The History of National Organic Farmer Movements, and the Founding of the Organic Farmers Association

In honor of the Organic Farmers Association’s 10 year anniversary in 2026, we wanted to recount a small piece of America’s organic history and recognize the groups, movements, and people that led to the creation of this organization. The entire history of organic agriculture is nearly as old as human civilization; recounting our current organic movement cannot overshadow centuries of agricultural innovation. In North America, Indigenous peoples managed regenerative organic agricultural systems for thousands of years before European settlers arrived. Following colonization enslaved people and migrants continued to influence organic practices and principles in the United States. Within this larger history, the current U.S. organic movement, which is in essence a modern adaptation of indigenous knowledge from around the world, has just been around for under a century.

In 1940, J.I. Rodale founded the Rodale Organic Gardening Experimental Farm in Pennsylvania, (1) educating readers across the country about organic principles and techniques through his magazine. In the 1950’s the U.S organic movement saw a groundswell of momentum as public awareness about the health and environmental impacts of synthetic agricultural chemicals grew. The 1960s counterculture motivated back-to-the-landers to begin organic farms across the country, and by the 1970s, people were organizing around the concept of organic.

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) (2) and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) (3) both formed in 1971. IFOAM-Organics International was formed in 1972, (4) California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) was founded in 1973, (5) followed by Oregon Tilth in 1974, (6) and the Organic Growers and Buyers Association (MN) in 1976. (7)

Consumer interest continued to grow through the 1970s and 80s, leading to a growing number of organic farmers and processors to meet this demand, and more state organizations and organic certification bodies to support these growers. Though the federal government declined to regulate this growing industry, these organic farming organizations created early standards for organic certification. Some state legislatures also saw the need to establish standards for certified organic foods, and in 1973, Oregon became the first state to pass a law defining the term “organic.” By 1997, 40 organic certification agencies–12 state and 28 private or nonprofit– conducted third-party organic certification. (8)

Despite having a shared goal, the process by which individual states and other certification agencies regulated organic agriculture differed. While general organic principles were similar, the rigor and enforcement of the regulations across states and certification agencies were inconsistent. (9)

While having a nonuniform standard state-by-state may have been confusing for consumers, it actually awarded farmers significant power when it came to setting certification standards. Founder of the International Organic Inspectors Association and former NOSB chair (certifier seat), Jim Riddle recounts that prior to the formation of OFA (and other current organic coalitions, boards, and associations), organic certification agencies provided a place for organic farmers to engage in determining what certification standards would look like. Additionally, some certification organizations were involved in research, education, and advocacy, and represented farmers in local and regional issues.

However, as the organic sector continued to grow in popularity and see commercial expansion, conflicting state and private organic labels became a greater issue, and by the late 80s, stakeholders of the organic sector recognized a need for a single standard. (10)

While OFAC remained active into the 90s, the group lost momentum following the passage of the 1990 Farm Bill. Many members couldn’t afford the frequent meetings or the time away from the field, and at a 1994 meeting, the group officially dissolved.

Though the OFPA had passed, there was still a decade-long public debate before national organic regulations were finalized and officially went into effect in 2002.

During this time of negotiation, the USDA published a highly contentious first draft of the organic program rule in 1997 that allowed what we now know as “the big three” (genetically modified crops, sewage sludge, and irradiation) in organic production. (14) In response, hundreds of thousands of citizens made public comments criticizing the USDA’s failure to uphold organic integrity in our national standards.

Fortunately, even with the absence of OFAC, organic farmers were still well represented in these discussions through farmer-led organic organizations across the country. The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture (now NSAC) was on the rise, and its Organic Committee stepped into the gap left by OFAC, bringing farmers to D.C. and training them to lobby for themselves and testify at hearings.

Additionally, four farmers were represented on the NOSB, and NOSB meetings around the country were well attended by organic organizations and organic farmers who provided testimony on behalf of farmer priorities.

Though the final National Organic Program (NOP) regulation was far from perfect, the voices of consumers and farmers helped to improve it significantly, setting more meaningful standards for organic certification that prevented the “big three” and other harmful additions from being included in the final rule.

