The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), is partnering with the Organic Farmers Association (OFA) and the National Organic Coalition (NOC) to bring a series of interactive, virtual farmer-to-farmer networking sessions to growers across the country.
These “Seeds of Success” events are designed to empower organic producers and transitioning farmers with engaging peer-to-peer conversation. Each session will act as an interactive, informal space for farmers to share their challenges and successes and will give farmers an opportunity to have open conversations on topics most relevant to them.
Below you’ll find recordings for past events and registration links for upcoming events, as they’re announced.
Strategies for Identifying and Navigating Organic Markets
Hosted by OFRF on November 10, 2023.
In this virtual networking session, we address the number one non-production challenge identified by organic producers: finding and developing markets for organic products.
This session featured three women farmers who have creatively grown their markets for organic products: Amy Van Scoik of Frog Song Organics in Florida, Pam Mack of L Marie LTD in Ohio, and Anna Jones-Crabtree of Vilicus Farms in Montana.
Recording coming soon.
Demystifying the National Organic Standards Board: What It Is, How It Works, and How It Impacts Your Farm
Hosted by NOC on January 30, 2024
Organic producers and processors must follow strict standards to become organically certified. Who decides what is and is not allowed on organic farms and in organic processing facilities? Not your certifier! Rather, it’s the USDA National Organic Program, in consultation with the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB).
On Tuesday, January 30, 2024, the NOC hosted a virtual meeting for organic and transitioning farmers, where a panel of farmers and advocates demystified the NOSB. Panelists explained the role of the NOSB in shaping organic standards and allowed materials, the process the Board uses to make decisions, and explained how written and oral comments can make a difference in Board decisions.
Panelists included Steve Ela, Former NOSB Chair, NOC NOSB Specialist, and Organic Producer at Ela Family Farms in Colorado; Harriet Behar, Former NOSB Chair, NOC Advisor, OFA Farmer Services Consultant, and Organic Producer at Sweet Springs Farm in Wisconsin; and Amy Bruch, Current NOSB Vice Chair and Organic Producer at Cyclone Farms in Nebraska.
Learn more about this session and your role in providing input to the Board and lifting up farmer voices in the NOSB process on NOC’s website.
Crop Insurance for Organic Farmers: What’s Working, What’s Not, and How We Can Make it Work for Us
Hosted on OFA on April 16, 2024.
In a changing climate, crop insurance can make or break a farmer’s ability to keep farming the next year. But this federally-subsidized program, intended as a safety net for farmers, serves some producers growing a few specific crops better than others. The program, as currently designed, feeds into the consolidation of land and resources in agriculture, with crop insurance being the only subsidized farm program with no upper limit on the funds that a farmer can receive from the federal government, a practice that reinforces existing power structures and leads to fewer, bigger, and less diverse farms.
Organic and transitioning farmers, specifically, find themselves misunderstood and underserved in the crop insurance system, as their practices, rotations, transition, and certification processes are not widely understood by the agents serving them and can be in conflict with Risk Management Agency requirements.
Noah Wendt of A&W Farms in Iowa and Seth Kroeck of Crystal Spring Farm in Maine share their experiences with crop insurance.
Watch Recording:
NRCS Organic Practice 823: Strategies and Best Practices
Hosted by OFA on July 24, 2024.
The National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has many programs to help farmers convert to organic farming operations. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a conservation program that helps farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners integrate conservation into working lands. Under EQIP, Organic Transition Initiative 823 (OTI) is specifically meant to help those transitioning to organic operations, by cost-sharing and providing technical support on practices organic and transitioning farmers want to implement on their farms. This program is relatively new, and a little different than other NRCS practices. Hear directly from ag professionals and farmers about their experiences with 823 and their ideas regarding how to best utilize this valuable conservation planning tool.
This session was presented by OFA’s Farmer Services Consultant Harriet Behar, Marbleseed’s Climate and Conservation Director/Organic Conservation Specialist Thomas Manley, and Lehman Farms Ltd.’s Aaron Lehman.
Stay tuned for our next farmer-to-farmer networking session coming in the fall of 2024. You can view all upcoming OFRF-related events at ofrf.org/events/ and by subscribing to our newsletter here.
The Seeds of Success project is supported through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP). TOPP is a program of the USDA Organic Transition Initiative and is administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP).