Kate Mendenhall

November Policy Update

By, Patty Lovera, Policy Director

November 2020

Election 2020: What It Means for Organic

It probably shouldn’t surprise us that in 2020, like everything else, the election did not follow the normal routine. While there are still some results that are not yet clear and some ongoing recounts, as of the afternoon on November 11th, here is what we know so far about the what the election means for organic policy.

Transition to a Biden Administration – It looks likely that in 2021 we will be dealing with a Biden administration. Which means that many jobs at USDA will be filled with new people that influence the organic program, including the Secretary of Agriculture, the Under Secretary of Marketing and Regulatory Affairs, and the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service. It will likely be later in the fall before we know for sure who the new administration is nominating for these roles. But there will be lots of scuttlebutt and speculation about potential choices leading up to the actual announcements.

The OFA policy committee is drafting a list of recommendations to the “transition team” being assembled to guide the new administration’s arrival at the USDA. We will urge them to prioritize enforcement of existing organic standards (and oversight of how certifiers interpret the standards) and finishing up the regulations we need to make the standards better, including the Origin of Organic Livestock (OOL) rule, the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) rule, and the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rule.

Transition to a New Congress – There will be a lot of changes for agriculture in the new Congress. In the House, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), the long-running top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, lost his race for reelection. That means we will have a different chair of the House Agriculture Committee next year. The top contenders at this point are Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), and Rep. David Scott (D-GA). The top Republican on the committee will also be changing because the current ranking member Rep. Conaway (R-TX) is retiring at the end of this Congress. The contenders for ranking member are Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-PA), Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), and Rep. Crawford (R-AR.) We should know more about the leadership of the House Agriculture Committee later in the year. First, the members of the House caucuses (Democrats and Republicans) will hold leadership elections in mid-November. Committee chairs and membership of committees will start to shake out after those leadership elections.

We may need to wait longer to know who will control things on the Senate side. Two open Senate seats in Georgia will go to a runoff election in January (because no candidate exceeded 50 percent of the vote.)  The outcome of these races will determine which party controls the Senate (and therefore which party chairs committees.) Both parties will likely prepare their lists of who will serve on and chair committees, but it may take longer to be official if we need to wait for those runoff elections to determine the control of the Senate. If the Democrats control the Senate, it is expected that Sen. Stabenow (D-MI) will be the chair. Because Sen. Roberts (R-KS), the current chair, is retiring at the end of this Congress, there will be a change in the top Republican on the committee, most likely Sen. Boozman (R-AR).

National Organic Standards Board Fall Meeting

The USDA’s National Organic Standards Board held its fall meeting online during the last week of October. The meeting had a very ambitious agenda and the board took over 70 votes, primarily about whether specific materials would be allowed for use by organic operations. The transcript and list of votes from the meeting will eventually be posted on USDA’s website here.  Here are a couple of highlights:

Paper Pots:  The board has for several meetings discussed paper-based crop planting aids, which includes paper pots as well as seed tape and other paper-based products like cloches. Many farmers have urged the board to figure out a way to set standards for paper pots that allow them to continue to be used by organic farms, while addressing concerns about the source of paper and the chemical components of adhesives. In our comments, OFA urged the board to move forward with a recommendation to allow paper pots. The board discussed a proposal from the crops subcommittee and voted to send the proposal back to the subcommittee for more work to address concerns about whether new requirements for the source of the paper and adhesive will be feasible for materials reviewers to evaluate. The board does seem to understand that many small farms depend on paper pots and is working to craft a recommendation that will set clear standards that will allow them to continue to be used.

Fenbendazole: The board considered a proposal to allow the emergency use of a parasiticide called fenbendazole for laying hens. In our comments, OFA urged the board not to approve this recommendation, based on concerns about residue levels remaining in the eggs laid by treated hens, the absence of a clear definition of what defines an emergency, and how allowing this drug is compatible with good management practices that provide adequate outdoor access for birds. The board had a robust discussion about this drug and ultimately voted against allowing it for emergency use in laying hens.