Following the long-anticipated 2002 implementation of organic regulations through the NOP, the industry saw several changes

An unintended consequence of implementing the NOP was that it established stricter rules to prevent conflicts of interest within certifying organizations; (15) thus limiting certifiers’ ability to be involved in advocacy and education. As a result, many certifiers split into two joined entities so they could safely provide both the education and technical assistance farmers needed, as well as continue to provide local organic certification services. However, some agencies elected to either discontinue their certification services or their education and advocacy support for farmers. This change affected state and regional organic farmer movements and, in some cases, led farmers to reduce their engagement within these organizations, where previously their voices had a direct impact on organic standards at the local level. But organic farmer leadership remained strong in organizations focused on farmer-to-farmer information sharing, creating an organized organic extension network to support a growing organic market and advance farmer-led advocacy for organic integrity.

When OFAC dissolved, it left a gap in organic advocacy. The group formerly provided a collective organic farmer voice within OFPANA, now the Organic Trade Association (OTA), but following OFAC’s dissolution, OTA lost much of its farmer membership. The OTA 2002 Board noted reincorporating a farmer voice in OTA work was important, (13) yet the lack of a national organic farmer voice made realizing this intention more difficult.

The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture merged with the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in 2009, becoming the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). (16) During the years leading up to this merger, the Organic Committee lacked the protected space to monitor and advocate for strong organic standards that upheld farmers’ and consumers’ shared vision for organic integrity. In 2003, the National Organic Coalition (NOC) was formed by an alliance of organizations (17) seeking a platform for diverse stakeholders—from farmer organizations to food businesses, consumers, and environmental groups—to share perspectives and advocate for organic interests in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, tensions were building within the organic industry as OTA pushed forward with a policy to create an organic commodity checkoff program that farmers were largely against. (20) In response, the No Organic Checkoff coalition, a group of organic farmer member organizations and businesses, was formed to provide a farmer voice to counter this effort. (21) Though much smaller than OFAC, this was the second time organic farmers were seen mobilizing nationally. Some farmers and farm organizations previously involved with OTA felt underrepresented and saw the need for a new separate organization focused on organic farmer priorities. Even those who were satisfied with the work of NOC recognized the importance of having a farmer-only voice in the national organic conversation.

Bob Quinn, a Montana organic farmer, and Michael Sligh, a North Carolina organic farmer and Policy Director at RAFI-USA, both served on the first NOSB in 1992 and reconnected two decades later. Realizing that they had both unknowingly been working towards the same goal of forming a national organic farmer organization, with Quinn connecting with farmers in the West and Sligh mobilizing farmers in the rest of the country through NOAP and NOC, they combined forces to create an Organizing Committee of the Organic Farmers Alliance (OFA) with fewer than 10 members.

Membership on the OFA Organizing Committee grew as organic farmers and organic farm organizations learned of the effort, and in 2015, this group of volunteers contracted with Kate Mendenhall, now the executive director of OFA, to help facilitate this committee, survey farmers nationally to assess farmers’ interest in a national organic farmer voice, and then direct the creation of this organization.

The founding OFA Organizing Committee members appointed the first OFA Steering Committee in 2016 representing two organic farmers from each of OFA’s six regions and one organizational representative from each region for an interim 18-month term to work with the Organizing Committee to review, discuss, edit, and ratify the foundational principles, bylaws, policies, and procedures for how a national Organic Farmers Alliance would function, communicate, and take action, and prepare for the first national election of OFA leadership in 2018.

Around this same time, OFA learned from Jeff Moyer that Rodale Institute had also been working to create a national organization for organic farmers called the Organic Farmers Association.

Both the Alliance and Rodale Institute believed that having two similar organizations would disorganize the movement, so they discussed a merger. While OFA had done the grassroots work of organizing farmers, they didn’t have much in the way of financial means, so it quickly became clear that merging with Rodale Institute as the group’s fiscal sponsor would be mutually beneficial.