OFRF Launches Organic Research Hub to Support Farmers Nationwide

By admin|2025-04-07T14:14:46-04:00April 7th, 2025|News, Press Release|

One-of-a-kind platform offers curated, science-based organic farming tools and resources to help farmers find trusted, practical solutions to on-farm challenges.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., April 7, 2025 — The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) today announced the launch of the Organic Research Hub, a first-of-its-kind online platform created to serve the needs of organic and transitioning farmers across the United States—offering trusted, science-based tools to solve real on-farm challenges.

Accessible at organicresearchhub.org, the Organic Research Hub brings together an unprecedented collection of curated resources, all searchable by production topic, crop category, region, keyword, and more. The platform includes factsheets, research summaries, webinars, guidebooks, videos, and other technical tools gathered from the country’s top agricultural institutions and organic organizations. It also houses the complete library of nearly 200 final reports from OFRF-funded research projects, making decades of farmer-informed research easily accessible in one place.

“We created the Organic Research Hub to meet farmers where they are,” said Dr. Heather Estrada, OFRF’s research & education senior scientist and architect of the platform. “Producers don’t have time to dig through academic journals or outdated PDFs. They need credible, practical resources they can use in the field—and that’s exactly what this tool provides.”

In addition to advanced filtering and keyword search functions, users can sign up to receive customized notifications when new content is added to their region or area of interest. The Hub also includes a national Organic Extension Directory, helping connect farmers with trusted agricultural professionals and researchers in their communities.

“There’s a lot of noise online. The Hub cuts through that,” said Jordan Settlage, an organic dairy farmer at Settlage & Settlage Farms in St. Mary’s, Ohio. “I was changing our compost management and had some questions. In less than a minute, the Hub helped me find exactly what I needed—from credible sources I trust. That’s a big deal. I can use it to make real decisions for our farm.”

With no comparable tool currently available, the Organic Research Hub addresses a long-standing gap in how organic research is accessed and applied. Although organic now accounts for more than 6% of total U.S. food sales and 15% of all produce sales, research funding for organic agriculture remains disproportionately low—receiving less than 2% of USDA research dollars and less than 1% of the Agricultural Research Service’s budget. OFRF’s own National Organic Research Agenda (NORA) continues to highlight the pressing need for regionally relevant, farmer-informed solutions. The Organic Research Hub is a direct response to that need.

“This is about access,” said Brise Tencer, OFRF’s executive director. “For too long, organic farmers have had to piece together information on their own—often without institutional support or public investment. But what’s exciting is that organic research doesn’t just serve organic farmers—it’s useful to any grower seeking healthy soils, resilient systems, and non-chemical solutions. The Hub reflects our commitment to putting reliable, farmer-focused tools directly into their hands.”

The Hub features content from leading organizations, including the SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) program, dozens of land-grant universities, and nonprofit partners such as ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) and The Organic Center. It will continue to grow as new content is added and more researchers and extension agents contribute their work.

The Organic Research Hub is live now at organicresearchhub.org.

About the Organic Farming Research Foundation

The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, with a remote team based across the U.S., works to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems. OFRF cultivates organic research, education, and federal policies that bring more farmers and acreage into organic production. For more information about OFRF, please visit our website: www.ofrf.org.

Media Contact:
Ashley Dulaney, Communications Director, OFRF
ashley@ofrf.org

Hub Visuals:

: OFRF’s Organic Research Hub

: OFRF’s Organic Research Hub searchable, filterable database of organic farming resources

: OFRF’s Organic Research Hub resources from search result

: example of resource in OFRF’s Organic Research Hub, a research summary

: example of resource in OFRF’s Organic Research Hub, a research summary

: Organic Extension Directory in OFRF’s Organic Research Hub

Lessons from OFRF’s Farmer-Researcher Collaboration Panel

By admin|2025-12-09T17:51:57-05:00March 27th, 2025|News, On-Farm Research|

Written by Brian Geier

Snacks, refreshments, and a circle of chairs were ready as a group of organic dairy farmers gathered together in southeast Minnesota for a listening session hosted by organic dairy researcher Dr. Brad Heins. Based in the west-central part of the state, Heins wanted to know more about what organic dairy farmers were facing in the southeast. For most of the event, he listened and allowed the producers to speak amongst themselves about the challenges they were facing. Meg Stuedemann of Derrydale Farm recalls Dr. Heins treated it like an informal focus group. “He’d ask a question and sit back and listen to who had been exploring what, who was interested in what, and how many people were dealing with the same issue.”

Meg recently joined an OFRF panel of farmers and researchers to discuss successful farmer-researcher collaborations for organic agriculture. The panel took place in January of 2025, and is one of OFRF’s Seeds of Success Networking Sessions, a project funded by a cooperative agreement with USDA-NIFA. Other panelists included Dr. Mary Hendrickson, Professor in Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri, Dr. Kerry Clark, Research Professor and Soybean breeder at the University of Missouri and farmer Liz Graznak of Happy Hollow Farm in Jamestown, Missouri. A link to the full recording of the panel is available at the end of this post.

