Why Organic News

August 30, 2018 – Organic and sustainable agricultural research, education, and outreach will be the focus at a stunning new facility donated to the University of Idaho by Dennis Pence of Sandpoint. The Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center features 8 acres of organic orchards, surrounded by 8 acres of organic field plots, as well as a dormitory and a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen.

Michael Parrella, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences dean, said the new center will help U of I link more effectively with the local community and provide a template for programs that focus both on local food systems and bigger agriculture

in Idaho. “The work that’s been done to advance organic has broader applicability than just the organic community.”

Dennis Pence created the orchard with the vision of supporting local food systems. A huge believer in advancing organic agriculture and the principles, research, and education that goes along with that, he sees the orchard as a way of helping people understand what we’ve lost—the variety and quality of heritage varieties. The orchard includes approximately 65 heritage varieties and 700 trees just coming of age.

Kyle Nagy planted a lot of those trees. He’ll continue his role as Superintendent and Orchard Operations Manager. “Kyle has a phenomenal understanding of all aspects of production from an organic perspective,” said Parrella. “He’s a wonderful ambassador for the orchard and the program.

Hands-on internships for U of I and North Idaho College students will be offered to help boost enrollment in agricultural programs and strengthen the university’s presence in North Idaho. Other U of I colleges will have access to the center as well.

August 7, 2018 – In 2017, OFRF awarded a grant to researchers at Michigan State University to examine organic grain productivity in support of the organic livestock industry in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Organic grain production is virtually non-existent in the area and sourcing outside of the region is quite costly. The goal of this project is to increase knowledge of grain performance in an organic system, leading to the expansion of certified organic grain production and entry into the growing market for natural or organically produced meat.

Results will inform organic farmers of the opportunities and challenges within grain production and identify optimum crops, varieties, and management strategies to improve successful cultivation. The team believes they will see an increase in farmers experimenting with organic grain and that continued research will support these efforts. Ultimately, they hope the project will spur additional acreage of organic small grain in the U.P. to fill the need.

The researchers have developed a framework of research and knowledge of organic grain systems  through variety and crop management research, identification of need and marketing opportunities, and dissemination of findings through field days and outreach materials.

Although they were able to determine which varieties did not perform well, further investigation is needed with additional varieties. The framework they were able to develop as a result of OFRF’s seed grant will be leveraged to obtain additional funding to continue this important research.

June 29, 2018 – In a sweeping show of bipartisanship, the Senate voted 86-11 to pass their version of the Farm Bill. With the House passing a different version of the bill without Democratic support, lawmakers will meet later this summer to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills. With the current Farm Bill set to expire on September 30, 2018 there is a lot riding on this process.

Here is a comparison of some of the organic provisions.

Both the House and Senate bills have strong support for organic policies. We would like to express our appreciation for all of the hard work and efforts that members of Congress put in to advance organic agriculture.

Working closely with both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) will continue to advocate strongly for the inclusion of robust organic provisions in the Farm Bill.  The Farm Bill is important for all Americans.  We strongly encourage the members of the Congress to work toward a bipartisan solution that supports America’s farmers, consumers, communities.

June 22, 2018 – While the House Farm Bill was wholly opposed by Democrats, who were joined by some Republicans in their opposition, the House of Representatives passed their version of the Farm Bill, by a vote of 213-211 with two Republicans and two Democrats not voting.

The U.S. Senate is currently working on their text for the Farm Bill (read about it here), which is different than the House version. If the House and Senate pass different bills, the differences will be parsed out in conference committee, and if approved, will go to the President to be signed into law.

In the House Farm Bill there are a number of provisions that support organic agriculture (read about them here). The House Farm Bill does include an increase for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) to $30 million annually.  While this amount is not as robust as the recommendation put forth by OFRF which received broad support in Congress on both sides of the aisle, this does reauthorize the key organic research program and increase the funding by $10 million annually.

The 2018 Farm Bill is a do-or-die moment for several organic programs, including organic research. If a Farm Bill is not signed into law, funding for several organic programs including organic research will dry up.  This Farm Bill could be a retreat from the progress we’ve made over the past 20 years or it could be a breakthrough to the strongest support yet for organics.

We strongly encourage the members of the Congress to work toward a bipartisan solution that supports America’s farmers, consumers, communities.  As the process continues OFRF will keep advocating to ensure the voices and needs of organic farmers are heard, and that programs that support the success of the organics are included in the Farm Bill.

OFRF is in DC working every day to bring farmer voices to Congressional representatives from both parties. Now, more than ever, we are dependent on our supporters like you. A lot is at stake.

June 13, 2018 – Today the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to favorably report the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (S. 3042), the Senate Farm Bill, out of Committee by a vote of 20-1. Senator Grassley (R-IA) voted against the bill.

The next step is the floor of the Senate, where members will vote on passage of the Farm Bill. During the debate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-MY) promised that the bill will reach the Senate floor before the Fourth of July.

With the Senate Agriculture Committee’s passage, organic agriculture is one step closer to unprecedented achievements in the Farm Bill. We are very pleased the Senate Agriculture Committee has included a historic increase in funding for organic research, strong language on organic enforcement, funding for the organic data initiative, and support for the certified organic cost share program.

Specifically, the Senate Farm Bill text renews the USDA’s Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), which was funded at $20 million in the last Farm bill, to $40 million over the next two years, gradually increasing to $50 million annually by 2022. This investment in organic agriculture provides the necessary baseline funding to support robust scientific research, education programs, and extension resources to help American farmers and ranchers succeed in organic agriculture.

The Senate draft also included a wide array of provisions for the organic sector that OFRF advocated for. This includes robust enforcement and trade oversight, along with $11.5 million in annual funding for the organic certification cost share programs, $5 million for the organic data initiative, increased authorizations for the National Organic Program (NOP), as well as some changes to conservation programs that support organic farmers and those seeking to transition to organic.