Ammonia Extract: Another hot topic was ammonia extract. The board was considering a petition seeking a prohibition on non-synthetic ammonia extract. Both synthetic and naturally-derived (non-synthetic) forms of ammonia can be used as a nitrogen fertilizer, and while synthetic ammonia is prohibited for organic use, non-synthetic sources of ammonia are not explicitly prohibited by the organic regulations. The petition expressed concerns about the impact of ammonia extracts on soil health and suggested that it was not feasible to determine whether ammonia extracts were derived from synthetic (prohibited) or non-synthetic (not explicitly prohibited) processes. This topic received a lot of discussion, during both public comments and the board meeting, covering soil health and the various production processes for ammonia extract. We would like to hear from OFA members about whether they use ammonia extract on their operations. You can weigh in on our 2021 policy priorities survey here.

EPA List 4 “Inert” Ingredients: Another complicated topic the board tackled is how the organic standards should treat the synthetic ingredients contained in many organic inputs -- commonly referred to as “inert” ingredients. So-called “inert” ingredients are not typically disclosed on product labels and are added to provide some function or improved effectiveness for the active ingredients in a formulation – such as chemicals added to pesticides to make them more soluble or extend their shelf-life. The problem is that the organic standards have relied on a list from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine which of these ingredients were allowed in formulations approved for organic. But the EPA stopped maintaining this list in 2004 and there are growing concerns that some of the chemicals on this list are more hazardous than previously known. Many organic certifiers and others have raised concerns that prohibiting these ingredients without an orderly process to identify replacements will abruptly remove product formulations currently being used by organic operations. The board members and the NOP staff had a very detailed and thoughtful discussion about this issue, and there is widespread agreement that there is an urgent need to find a new process to review and approve these materials without disrupting organic operations. The board did approve relisting this list of materials as allowed synthetics for 5 more years (through the sunset review process). But they also passed a resolution urging the NOP to come up with a new system for evaluating these materials in a way that addresses health concerns but also minimizes disruption for organic operations.

Origin of Organic Livestock Rule

Unfortunately, another update at the NOSB meeting delivered some very frustrating news about the status of the long-delayed origin of organic livestock rulemaking. Earlier this summer, the National Organic Program missed a deadline set by Congress to finalize a rule about how livestock are transitioned into organic production. Congress set a deadline of mid-June for NOP to finish this rule in the 2020 appropriations (spending) bill for USDA.

Unfortunately, the NOP not only failed to meet that deadline, but explained that they believe there are significant problems with the proposed rule they have been working on since 2015 that need to be addressed before they can finish it. At the NOSB meeting in late October, NOP announced that they plan to write a new proposed rule, rather than adapt the 2015 version.

OFA is going to continue to push NOP to finish this process as quickly – but completely – as possible. We need an origin of livestock rule which the agency actually enforces, to create a level playing field for all organic dairy producers and close the loopholes in existing regulations that are being exploited by large operations.

Organic Certification Cost-Share

OFA continues to advocate for restoring the funding for the organic certification cost-share program. This summer, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that due to an unexpected shortfall in funding they were lowering the reimbursement rate to 50 percent of the certified organic operation’s eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $500 per scope. This is reduced from a rate of 75 percent of the certified organic operation’s eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $750 per scope in previous years (and the level that was specified for this program in the last Farm Bill.)

Congress’ failure to pass new spending bills on time (the new fiscal year for the federal government started on October 1^st) means that the federal government is currently running under an extension of last year’s budget. This makes it more complicated to quickly get Congress to provide more funding for the cost-share program. But we are going to keep working to try to get the reimbursement level restored. In the meantime, it does help for members of Congress to hear from organic farmers about why the cost share program is important. You can find out how to take action on cost-share here.

Covid-19 Program – December Deadline

On September 21^st, the USDA started accepting applications for the second round of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which is the program to give direct payments to farms impacted by the pandemic. This round has different rules for which crops and farms are eligible for payments, which are an improvement over the first round (which did not really address the needs of most organic farmers.) We have more detail on the second round of CFAP here. The application period ends on December 11^th. Even if the first round did not make sense for your farm, it may be worth it to check out the new requirements to see if this new round is a better fit.

by Kate Mendenhall

Public Testimony to NOSB - Oct 2020

RE: General Comments to the NOSB via Webinar Testimony

October 20, 2020
Patty Lovera, Policy Director

My name is Patty Lovera and I am the policy director for the Organic Farmers Association. Today I am going to talk about several topics impacting organic farmers that the NOP is considering and on Thursday, OFA’s director will comment on several specific issues on the NOSB’s agenda.