Meg Stuedemann, Derrydale Farm, Belle Plaine, MN

Dr. Mary Hendrickson, Professor in Rural Sociology, University of Missouri

Liz Graznak, Happy Hollow Farm, Jamestown, Missouri

Dr. Kerry Clark, Research Professor, University of Missouri

Building Trust with Farmers

Spending time with farmers helps build trust reciprocal relationships that are key to successful farmer-researcher collaboration. “We (farmers) are most interested to participate in projects when it is a question that we are interested in,” said Meg, recalling the positive experience she had collaborating with Dr. Heins following the listening session.

Dr. Mary Hendrickson agreed that being in community with farmers is key to successful research. From her perspective, a lot of the early research work in the 1990’s around grazing dairy and grazing herds in Missouri can be traced back to two researchers who attended “grazing clusters”, monthly peer-to-peer meetups of farmers who met at each other’s farms. Attending the farmers’ conversations allowed the researchers to find researchable questions and resulted in what Dr. Hendrickson called “extremely successful collaborating between grazing, forage researchers (and) beef producers.”

“Every good research idea I’ve ever had has come from being in community and working with farmers…so it [good research] is not my idea really. It really behooves researchers to be out with farmers.” -Dr. Mary Hendrickson

Even if researchers do not have a lot of opportunities to listen directly to farmers, Meg pointed out that they can get a sense of what research farmers are interested in by searching the SARE database, OFRF’s grant database, or state-level programs for on-farm research in their area. “I would be thrilled if someone called me and said, ‘I read about your paper and want to collaborate,’” Meg explained.

Farmer Involvement in Organic Research

While networking can ensure farmers can help generate ideas for new research, involving farmers in research projects can be a whole other challenge.

Even after a good research idea has been identified, researchers may have to wait months for funders’ Request for Applications (RFA’s) to be released before they know the specifics for proposals and timelines. These can have very regimented procedures that researchers have to stick to throughout the project period (several years). And it can take months to write a proposal and then several more months before researchers find out if they got the funding.

To ensure farmer involvement in a given project, knowing several farmers within the industry can help. “Sometimes you end up doing on-farm research with a different farmer than the one that helped generate the idea,” Dr. Clark explained.

For collaboration to work, it is important for researchers to understand that farmers have different priorities. “The farm will always come first,” explained Mary, and Liz agreed. Clear agreements can lead to better outcomes. Meg suggested that more in-person involvement on the farm throughout the project period may help. “Researchers cannot expect farmers to be technicians,” she said. More in-person involvement from the research team, especially at data collection, can help uphold the integrity of the research.

Even with the best of planning, “Sometimes it just doesn’t work out,” Dr. Clark cautions. She recounted one grazing experiment where the cows kept getting out despite the farmer’s best efforts, and that the research on that farm was ruined for that year. “Don’t feel bad,” Clark advises, “keep trying.”

Compensation for Farmers

While everyone on the panel agreed that farmers’ time is valuable and should be compensated for, amounts are not standardized and can vary greatly from project to project depending on the level of involvement and on what was originally written into a grant. Farmer involvement can even be a requirement in some RFA’s but specifics on those amounts are rarely, if ever, provided.

Even if a research project is only utilizing land on a working farm, and not requiring a farmer to do any work or data collection, a stipend is expected. But panelists reported offering very different amounts ranging from a few hundred dollars to $2,000. While the researchers on the panel compared the different amounts they’d offered to farmers for their projects, one attendee of the session chimed in the chat to remind everyone that if farmers had been involved at the beginning of those projects, they could have helped set those payment amounts.

For any use of a farmer’s time, it was recommended that they be treated as professional consultants or specialized contractors, and given a comparable rate.

Farmers Value Long-Term Relationships

One key to the success of farmer-researcher collaboration came up amongst the farmers on the panel, and it echoes what OFRF heard at a panel discussion in early 2024 with Project Directors and collaborating farmers working on USDA-funded organic research projects: long-term relationships build trust.

That process can start well before a project, with researchers spending time with farmers, or with farmers reaching out to researchers. There are a lot more farmers than there are researchers, so it may be easier for farmers to reach out to researchers than the other way around. “Don’t be afraid to call the University in your state,” said Clark.

The Follow-Up: An Overlooked Key to Ongoing Success

Once earned, the trust of farmers must be kept. And that, according to farmers on the panel, requires connecting after the conclusion of on-farm research. Farmers report that seeing the end result of research that they contributed to was one of, if not the most important thing to feeling like it was worthwhile.

“One of the biggest frustrations is not finding out the bigger picture that my farm or my participation has contributed to. I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a researcher who has sent me the final paper or sent me an extension publication or the final paper and said, “This is what you were involved in.” That would mean more to me than the stipend.” -Meg Stuedemann, Derrydale Farm

“I agree that acknowledging that farmers are professionals and that compensation is appreciated,” Meg said. “But it’s not why I say yes. It is not a revenue stream for my farm. But knowing what happened would be really wonderful.” According to the farmers on the panel, that could look like simply getting a call or better yet getting sent complementary copies of published papers or extension resources.

Watch the full Seeds of Success networking session:

About the Seeds of Success Series

OFRF has partnered with the Organic Farmers Association (OFA) and National Organic Coalition (NOC) to lead a series of virtual farmer-to-farmer networking sessions. These facilitated events will be engaging opportunities for farmers to share their challenges and successes, and will be accompanied with relevant resources you can use.

