knowledge of production and marketing practices that can improve their operations, increase resilience and expand available marketing opportunities. Additionally, both certified and transitional operations may be eligible for 75% of the expense of soil testing required under the National Organic Program (NOP) to document micronutrient deficiency, not to exceed $100 per year. 

Haley Baron (she/her/hers) is OFRF’s Partnership & Development Manager. Haley joined the organization’s Research & Education program in 2019 before stepping into her current role in early 2020. She is based in San Francisco and has over a decade of experience championing sustainable and equitable food systems.

When Haley isn’t building strong collaborative relationships with OFRF partners, she enjoys visiting farms and farmers markets, cooking, gardening, and recently took up ceramics. Haley enjoys exploring her home state of California, from hiking to “walking on Ocean Beach and in Golden Gate Park, both just a few blocks from my house,” she says.

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco with my parents and older sister. I loved everything about food from a young age and was passionate about supporting San Franciscans who didn’t have the same access to food that I did so I began volunteering at a local community dining room when I was 10. This was the beginning of my dedication to food justice and agriculture.

Why do you care about organic farming and/or organic research?

I’m passionate about building a healthier and more just food system, where all ecosystems and people are supported and can thrive. To do so, we must change the way we grow food and what we prioritize. Organic agriculture removes toxic chemicals from the system, builds more resilient farms and supply chains, can help mitigate climate change, and provides a safer environment for farm staff.

Who is your farming, research and/or food hero – and why?

All organic farmers and ranchers! They are the true heroes as they have chosen a path that isn’t always easy and requires wearing 25 hats at once, but one that is hugely beneficial to our environment and society.

What are you excited about working on at OFRF?

There is a huge gap in the resources, financial and educational, that go to organic farming systems compared to conventional agriculture. Therefore, we have to fight for that support and it’s exciting to be part of an organization that is doing just that!

By Trevor Findley, OFRF Senior Policy Associate

The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) had a busy year advocating for policies that benefit organic farmers. The following are excerpts from several policy articles that highlight the breadth of issues that OFRF worked on this year. They demonstrate the progress we’ve made, the relationships we’ve established, and ongoing work advancing OFRF’s mission to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems.

1.  OFRF Attends USDA Briefing with Under Secretary Moffitt and Rep. Panetta

In October, OFRF attended a USDA press briefing with USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt and Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-20). The event discussed two federal pandemic assistance programs, the USDA’s Pandemic Response and Safety Grant and the Farm and Food Worker Relief Grant, which total over $1 billion for affected workers and businesses.

2.  OFRF Asks Congress to Increase Funding for Organic Research

Throughout Congressional budget reconciliation discussions, the OFRF policy team has worked with both the House and Senate to advocate for more federally funded organic agriculture research. Currently, the House-passed version of the bill is unlikely to move forward in the Senate, but President Biden has committed to continuing his efforts to pass a bill in the new year. As Congress continues its discussions, OFRF will continue to work with members of the House and Senate to support an increase in funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and other agricultural research investments. OREI funds research, education, and extension programs that help organic producers and processors to grow and market organic products.

3.  OFRF Meets with Under Secretary Lester Moffitt to Ask USDA to Prioritize Support for Producers Transitioning to Organic

In August, OFRF and its advisors met with organic farmer and the then newly-confirmed USDA Under Secretary Jenny Lester Moffitt and Senior Advisor Mike Schimdt to discuss the department’s plans to help producers transition to organic production. USDA Secretary Vilsack has previously announced that the department will spend a couple hundred million dollars to help farmers and ranchers transition to organic. Given OFRF’s research focus and in-depth analysis in the National Organic Research Agenda, OFRF was well-equipped to provide the department with the following recommendations that will help producers transition to organic farming:

• Allocating $50 million for training, education, and outreach.
• Increasing the Organic Transitions Program grant funding from $7 million to $20 million. The program currently has a 20 percent success rate—meaning only one in five grants receives funding—and the amount requested is about three times the funds available.
• Changes to conservation programs currently offered by USDA to increase their appeal for organic farmers. These changes include increasing the incentive rates for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to more accurately reflect foregone income during the three-year organic transition period, and reinstating the popular organic field border buffer initiative under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

4. OFRF Tours USDA Agricultural Research Service, Rep. Jimmy Panetta to Co-Sponsor ARA

Also in August, OFRF hosted Representative Jimmy Panetta’s (CA-20) congressional staffers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Salinas, Calif. The site visit focused on the importance of increased investment in organic research and was instrumental in Rep. Panetta’s decision to co-sponsor the Agricultural Resilience Act (ARA).

OFRF organized the tour of the organic fields at the ARS led by Dr. Eric Brennan, USDA Research Horticulturist and the ARS’ only dedicated organic researcher in the country. California organic farmers in attendance shared their firsthand experience in applying organic research to their farming practices, including composting and cover cropping. Attendees emphasized the importance of investing more research dollars to organic farming practices at the Salinas facility and other ARS locations.

Rep. Panetta’s decision to co-sponsor the ARA was informed by his careful review of the bill text as well as the work and education provided by OFRF.

5.  OFRF Staff Participates in Virtual Fly-In to Ask Congress to Bolster Organic

In July, OFRF participated in the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA) virtual fly-in, where organic supporters asked members of Congress to support a bill to increase accountability in organic standards.

The bill proposed by OTA, HR 2918 – Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards Act, would require USDA to do three things: (1) clear the backlog of recommendations from the NOSB that have not been implemented, (2) issue a final rule to implement all new recommendations within one year of the NOSB approving the recommendation, and (3) report to Congress on an annual basis whether certifiers have implemented the new rules and whether any inconsistencies exist.

6. The Agriculture Resilience Act – Good for the Climate, Good for Organic

OFRF, along with many other groups, endorsed the introduction of the Agriculture Resilience Act of 2021 (ARA) when the bill was introduced in April by Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME), herself an organic farmer, and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM).

The ARA is a farmer-focused, research-driven path to net zero agriculture. The legislation establishes ambitious yet achievable goals for the agriculture sector to reach net zero by 2040. The bill improves and expands upon many existing programs while creating a few new grant programs to support its six programmatic building blocks:

• Increasing investments in agricultural research
• Improving soil health
• Supporting the transition to pasture-based livestock
• Ensuring farmland preservation and viability
• Promoting on-farm renewable energy
• Reducing food waste

By Haley Baron, OFRF Partnership & Development Manager

As the OFRF team walked into the large conference room filled with people at the 2021 Organic Grower Summit (OGS) in Monterey, CA last week, it was hard to believe we were actually there… in person! OGS is a gathering of organic farmers and industry professionals to share ideas and new techniques, and connect with our organic community. After canceling OGS 2020 and nearly two years since our last in-person event, we were excited (and a little nervous!) to finally be there. But, as our two-hour workshop, “Building Resilience through Organic Farming Systems” began, we quickly remembered the magic of being in conversation with growers about the principles and practices of organic farming systems that are critical to farmer resilience.   

For our workshop we brought together three extremely knowledgeable experts to discuss the ways that climate change will affect growing conditions in California as well as the practices and research that can help growers adapt and become more resilient. The crowd of about 100 attendees were eager to learn, network, and ask questions.

The morning began with Joji Muramoto, the first and only Cooperative Extension Specialist fully focused on organic production in California and UCSC professor, who shared about the ways climate change will impact arthropod pests and plant diseases. Tom Willey, organic farming pioneer, spoke about the no-till organic trials he has been part of in recent years. The audience was eager to hear from Tom as he has been farming organically for four decades in Madera, CA. And lastly, we had Eric Brennan, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) only organic-focused Research Horticulturist in the entire country, who joined us virtually with a perfectly-produced and research-filled video about climate change and soil health resilience strategies, such as cover cropping. His YouTube channel features a revised version of his video presentation, “Cover Cropping Strategy is for Climate-Smart Farmers and Climate-Resilient Farms.”

We concluded our workshop with informal discussion groups about the challenges, needs and opportunities that growers have in a variety of topic areas such as soil health management, pest, disease, and weeds. 

Throughout the conference, our team had the pleasure of seeing old friends and partners face to face, and meeting many new ones. Thanks to the Organic Produce Network team for producing OGS and including us!

Sheila Golden (she/her/hers) is OFRF’s Finance & Operations Director and has been with the organization since 2018. She is based in the Santa Cruz area and has over a decade of program development and management experience in sustainable agriculture and cooperative extensions. In her free time, Sheila plays music and runs a concert series in a cave. A lover of adventure, Sheila enjoys hiking and biking. “I also spend a lot of time throwing balls in the river and frisbees at the beach for my dog, Scruggs,” says Sheila.

