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By Trevor Findley, OFRF Senior Policy Associate

The OFRF policy team has been hard at work advocating for more federally funded organic agriculture research.  Congress is currently in the midst of budget reconciliation, a process that allows them to fast-track legislation related to spending, revenue, the surplus or deficit, and public debt. The current budget resolution calls for $3.5 trillion in spending, and OFRF wants to make sure that organic research receives a share of the increased spending.  More specifically, OFRF has asked members of the House and Senate to support an increase in funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI). OREI funds research, education, and extension programs that help organic producers and processors to grow and market organic products. Priority areas for the program include biological, physical, and social sciences.

Under existing law, OREI is funded at $25 million in 2022 and $50 million in 2023 and beyond. OFRF has asked for these amounts to be increased to $30 million in 2022 and $75 million in 2023 and beyond. The highly popular grant program currently has a success rate of 26 percent, meaning only about one in four grant requests receives funding. The total amount requested under the program is currently more than four times the amount of money available. By increasing the amount of money that is available, more grants will be funded, increasing the amount of research that will ultimately benefit organic farmers and ranchers. 

By Trevor Findley, OFRF Senior Policy Associate

OFRF and its advisors recently met with organic farmer and 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 is well-equipped to provide the department with recommendations that will help producers transition to organic farming.  

Based on its research, OFRF knows that one of the biggest challenges for transitioning producers is the availability of technical assistance and education on organic farming techniques. OFRF has recommended allocating $50 million for training, education, and outreach. A portion of these funds would go to extension agents and other specialists to provide direct assistance to transitioning producers. In addition, use of these funds would be targeted to states with low organic farming rates, and a portion would be set aside to serve producers who have been historically excluded from USDA programs, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

Given the historic underinvestment in organic agriculture research, OFRF also recommended 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.  

Last, OFRF recommended a handful of 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).

As USDA continues to determine how it will use the funds to create transformative changes and invest in climate-friendly agricultural practices, OFRF will continue to use its expertise to advocate for the needs of organic farmers and ranchers.

By Trevor Findley, OFRF Senior Policy Associate

The Organic Farming Research Foundation’s (OFRF) Senior Policy Associate, Trevor Findley, 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 National Organic Program is run by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and includes a federal advisory committee that makes recommendations to improve and advance organic standards.  This committee, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), meets twice a year and accepts public input at its meetings. 

Since inception, the NOSB has made 20 consensus recommendations on a range of topics to improve organic standards, but USDA has not yet acted on any of the recommendations.  Many of the recommendations include topics of interest to consumers, including animal welfare standards, the production of personal care products, organic production in greenhouses, and aquaculture in organics.  In the absence of clear standards on these topics, the organizations that certify organic producers have inconsistently interpreted and applied existing 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.  The bill has bi-partisan support and is being championed by Rep. Peter Defazio (OR-4) and Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-13). 

To advocate for the bill, OTA and its members met with 29 different Congressional offices and sought additional co-sponsors for the bill.  While passage of the bill as a standalone measure is uncertain, there is hope that if the bill doesn’t pass on its own that it would wind up in larger legislation such as the 2023 Farm Bill.

By Shelby Kaplan, OFRF Research and Education Intern
She recently graduated from University of Wisconsin Madison with a degree in plant pathology and a minor in food systems. She will continue her studies in the fall at ASU to receive a graduate certificate in food policy and sustainable leadership.

As an OFRF intern this summer, I have been working with Thelma Velez, the Research and Education Program Manager, to create a free soil health course titled, Soil Health Strategies for the Southern Region. This course builds on a recent OFRF publication, Building Healthy Living Soils for Successful Organic Farming in the Southern Region, and describes challenges in Southern soil health and ways to mitigate these problems in a sustainable way. 

Personally, the course is thought-provoking and provides a way for me to learn more about organic farming practices. I have an interest in sustainable agriculture and am eager to learn more about the organic farming space, while also hoping to help farmers improve their practices with science-based information. Although the Midwest environment where I went to college differs quite a lot from Southern ecosystems, I have travelled abroad several times in order to broaden my knowledge of organic agriculture in other regions. 

The goal of the course is to assist organic farmers in the South and show practical strategies to help improve their crops by improving the soil, which will build resilient farms. Healthy soil is the basis for successful farming, so finding ways to better manage it and improve on the practices already in place is critical. As the climate continues to change and put increased pressure on farmers, there needs to be an even greater focus on ways to improve the capabilities of soil and the ways we use it.