To learn more about these and other events from OFRF visit: https://ofrf.org/events/

Funding for this series is provided by a cooperative agreement between OFRF and USDA- NIFA to highlight research investments made through both OREI and ORG grant programs.

Learn more about the Organic Agriculture program at USDA-NIFA at: https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/organic-agriculture-program

What’s Happening with Organic Farming Research in Pennsylvania

By admin|2025-12-09T17:39:38-05:00March 20th, 2025|Cover Crops & Crop Rotation, Insects & Diseases, News, Soil Health, Weeds|

Written by Brian Geier, OFRF Communications Manger. This article was originally published in Pennsylvania Certified Organic’s (PCO) Organic Matters publication. See the article in PCO’s Winter/Spring 2025 edition.

Before diving into the importance and impact of organic research in Pennsylvania, let’s start with some national context. Nationwide, certified organic produce now makes up more than 15% of total produce sales in the United States. Organic dairy and eggs now constitute more than 11% of the total market. And overall, organic sales have doubled over the last 10 years and in 2024 made up about 6% of the total US food market. By most measurements, organic food is trending upward. Most notably, the growth of organic sales is consistently outpacing the growth of the overall food market. To say it another way, we might be heading into a future that is more and more organic!

But will we get there?

Despite the growth of the organic sector, organic agriculture research funding makes up less than 2% of the total research at the USDA, and less than 1% at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Additionally, much of the research focused on conventional agriculture relates to chemical applications or genetic traits—technologies that organic producers do not, and if certified, can not, use. To put it another way, organic research benefits all farmers, including conventional ones, but not the other way around.

In order to sustain the growth in organic acreage, producers, and products, it is crucial that more USDA funding be organic and applicable to all farmers. National policy priorities identified by the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) include:

Increasing USDA’s research funding for organic research through both competitive grant programs at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and intramural research at ARS to reflect its market share and growth trajectory.
Fully funding the Organic Data Initiative to provide the necessary market analysis of a rapidly sophisticating sector.
Expanding the accessibility and applicability of technical and financial assistance programs for organic farmers.

To learn more about this policy work that supports organic nationwide and in Pennsylvania, visit OFRF’s advocacy page.

Organic Research in the Keystone State

Pennsylvania is a powerhouse of organic agriculture. It ranked 4th in the nation with over 100,000 certified acres and 1,200+ farms generating $1 billion in sales in 2021, according to the latest organic survey by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The USDA’s NIFA has awarded over $28 million in grants to the state’s research institutions for organic research. Penn State University has played a crucial role, investing $12 million. The ARS has historically funded 17 projects in the state researching organic topics, but currently has no active projects.

Organic farmers in the state and region have identified three key research concerns (according to the 2022 National Organic Research Agenda):

Climate adaptation and resilience.
Pest management.
Soil health.

Active Research Projects in Pennsylvania

Recent NIFA investments, through programs like the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and the Organic Transitions Program (ORG), have provided nearly $12 million over the past four years to ongoing projects with an organic focus in Pennsylvania. Key projects at Penn State focus on intensifying production and improving resilience of organic grains, developing a nitrogen decision support tool, testing anaerobic soil disinfection (ASD) in fields and in high tunnels, tracking foraging patterns of organic bees, evaluating perennial crop rotations, and developing parasite resistance in dairy cattle. Another project looking at immersive experiential education of urban educators is underway at Drexel University.

OFRF’s State-By-State leave-behinds provide data on the organic industry and organic research in states, and can be used to help farmers, researchers, and advocates when articulating needs for proposals or advocating for policy.

Source: Penn State Weed Science

OREI-funded research on organic grain production (led by Dr. John Wallace) builds on previous research on reduced and no-til strategies, including planting into high-residue cover crops. Credit: Penn State Weed Science.

Besides providing new knowledge to organic growers, each of these research projects have other direct and indirect benefits worth noting. The Economic Research Service estimates that every $1 spent on agricultural research generates an additional $20 in benefits to the economy. In Pennsylvania, that means the $28 million for organic research translates to $560 million in economic activity. This effect can be seen given the growth of the value in Pennsylvania’s organic production between 2019 and 2021. In 2019, Pennsylvania had 1,039 organic farms with over $740 million in farmgate sales. In 2021, those numbers grew to 1,123 organic farms generating over $1 billion. Research provides real economic opportunities to farms looking to maximize both their economic return and their ecological impact.

Additionally, organic research provides professional training opportunities for undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral fellows on organic systems, and promotes symbiosis between up-and-coming researchers and the organic community. As Dr. Ajay Nair, newly appointed as the Department of Horticulture Chair at Iowa State University explained in a recent interview with OFRF, OREI “is the foundation for several of the organic projects that happen across the country. It serves as a good platform for us to reach out to organic growers and for organic growers to reach out to us and say, ‘Hey, can we address this particular issue that is coming up?’ These OREI grants,” he explains, are “actually helping to build our network…to help us build teams across the country.”