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in a small town in West Virginia and moved to California to find a winter farming gig. I fell madly in love with the redwoods, the deserts, and mountains of California and never left. I spent my earlier days working on farms, teaching outdoor education, and working as an interpretive ranger with state parks. Now, I do a lot more work on computers and spreadsheets.

Why do you care about organic farming and/or organic research?

I worked on organic farms early in my career and really appreciated the systems approach it requires. I love seeing the landscape, flora, fauna, and microbes as one big organism working together.

Who is your farming, research and/or food hero – and why?

My mom and dad! They grew most of our food and (like many folks back home) still have a huge sustenance garden. They were prolific canners and food preservers. My dad often hunted the majority of our protein, and sometimes we even foraged for mushrooms and ramps.

What are you excited about working on at OFRF?

I’m excited to help OFRF grow as an organization and continue to find strategies to demystify research and build more institutional support for organic agriculture.

Anything else you’d like to share?

There are two residential red shoulder hawks that live in redwood trees by my house. I feel very lucky to see them every day.

On October 28, 2021, President Joe Biden announced the Build Back Better framework, which includes a historical push to address climate change and a $555 billion investment in a clean energy economy. The framework proposes a 50-52% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030, amounting to roughly over one gigaton. Funding for research and research facilities, including organic research, has been designated in the framework. Increasing resilience and natural solutions by investing in soil conservation is also specifically addressed in a White House statement. 

”OFRF is very pleased that Congress and the White House acknowledge the climate-friendly benefits of organic agriculture,” said OFRF Senior Policy Associate Trevor Findley. “A number of conservation programs used by organic farmers and ranchers, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program, are set to receive substantial increases in funding. These programs, combined with organic farming, will go a long way towards mitigating agriculture’s impact on the environment.”

Biden’s Build Back Better framework sets up the U.S. to meet its climate targets of reducing an estimated billion metric tons to meet below 2005 levels. According to a White House statement, the framework “represents the largest single investment in…history, across buildings, transportation, industry, electricity, agriculture, and climate-smart practices across land and waters.” 

Of the $555 billion investment, more than $90 billion will go toward agriculture, nutrition, and forestry provisions. “With significant investments in resources for farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners, this bill provides a host of new tools to deploy important conservation practices and the research essential to inform them,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Agricultural climate research and ag facilities will receive a $2 billion investment. Half of that funding will go to research facilities for 1890 and 1994 Land-Grant and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSI). The remaining investment is designated for research and cooperative extension programs for farmers and rural communities, and to fund scholarship programs at 1890 and 1994 Land-Grant universities and other MSIs. Approximately $60 million will go to the Organic Agriculture Research & Extension Initiative (OREI), which OFRF has continued to advocate for throughout the reconciliation process. OFRF successfully advocated for the creation of OREI in the 2002 Farm Bill with then Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.

”Since the program’s inception, OREI has provided organic farmers and ranchers with vital research that has allowed them to farm in harmony with the environment,” said OFRF Executive Director Brise Tencer. “This additional funding for OREI acknowledges the climate-friendly benefits of organic agriculture and will continue to help organic farmers operate in a way that mitigates greenhouse gas emissions, sequesters carbon, and ensures resilience to a changing climate.”

An estimated $28 billion investment in climate-smart agriculture could affect approximately 130 million cropland acres per year or 240,000 farms. This funding would help producers implement conservation methods to build resilience and sequester carbon in soil and trees and expand practices such as cover cropping. Programs focused on whole-farm conservation systems and crop insurance will also be funded. “Producers who want to help sequester carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be able to carry out those practices with the funding provided in this bill,” said Congressman and Co-Chair and Founder of the Agriculture Research Caucus Jimmy Panetta (CA-20).

Debt relief for economically distressed farmers is also proposed in the Build Back Better framework. Approximately $6 billion will go to agricultural credit and outreach. This would include investments in USDA programming to support new and existing farmers through outreach, technical assistance, and education.

To learn more about the Build Back Better framework and information on additional clean energy initiatives and consumer rebates included in the bill, visit the White House website.