Supporting organic farmers by providing up-to-date information is an important step in improving organic systems and our environment. Helping to create this course has taught me more about organic systems in the Southern environment, their challenges, as well as possible solutions. 

I hope to continue supporting the organic farming community through working with OFRF in other ways in the future!

The Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University recently published The Critical To-Do List for Organic Agriculture, which features 46 recommendations that would improve the state of organic agriculture in the United States. OFRF Executive Director, Brise Tencer, and consultants Mark Schonbeck and Ferd Hoefner, were acknowledged for their advice and support in helping formulate the 46 recommendations.

While policy-based improvements can be time consuming, the majority of recommendations in the report could be accomplished administratively by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), meaning the USDA can make the changes without any additional input from Congress.

Among the 46 recommendations are a number of priorities that the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) has prioritized and advocated for, including recommendations to:

(1) develop a national organic plan;
(2) implement a USDA-wide organic agenda;
(3) take a whole of government approach to organic agriculture;
(4) restore the organic advisor to the Secretary;
(7) address racial justice and social equity;
(12) increase organic research;
(23) reinvest in the Organic Transitions program;
(25) restore cost-share funding;
(33) elevate organic in climate policy;
(35) promote ecosystem services;
(37) increase conservation support;
(39) fund research on breeds and seeds adapted to climate change;
(40) identify organic as climate smart;
(43) improve crop insurance tools;
(44) incent recoupling crops and livestock; and
(46) restore the field buffer initiative.

For some recommendations–such as implementing a USDA-wide organic agenda–OFRF has already developed and shared more specific, agency-by-agency recommendations with the USDA. In addition, in an April 2021 letter to Secretary Vilsack, OFRF specifically asked the Secretary to implement several of the recommendations, such as restoring the organic advisor to the Secretary, increasing organic research at USDA to match organic’s six percent market share, restoring cost-share funding, and increasing conservation support.

We look forward to working with Secretary Vilsack and his staff to implement these changes in the coming years!

July 13, 2021—OFRF is excited to announce that we are now accepting Letters of Intent (LOI) for our research grant program. This grant cycle, in addition to continuing our support for farmer-led research, OFRF is prioritizing applications from early career researchers and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We believe it is critical to foster the next generation of researchers and support historically underserved and marginalized communities, while also ensuring all farmers have the most up-to-date and science-based information. OFRF is reserving half of our grants for BIPOC applicants. 

At OFRF, we recognize climate change is one of the most pressing challenges for farmers, ranchers, and society as a whole. Therefore, we are prioritizing research that maximizes the potential for organic agriculture to be part of the climate solution. “It is especially important that OFRF research grants continue to support projects that directly address the climate crisis and also build resilience within our farms, ranches, rural communities, and the broader food system,” said Thelma Velez, the Research and Education Program Manager at OFRF.

OFRF will fund projects for up to $20,000 for one year of research. Submissions must fall under at least one of the six research priority areas: soil health focus; weed, pest, and disease management focus; resilient cultivars focus; livestock and poultry focus; social science focus; and/or resilience focus. Project submissions may be research-based or integrated (research, education, and/or extension). Additionally, the research must take place on property or land that is certified organic, unless it falls under the social science and/or resilience focus priority area. 

Primary applicants or Co-PIs must identify as a farmer, rancher, or early career researcher residing in Canada, Mexico, or the United States. Early career researchers for this grant are defined as: pre-tenure faculty, postdoctoral associates, graduate students, and/or researchers that have received their MS or PhD within the past seven years (graduation year 2014). Successful applicants will be notified in Fall 2021 and invited to submit a full proposal with funding finalized in 2022.

OFRF is committed to supporting innovative research that meets the current challenges of organic farming, and fosters the adoption and improvement of organic farming systems. Since 2006, OFRF has invested over $3M in 355 research projects to address the needs of organic growers. Techniques and findings from OFRF-funded research have been widely implemented by organic farmers and ranchers, with information disseminated online, in publications, and at farming conferences and field days. All research results are free and open source at www.ofrf.org/research/grant-awards/.

We look forward to another year of outstanding project submissions! Thank you to the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) for the continuation of our partnership to fund on-farm research advancing the climate benefits of organic agriculture systems.

Letter of Intent and Instructions

LOI are reviewed and approved by the OFRF Board of Directors, majority of whom are certified organic farmers and ranchers. Please complete the application and submit no later than 5:00pm PST Friday August 20, 2021.

• View the Request for Letters of Intent and application form. 

Have a question? Read our FAQ. If you have additional questions, you may contact the OFRF Research Grants team at grants@ofrf.org.