How Pennsylvania Research Benefits Growers Across the Eastern US

Just as organic research can be applicable to all farmers, multi-state projects led in Pennsylvania are bringing new findings to organic farmers facing similar challenges across regions. For example, the OREI-funded project assessing ASD in field, led by Dr. Gioia at Penn State, includes similar research plots led by Dr. Xin Zhao at University of Florida. Results from Pennsylvania may provide insights for growers in the Northeast who face challenges managing soil borne diseases, while the plots in Florida reflect conditions faced by organic growers in the Southeast, but results from each region might inform growers who face similar challenges to similar cropping systems. Growers interested in managing soil health with ASD in the Upper Midwest or the Southeast might find the eOrganic webinar from Dr. Zhao valuable. The webinar focuses on selecting the right carbon source for the organic practice of ASD, which includes insights from the trials on Pennsylvania farms. All growers who want to use ASD to support their transition period to organic farming may be interested in the additional grant awarded to Dr. Gioia and his team to assess the economic viability of using ASD during the transition to organic to control pests and weeds. Additionally, any grower using or considering using ASD can share their story and contribute to the project. “The survey,” Dr. Gioia explains “is part of the bottom-up approach our team have been using to improve the ASD application method and make sure that our research is relevant to growers and meets their needs.”

Source: Francesco Di Gioia/Penn State

Research at Penn State evaluates the impacts of cover crop residues combined or not with wheat bran and molasses as a carbon source for ASD applications on lettuce. The project supports similar research being conducted at the University of Florida. Credit: Francesco Di Gioia/Penn State.

Completed Projects Provide New Resources for Organic Growers

Aside from the active projects above, several NIFA-funded organic research projects have been completed in Pennsylvania. While they may be concluded, the benefits of these organic projects continue. The results of these studies are not limited to publication in academic scientific journals or relevant only to scientists. Researchers, farmers, and extension specialists often collaborate to share the results of studies in ways that are meaningful and applicable to farmers.

Take soil microbial management, for example. An OREI-funded study led by Dr. Jason Kaye at Penn State involved adding different sources of microbes (composts, forest soils, and other sources) to soils and measuring microbial populations. The project partnered with Pasa Sustainable Agriculture to collaborate with working farmers to conduct studies on working farms. While measurements of soil microbes may not be enough to provide specific recommendations to growers, the knowledge of how microbe populations change under management conditions and how they interact with plant crops can help farmers make better decisions.

Assuming soil microbes are fascinating to everyone with an interest in organic matters, let’s digress here for a moment. There are a myriad of ways that microbes can help or hinder organic systems: Microbes called biostimulants can release hormones into the soil that can help increase plant growth, while others can degrade the stress chemicals that plants produce during drought, helping plants become more resilient. Some microbes called biofertilizers can unlock nutrients in soils that plants cannot access themselves, helping where there may be excess nutrients, while other biofertilizers exchange nutrients directly with the plants in exchange for carbon. And get this—some perform better than others. That is, some biofertilizers that exchange phosphorus for carbon, called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), offer plants more phosphorus in exchange for the same amount of carbon when compared with other AMFs.

When research-generated insights like these are made available and then accessed, farmers can make better-informed decisions for years to come. All of this fascinating information and more is available to farmers on eOrganic (see Management of Soil Microbes on Organic Farms and Soil Microbes in Organic Cropping Systems 101). Launched in 2009, eOrganic is a national, internet-based, interactive, user-driven, organic agriculture information system for farmers and agricultural professionals.

Want To keep Up With Organic Research in Your State or Nationally?

Aside from using eOrganic, growers and researchers can look forward to a new Organic Content Hub being developed by the OFRF, coming in early 2025. The Content Hub will be searchable by topic, crop, and region, and will provide users with the most current research relevant to organic farming. (Follow OFRF on social media and sign up for our newsletter to get updates on the Content Hub, organic research updates, new organic resources, and more.)

A figure developed by a graduate student (Laura Kaminsky) working on an OREI-funded project during 2019-23 at Penn State, illustrates examples of beneficial microbes. The left diagram shows nitrogen-fixing bacteria, housed either in nodules on legume roots or free-living in the soil. The right diagram illustrates arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (pink) associated with plant roots. See Soil Microbes in Organic Cropping Systems 101.

Moving Forward With Organic Research

Organic farming research is generating economic activity in Pennsylvania, providing professional development to researchers and students across the east, forming regional networks between researchers and growers, and producing publications being used by organic growers across the country. One might say that the current state of research in Pennsylvania is healthy and humming!

Looking to the future, it is critical that federal funding keeps up with the growth of the organic movement nationally and in the state. OFRF and partners work daily to bolster and protect this funding, and we are always looking for farmer and researcher partners in this work. If you are an organic farmer or researcher and are willing to share your story, your experiences can be some of the best fodder for advocating for or directing future organic research in Pennsylvania.

How the Growth of Organic Farming and Indigenous Food Sovereignty Support Each Other

By admin|2025-03-18T18:17:58-04:00March 18th, 2025|News|

Long before the United States existed, this land has been and continues to be inhabited by hundreds of distinct Indigenous nations. Methods of resource utilization, harvesting, agricultural and management practices differ by region and by culture. However, through the examination of oral traditions and archaeological evidence, we know that a deep emotional and spiritual connection between humans and the land threads together most, and potentially all, of the belief systems of native peoples on this continent. Highly diverse Indigenous spirituality systems and creation stories set the foundation of a dynamic, living universe, upon which all beings are interconnected. Storytelling, a critical facet of Indigenous transmission, has passed down generations of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), providing a framework for responsible, sustainable human interaction and understanding of the natural world.

Strides have been made in the U.S and elsewhere to improve sustainability and reduce the harmful effects of our dominant food production system, partly by incorporating practices that are considered standard within the organic farming methodology, such as cover cropping. However, the prevalence of, and forced dependence upon industrial agriculture continues to undermine Indigenous food sovereignty and utilization of TEK in farming and ranching, as well as disproportionately affect the physical and mental health of Native communities.

“Indigenous food sovereignty” is not a universally defined concept, but generally refers to a community’s ability to control, oversee and cater their food production and distribution to the determined nutritional and cultural needs of the people. Food sovereignty additionally seeks to establish food security, working to eradicate hunger and poverty by emphasizing community engagement, and making healthy, nutritious food widely available. A large component of the food sovereignty movement in the United States centers around the reincorporation of traditional food sources, as well as cultivation and preparation processes. Overall, supporting food sovereignty means supporting decolonization: restoring many Indigenous peoples to their historical role as highly successful custodians and managers of the earth.

At its roots, organic and regenerative agriculture both seek to foster a greater understanding of the needs of the land, fostering a harmonious relationship between the farmer, the farm, and the consumer. The organic system was defined in response to the advent of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in the 1930s and 40s, a shunning of attempts to naturally manage agricultural land in ways that would build soil resilience. The holistic philosophy behind organic and regenerative agriculture methods are rooted in TEK, and in the goal of seeking to mend previous anthropogenic damage, a result of colonization, capitalism, and industrialization. Focusing on the rebuilding of soil health, conservation of water, reduction of runoff, and practices such as polyculture (growing multiple, mutually beneficial crops on the same plot) all tie in to create an approach that can work in tandem with the uplifting of native techniques of farming and environmental maintenance.

As we hurtle towards an uncertain future dictated by how we will be able to reverse and/or adapt to the devastating impacts of climate change, we must also grapple with the question of who will be affected most in the coming decades. Advocacy for the increased study and adoption of these alternative systems of farming is a way that OFRF supports the Indigenous food sovereignty movement, in addition to funding research that creates space for crucial dialogue and collaboration with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) farmers.

Here are a few inspiring and thought-provoking resources we found to continue the conversation:

*Images courtesy of the linked sources.

Globalising Hope: The courageous journey of La Via Campesina

The advocacy and influence of La Via Campesina: an international social justice movement centered around food sovereignty, uplifting rural, small-scale and subsistence farmers, and providing both technical and political agroecology training at over 70 LVC schools globally.

Read more here.

Seeding Food Sovereignty: Black and Indigenous Farming Leaders Share Their Strategies

A panel discussion amongst BIPOC community leaders, activists, and farmers on the future of the food sovereignty movement, and the critical importance of highlighting BIPOC voices in dismantling the destructive system of industrial agriculture.

Read more here.

What is the Land Back Movement? Tribal lands were stolen. What happens when those ancestral territories are returned?

A brief history of the Land Back Movement and federal Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, and how Indigenous land reclamation is leading to successful restorative climate resilience projects.

Read more here.

Indigenous Food & Agriculture Initiative: Putting Tribal Sovereignty in Food Sovereignty

The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative through the University of Arkansas is focused on supporting tribal nations in reaching food sovereignty goals, largely through policy and legal analysis and the promotion of tribally-backed, sustainable growth and distribution.

Read more here.

Murmurations: Climate Solutions Require Black Ecology

This article traces the forced disconnection of Black and Indigenous peoples from the land to our present-day responsibility of dismantling the myth of white supremacy. Reversing the environmental destruction created by the industrialization of colonized lands demands the acknowledgement of the relationship between Black liberation and ecology.

Read more here.

Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movements Are Taking Back Ancestral Land

There is a growing momentum behind the Indigenous food sovereignty movement. Over the past few decades, Native American tribes in the U.S. have been fighting for the return of ancestral lands for access to traditional foodways through organizing and advocacy work, coalition building, and legal procedure—and increasingly seeing success.

Read more here.

If you want to keep up to date with our work expanding community research and representation of organic agriculture in policy, please consider joining our mailing list.

Action Alert! Tell Congress: Don’t Fail Our Farmers

By admin|2025-03-05T16:03:00-05:00March 6th, 2025|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|

Gordon’s Policy Corner, March 2025. By OFRF & NSAC Staff

In much of the country, spring is on its way. For farmers and ranchers, it’s time for planting decisions, for calving and lambing, for lining up their financial capital and markets for a busy season, and more.

But this year, it’s different: across the country, tens of thousands of farmers and farmer-serving organizations have been thrown into limbo by an unprecedented freeze of federal funding and subsequent mass firings of USDA employees. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently withholding payments owed under signed, lawful contracts, causing turmoil across the food system. And in a move that will have far-reaching consequences–including disrupting critical research, data collection, and economic analysis that farmers, the businesses they sell to, and policymakers rely on–the administration has dismissed hundreds of thousands of federal employees.

We wrote about The Consequences of Mass Firings Across the USDA in a recent blog, and now we’re taking space in this month’s Policy Corner to share an important action alert from our allies at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC):

Our Farmers and Neighbors Need Your Voice, Now More than Ever

The disruption of USDA programs is already having serious consequences for farmers, food systems, and our communities:

Farmers who’ve already installed new irrigation equipment or planted cover crops with support from USDA are now unable to receive the reimbursements they were promised, jeopardizing their financial stability.
Programs that pair local farmers with local food banks are pausing their procurement plans, at the exact time growers most need to know their markets for the season.
Organizations who train and support beginning farmers are instead having to lay off staff.
Families are anxious about grocery store prices and the availability of food long term.

