OFRF News Archive

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Organic Farming Research Foundation created a 5-minute reel of highlights from this past year. Watch this video for updates from its Research, Education, and Policy and Advocacy departments. Program successes include: The soon-to-be released National Organic Research Agenda (NORA) report; The 2021-22 organic research grant cycle that focuses on climate mitigation and resilience and prioritizes early career and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color researchers, farmers and ranchers; Educational materials addressing the challenges of Southern US farmers; A multi-year partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); and Advocacy efforts [...]

Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) has entered into a 3-year cooperative agreement with USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). OFRF will be tasked with analyzing investments in organic made through two key programs: the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and Organic Transitions (ORG) grant program by commodity, region and research topics.

 As part of the 3-year agreement, OFRF will compare priorities identified in 2016 and 2021 National Organic Research Agenda (NORA), a report OFRF conducts and releases every five years. NORA contains comprehensive recommendations for future [...]

Trevor Findley (he/him/his) is OFRF's Senior Policy Associate and has been with the organization since 2021. He is based in Washington, DC, and has been working in food and agricultural policy since 2015. His belief that everyone should have access to healthy, nutritious, and culturally-relevant food makes Trevor a strong advocate for farmers and ranchers who are helping make that a reality. When Trevor isn't focused on policy work for OFRF, he enjoys triathlons, mountain biking, cooking and baking.   Tell us about yourself. I grew up in rural Oregon [...]

Over 20 years ago, I joined the OFRF team to help advocate on behalf of organic farmers across the country. Organic was a fledgling industry with farmers in grave need of science-based resources and support. As part of these efforts, OFRF successfully advocated for Congress to create a new staff position at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Salinas research station that would focus fully on organic agriculture research, the country’s first.  Dr. Eric Brennan, the scientist who took that role 20 years ago and continues to hold it today, was [...]

Two USDA COVID assistance programs were discussed, including the Pandemic Response and Safety Grant Program which has an approaching deadline of November 22. The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) recently attended a USDA press 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 business. "OFRF is excited to show support [...]

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 [...]