News From Other Sources
There’s a lot going on in the world of organic farming. Our community is always striving to grow and educate. We’ll aggregate and share other organic news from a variety of sources in this section.
OFRF News
Organic Transition Initiative (OTI) Deadline Announcement
Thanks to the Organic Transition Initiative (OTI), USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has made $75M in cost-share grant funding available to certified organic and transitioning-to-organic growers under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to meet the Conservation Practice Standard for Organic Management (CPS-823). This post and the PDF below provide step-by-step instructions for contacting your local NRCS office to inquire about available financial and technical assistance programs available to you. OFRF has developed a PDF to help farmers communicate with NRCS about accessing the [...]
From Regulations to Legislation: Advocating for Organic Agriculture in 2024
2024 presents a challenging political landscape with pending appropriations, a new Farm Bill deadline, and a Presidential election fast approaching. OFRF chooses to view all these events as opportunities to advocate for increased public investments in organic agriculture research and to ensure that organic agriculture gets its fair share of USDA research funding.
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
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.
Organic Agriculture Shines in the Face of 2023’s Challenges
2023 has been a year marked by environmental distress and political upheaval, but the organic sector emerged as a stronghold of resilience and progress. Amidst the disquieting headlines of the hottest recorded summer and unprecedented political twists, there are several organic milestones worth celebrating. This blog post focuses on those moments of light amid the darkness.