These immediate impacts could compound and lead to further suffering without swift intervention from Congress.

Click Here to Take Action with NSAC

None of this should be happening: these are signed agreements with the federal government, and USDA must follow through on its commitments before impacts worsen in communities nationwide. Congress has the ability to ensure that USDA restores access to critical programs and funding, and they need to hear directly from folks who are affected – along with all of us who care about our local farmers and ranchers, our fellow neighbors, and the organizations that help us strengthen our communities.

Calling takes only 60 seconds: can you call and email your members of Congress, urging them to protect our farmers and communities from further harm?

Our OFRF Advocacy Page has a new #GetActive Guide to help you prepare to stay active and engaged in policy issues impacting food and farmers at this critical time.

Head to the OFRF Advocacy Page to Learn More

OFRF Introduces Members of New Organic Stewardship Council

By admin|2025-03-06T17:06:43-05:00March 4th, 2025|News, Press Release|

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Farmer-Led From the Start and for the Future

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., March 4, 2025 — The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) has selected the seven inaugural members of a new Organic Stewardship Council (OSC). Composed of farmers from different regions, agricultural backgrounds, and diverse farming communities, as well as representatives from farmer associations, these stewards bring together diverse voices to shape OFRF’s work and elevate the priorities of organic and transitioning farmers nationwide. The formation of this advisory council strengthens OFRF’s long-standing commitment to taking its lead from farmers.

“By formalizing this advisory body, we are creating an enduring structure that empowers farmers to guide and shape our work at every level. We are thrilled to bring together this council of experienced voices who understand the challenges and opportunities in organic farming,” said OFRF Executive Director Brise Tencer.

Following a competitive nomination and review process, and approval from OFRF’s Board of Directors, OFRF is pleased to introduce the new OSC members:

Albert Straus, Straus Family Creamery (California)
Albert is the founder and executive chair of Straus Family Creamery, the first 100% certified organic creamery in the United States. He founded the Creamery in 1994, while his farm, the Straus Dairy Farm, became the first certified organic dairy west of the Mississippi River. He brings decades of leadership experience in sustainable organic farming practices.

Anna Jones-Crabtree, Vilicus Farms (Montana)
Anna and her husband Doug own and manage Vilicus Farms, a first-generation, organic, 12,500-acre dryland crop farm in Northern Hill County, Montana, growing a diverse array of organic heirloom and specialty grain, pulse, oilseed, and broadleaf crops under five- and seven-year rotations. Anna holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a minor in Sustainable Systems from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Brooke Gentile, Organic Association of Kentucky (Kentucky)
Brooke joined the Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK) in 2017 as the executive director and manages the KY Farm Share Coalition. Born and raised in Kentucky, she has worked with sustainable agriculture projects in New York City, Northern California, Indiana, and Kentucky. Brooke cares deeply about building a regional food system that supports our farmers, is regenerative for our lands, and is healthy and accessible for consumers.

John McKeon, Taylor Farms (California)
John is the Director of Organic Integrity and Compliance at Taylor Farms Retail, overseeing organic compliance and regenerative organic practices. He has worked at Taylor Farms and Earthbound Farm for 15 years in organic field and facility food safety, international organic supply chain compliance, and organic agricultural operations. John also spent 10 years at CCOF, from an intern to certification director and then inspector. He studied horticulture, sustainable agriculture, and environmental studies at Cabrillo College and the University of California Santa Cruz.

Jordan Settlage, Settlage & Settlage Farms (Ohio)
Jordan is a dairy farmer with Organic Valley Cooperative, based in St. Marys, Ohio. Farming alongside his father, he manages 500 acres of certified organic land and cares for a herd of 300 cows. Though he didn’t grow up on a dairy farm, Jordan has been involved in dairy since childhood and became certified organic in 2016. With a strong emphasis on grazing, he is passionate about regenerative agriculture and is dedicated to improving the overall agricultural system.

Leonard Diggs, Pie Ranch (California)
The Director of Operations and Farming Education at Pie Ranch in Central California, Leonard has managed sustainable and organic farms in northern California for over 30 years, including a 365-acre college farm with annual and perennial crops, a winery, livestock, and a mixed species forest. He has also instructed a wide range of agricultural classes and served on numerous agricultural boards and committees in an effort to share his experiences with current and future generations of gardeners and farmers.

Meg Moynihan, Derrydale Farm (Minnesota)
Meg is a certified organic dairy farmer in Le Sueur County, Minnesota, where she and her husband milk about 60 cows and direct market beef from Derrydale Farm. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Nashville, Tennessee, Meg earned her B.A. from Brown University and an M.S. in Agronomy from the University of Minnesota. Her experience includes leading the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Organic Program, directing a statewide sustainable agriculture program in Michigan, working as an educator and evaluator, participating in the National Association of State Organic Programs, and serving on the board of directors for the Organic Field School in Farmington, Minnesota. Meg also formerly served as president of OFRF’s Board of Directors.