While OFRF was not advocating for any changes to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), there were some serious concerns the Senate draft would seek to undermine the integrity and authority of the NOSB.  While the bill does make a minor change that codifies the current voting structure of the Board, requiring a 2/3’s majority vote on any motion that seeks to amend the National List, it does not undermine the overall integrity of the NOSB.

Many thanks to the Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), as well as all of their staff, for their efforts to ensure that organic farmers and ranchers will have the research, tools, and programs necessary for success.  We also applaud the hard work of Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) who were champions for an increase for organic research; Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) who championed organic trade enforcement; Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) who pushed to address the separate and unfair payment limit for organic and transitioning-to-organic producers in the USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program; and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) for expanding the eligibility for landowners with expiring Conservation Reserve Programs to allow new farmers to begin to transition to organic production and make conservation improvements up to 2 years before the contract expires.

With the strong support for organic agriculture in the Senate, we are thankful that this bill has passed out of committee and hope that it passes the Senate.

However, it is still a long road to the passage of the Farm Bill.

In May, 2018 the House of Representatives failed to pass their draft of the Farm Bill. While OFRF worked hard to build support for organic agriculture in the House, the bill only included a small increase in organic research funding, level funding for organic data collection, as well as language to increase organic trade oversight, but no funding for organic cost share.

If the House and Senate both pass different versions of the Farm Bill, the differences will be parsed out in conference committees and returned to the House and the Senate for final approval, before going to the President to be signed into law.

With the current Farm Bill set to expire on September 30, 2018 there is a lot riding on this process. As the Farm Bill continues, OFRF will keep advocating to ensure the voices and needs of organic farmers are heard, and that programs that support the success of the organics that are part of the Senate draft are included in the final Farm Bill.›

The Farm Bill is important for all Americans. We strongly encourage the members of the Congress to work toward a bipartisan solution that supports America’s farmers, consumers, and communities.

May 8, 2018 – At the end of April, the organic community descended on Tucson, Arizona for the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) spring public meeting. These meetings allow organic stakeholders from across the sector to give input on the shape and direction of organics.  OFRF’s Policy Associate attended to engage in discussions around organic research needs, as well as ensure that OFRF stays plugged in to the continuous development and discussions of organic policy.

The day before the official meeting, National Organic Coalition hosted their regular pre-NOSB meeting. This meeting is an in-depth round table discussion about a variety of issues facing the organic community, including the Farm Bill. With OFRF’s strong leadership on organic research issues in the Farm Bill, we were able to provide some concrete updates to the organic community on the state of organic research. Additionally, with a large number of farmers in attendance, OFRF provided information and guidebooks on USDA’s National Organic Certification Cost Share Program and Non-Insured Disaster Assistance Program. Overall, this was a great opportunity to showcase the variety of research and farmer-focused work that OFRF is doing.

The formal NOSB meeting provided an opportunity for the organic community to receive updates from USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP). Greg Ibach (the Undersecretary of USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs) attended the meeting and participated in discussions on the state of the organic sector. Undersecretary Ibach discussed the importance of protecting the integrity of USDA organics and the organic seal. Associate Deputy Administrator Jenny Tucker provided an update on the activity of the NOP. The report focused largely on USDA’s efforts to respond to complaints and curb the import of fraudulent organic products.

In addition to hearing from the NOP, members of the NOSB also heard from two expert panels on the topic of enforcement and integrity. Following all of this input, NOSB discussed some immediate steps it can take to advise USDA on addressing fraud in organics, as well as taking additional actions to strengthen enforcement of the organic standards across the globe.NOSB will continue to develop proposals on organic integrity for discussion at future NOSB meetings.

This meeting also included a discussion on eliminating incentives to convert native ecosystems to organic farms. While there was broad support for the NOSB to stop incentives for conversion of native ecosystems to organic production, some concerns were raised about the impact it could have on small farmers expanding on their lands. NOSB members discussed the overall concern that the proposal addressed, and specific concerns raised by public commenters. At the end of the discussion, NOSB made minor changes and voted to pass the proposal.

Overall, it was a very productive meeting. The NOSB members, NOP staff, expert panelists, and public commenters were very engaged, thoughtful, and collegial. The NOSB process allows for robust discussion and engagement from across the organic sector, and OFRF is proud to contribute to the growth and advancement of organic agriculture.

May 2, 2018 – OFRF’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce a research grant award to Edmund Frost of Common Wealth Seed Growers. The project will assess resistance to both Bacterial Wilt and Cucurbit Downy Mildew among selected cucumber and muskmelon seedstocks, continuing with the development of a pickling cucumber that is resistant to both diseases.

Frost has been producing certified organic vegetable seeds at Twin Oaks Seed Farm in Louisa, Virginia since 2008, and pursuing variety trials and breeding work since 2011. He leads Common Wealth Seed Growers, a cooperative effort of several Virginia seed growers to grow and sell seed varieties that perform well in the region. They aim to build the awareness and capacity necessary for improving organic seed systems in the Southeast.

Farmers throughout the Eastern U.S. cite Bacterial Wilt and Downy Mildew as key limiting disease issues for melon and cucumber production. This research project is a direct response to the need for new resistant varieties that have the potential to make management easier, decrease losses, and extend the harvest period.

Since its founding in 1990, OFRF has awarded 337 grants to organic researchers and farmers, investing over $3M. All OFRF-funded research must involve farmers or ranchers in project design and implementation, take place on certified organic land, and include strong education and outreach components. All research results are freely available in our online database at ofrf.org.

OFRF’s next Request for Proposals will be released in the fall of 2018 for 2019 projects.