The Council will offer invaluable feedback and recommendations to OFRF’s Board and staff across a range of areas, including:

Shaping OFRF’s programs by offering insight into educational resources, research priorities, and policy advocacy to ensure they align with the needs of organic and transitioning farmers.
Voicing farmer perspectives by elevating on-the-ground realities and challenges farmers face to guide OFRF’s strategic direction.
Evaluating the impact and providing feedback on the relevance and effectiveness of OFRF programs.
Addressing emerging agricultural issues, including the National Organic Research Agenda (NORA), feedback on OFRF’s new Organic Research Hub, and Farm Bill priorities.

With this Council, OFRF continues to lead with the voices of organic farmers and create innovative pathways to advance the adoption of organic farming systems that prioritize climate resilience, soil health, and sustainability.

For more information about OFRF and its initiatives, visit www.ofrf.org.

About the Organic Farming Research Foundation

Contact:
Ashley Dulaney, Communications Director, OFRF
ashley@ofrf.org

The Consequences of Mass Firings Across the USDA

By admin|2025-03-13T17:51:05-04:00February 26th, 2025|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|

A Blow to Agricultural Research and Rural Communities

Written by Gordon Merrick and OFRF staff

Editor’s note: Since the publication of this post, the USDA has announced plans to reinstate affected employees. However, the situation remains fluid, and the long-term impacts on agricultural research funding and capacity are still unfolding. OFRF remains committed to advocating for strong, stable investment in organic research to ensure farmers and researchers have the resources they need to innovate and thrive.

In a sweeping, indiscriminate move that has sent shockwaves through the agricultural community, the administration has dismissed thousands of federal employees with the stated goal of reducing government spending and increasing operational efficiency. While the full scope of these staff cuts is still emerging, recent communications requesting employees justify their continued employment have added to the uncertainty. What is already clear, however, is that the USDA has been acutely impacted, particularly within the agencies that form the backbone of our nation’s agricultural research and farmer technical and financial assistance programs.

The Role of USDA Research Agencies and the Impacts of These Firings

The agencies within the Research, Education, and Economics division of the USDA (USDA-REE) are the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Economic Research Service (ERS), and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). These agencies are cornerstones of our agricultural assistance systems, conducting and awarding grants for high-quality research that informs and improves our conservation, risk management, and market development programming in other USDA mission areas.

As these mass firings unfold, it remains difficult to assess the full extent of the cuts, with many agency personnel pages having been taken down. What’s already evident is that these mass firings will have far-reaching consequences—disrupting critical research, data collection, and economic analysis that farmers, the businesses they sell to, and policymakers rely on.

The United States Congress covered with snow.

Among the agencies most directly affected by these cuts is ARS, which plays a crucial role in advancing agronomic research. ARS is the sole intramural research agency at the USDA, conducting long-term research that will undoubtedly face disruptions due to these firings. Reports indicate significant staffing reductions at ARS stations, with sources stating that 10-50% of the workforce at different stations has been dismissed, reportedly due to performance-related concerns. While the scope and rationale for these firings remain unclear, they have already disrupted critical research programs across the country.

It is still unclear how NIFA has been affected by these firings. NIFA doesn’t conduct its own research but rather operates competitive grant programs that fund research conducted by farmers themselves (SARE), land-grant institutions, and nonprofits across the country (OREI). As we’ve written about in the past weeks, the RFAs for these grant programs are still under review, and application portals, including for grants that were supposed to be open for applicants, are not currently available, impacting critical funding for universities and other institutions.

Focused more on understanding the past, present, and future status of agricultural markets and related information are the USDA’s NASS and ERS agencies. NASS works to collect and publish raw data about the agricultural system in the United States through their Census of Agriculture and supplemental surveys, like the Organic Survey. ERS provides crucial economic analyses on agriculture, food markets, and the environment. Their research has led to a better understanding of the economic impact of publicly-funded agricultural research: every $1 invested triggers $20 of economic activity, a massive return on investment (ROI). This fact highlights the point that cutting research dollars will negatively impact the agricultural economy.

Immediate Consequences

The abrupt firing of USDA scientists and their lab staff at ARS has thrown vital research projects into chaos. Initiatives aimed at critical topics like improving crop resilience, combating pests and diseases, and improving livestock production systems are now jeopardized, facing setbacks due to reduced research capacity. This is not isolated to any one region or station, derailing research projects that have been able to continue for decades, even through the COVID pandemic, due to the dedication of the civil servants that are now being cast aside.

These firings not only impact the research projects, though; they impact the local and often rural communities that host the research stations and the employees who work there. As mentioned above, the massive ROI of agricultural research will be drastically reduced. In one case, the research station in Salinas, California, has had four researchers and seven lab staff fired, reflecting hundreds of thousands of dollars that will no longer be circulating in that community, meaning that the industries that provide supplies and services to these staff will also be taking a significant hit.

Long-term Consequences

The long-term ramifications of these mass firings are profound. Aside from the economic impacts on the businesses directly involved with the research, this will impact the agricultural industry for decades to come. The United States risks falling even farther behind in meeting the growing demand for organic products as domestic production struggles to keep pace without the support of robust research programming. For example, if NIFA does not award funds through their competitive grant programs, this will lead to significant setbacks at land-grant universities across the nation, simultaneously affecting both the institutions that conduct the research while also hurting the farmers that rely on the research that these programs fund.

Most privately-funded research conducted is focused on generating patentable genetics and compatible products, not the public-welfare-oriented research that NIFA competitive grants fund and ARS conducts. Put simply, cutting federal research funding and personnel undermines the economic engine and weakens the resilience of the agricultural systems against climate change and supply chain disruptions.

Why This Matters

Agricultural research is the backbone of the technical and financial assistance programs operated by the USDA that ensure food security, food safety, environmental sustainability, and economic vitality for the United States. Disruptions in research will lead to higher food prices, reduced innovation in sustainable agriculture systems, and ultimately weakened rural economies. It is imperative to recognize that supporting agricultural research is an investment in the nation’s future success, ensuring that our domestic food supply is stable and resilient, especially in the face of a continually unpredictable international trade environment.

But, it is important to highlight that these firings were not just in USDA-REE’s agencies. The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the primary conduit for free technical assistance for farmers, had over 1,200 field staff fired; the Farm Service Agency (FSA) has been significantly impacted, in some cases being forced to close entire county offices; and the Risk Management Agency (RMA), which supports farms securing of insurance products and other risk-reduction assistance, have seen significant firings which are just starting to be understood. Ultimately, these firings are impacting these programs’ ability to access high-quality agronomic research and economic information that improves their operation, as well as their specific on-the-ground operation.

OFRF’s Commitment to Farmers

The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) has a longstanding history of advocating for policies, research, and programs that support organic farmers, both certified and non-certified. Our efforts have directly led to increased USDA funding for organic research, the development of conservation programs tailored to organic producers, and the inclusion of organic priorities in federal farm policies and appropriations allocations. Looking ahead, we have outlined our key policy priorities to strengthen organic research and ensure farmers have the resources they need to succeed.

In this current environment of uncertainty, OFRF is actively working to both understand and address the challenges posed by these mass firings by engaging with policymakers, providing resources to affected communities, and amplifying the voices of farmers and researchers who have been affected.

We have already been working to get in contact with researchers and their support staff who have been unjustly fired during this time. If you have a story or experience you are willing to share, please reach out directly to our Senior Policy & Programs Manager at gordon@ofrf.org or through his Signal account at 207.408.3086.

How To Take Action

Staying informed and taking action right now is crucial to counteract these impacts.

Get Educated: We at OFRF have developed a newly updated advocacy page that will help you understand the issues and access resources. We will be continually updating this webpage as new materials and resources are developed.
Contact Your Representatives: Share your concerns about the impact of these layoffs on agricultural research, the technical and financial assistance that it impacts, and the rural communities that benefit from these investments. Personal stories about what these mean are oftentimes more important than impersonal data. Find their contact information here.
Engage in Community Advocacy: Participate in local meetings that help raise awareness of these impacts, write Letters to the Editor and opinion pieces in your local news outlets, and collaborate with organizations like OFRF to raise awareness.
Support Affected Workers: Offer assistance to those who have lost their jobs, whether through networking opportunities or whatever is possible given your current situation.

By taking these steps, you can contribute to a collective effort to uphold the rule of law and the integrity of agricultural research, the technical and financial assistance programs that it bolsters, and the communities that depend on it.

Meg Moynihan

By admin|2025-02-26T17:22:43-05:00February 26th, 2025|OSC|

Farmer, Derrydale Farm

Meg Moynihan was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI and Nashville, TN, and earned her B.A. from Brown University. She was captivated by agriculture while working with the Peace Corps in Thailand where she served as a community development extension specialist. After returning to the U.S., she earned an M.S. in Agronomy at University of Minnesota. Meg has led the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Organic Program since 2002. She has been active in the National Association of State Organic Programs and serves on the board of directors for the Organic Field School in Farmington, MN.

She’s now a dab hand at milking cows, driving tractors, fixing fence, repairing water lines, oh – and organic paperwork for Derrydale Farm, which she and her husband run in Le Sueur County, Minnesota. Derrydale Farm is a certified organic dairy. They milk about 60 crossbred cows and direct market beef.

Meg also formerly served as OFRF board president.

Leonard Diggs

By admin|2025-02-26T17:12:57-05:00February 26th, 2025|OSC|

Director of Operations and Farming, Pie Ranch

Leonard Diggs is the Director of Operations and Farming Education at Pie Ranch in Central California. Leonard has managed sustainable and organic farms in northern California for over 30 years, including a 365 acre college farm with annual and perennial crops, a winery, livestock and a mixed species forest. He has also instructed a wide range of agricultural classes and served on numerous agricultural boards and committees in an effort to share his experiences with current and future generations of gardeners and farmers.

Jordan Settlage

By admin|2025-02-26T17:25:15-05:00February 26th, 2025|OSC|

Dairy Farmer, Settlage & Settlage Farms

Jordan Settlage is an Organic Valley dairy farmer based in St. Marys, Ohio. Farming alongside his father, he manages around 500 acres of certified organic land and milks approximately 300 cows. Though he didn’t grow up on a dairy farm, Jordan has been involved in dairy since childhood and became certified organic in 2016. With a strong emphasis on grazing, he is passionate about regenerative agriculture and is dedicated to improving the overall agricultural system. Jordan lives with his wife and their three children, prioritizing family life alongside his work on the farm.