Organic Certification Cost Share

OFA members are upset about the decision by the Farm Services Agency to cut 2020 reimbursement levels for the organic certification cost share program. We understand that the NOP and AMS no longer administer this program. But we urge the NOP to reach out to FSA to try to better understand how this happened and how to prevent it in the future.

Dairy

We were disappointed that the NOP did not meet the deadline set by Congress for finalizing a rule on origin of organic livestock. We urge the NOP to work quickly to address this longstanding gap in the organic standards and level the playing field for organic dairy farms.  And we hope to hear an update on the status of the rulemaking at the meeting next week.

Container and Greenhouse Operations

OFA continues to be concerned about inconsistent enforcement of the three-year transition after the use of a prohibited substance. The memo from the NOP in 2019 left many questions unanswered.

This summer, OFA, the National Organic Coalition and the Accredited Certifiers Association conducted a survey of USDA-accredited certification agencies to assess how certifiers interpret the standards for transition within greenhouse, hoop house, hydroponic and indoor operations. Thirty-four certification agencies responded, and their responses indicate a wide range of interpretations about how long these operations must wait after the application of a prohibited substance.

We are encouraged that the ACA working group is focused on this issue, and we urge the NOP to work collaboratively with the ACA and provide clarity on this question as soon as possible.

Strengthening Organic Enforcement – Grower Groups

OFA is aware that there are successful and well-run grower group networks around the world that provide a viable way for small producers to participate in the organic market. But we believe this issue deserves a more thorough conversation among the entire organic community on how to strike the proper balance between allowing this unique system and reducing the potential for violations of the organic standards or unfair economic conditions for growers. The best place to have this discussion is the NOSB. Therefore, we suggest taking the grower group section out of the proposed rule so this consideration can happen without delaying the rest of the proposed rule, which needs to be implemented as soon as possible.

RE: General Comments to the NOSB via Webinar Testimony

October 22, 2020
Kate Mendenhall, Director

Thank you, members of the NOSB for the opportunity to speak before you today.  My name is Kate Mendenhall, I am the director of the Organic Farmers Association and am also an Iowa organic farmer.  OFA was created to be a strong voice and advocate for certified organic farmers.  We are led and controlled by domestic certified organic farmers and only certified organic farmers determine our policies.

Organic integrity continues to be the top priority of U.S. certified organic farmers.  The NOSB in partnership with the NOP plays a crucial role in ensuring that the national standards uphold high organic integrity.  My comments today focus on four areas on your agenda:

Paper Pots

OFA has testified numerous times on the importance of this resource to small organic growers.  We support the NOSB process and agree with the Crop Subcommittee’s assessment and support for paper-pots as an allowable synthetic and defined planting aid.  The pandemic has made clear that communities need more small to mid-size organic farmers.   Paper pots help organic farmers and are in line with already-approved inputs.  Thank you to the subcommittee for your work on this and to the NOP for allowing the necessary continued discussion.

Biodegradable Mulch

OFA received a proposal in our 2020 annual policy development process last winter to take a position on biodegradable mulch, but the proposal did not receive any farmer support to take it forward to a vote.  With that knowledge, to answer your question: Is the availability of biodegradable mulch a make-or-break situation for the viability of farmers’ organic systems? We would answer no, as it was NOT a farmer priority.  We recommend continuing with the current annotation with no change and adding it as a research priority--focusing NOSB time on more pressing organic policy priorities. Biodegradable mulch seems like an urgent issue for a few large growers, but this priority is not shared by the nations’ 19,000 organic farmers.

Whey Protein

We support the subcommittee’s vote to remove whey protein concentrate from §205.606 of the National List.  It is always exciting when the organic community can fulfill our own organic demand.  Go dairy!

Fenbendazole

OFA opposes the subcommittee motion to amend the listing for fenbendazole. We are concerned this amendment would allow prophylactic use of a parasiticide that is a synthetic band-aid on an animal management problem.  There is no national need for fenbendazole, rather the requests are coming from a handful of large chicken houses.  The problem should be addressed “organically” with the health of the birds and eggs as the focus.   This amendment would also allow a synthetic residue in an organic food product, which would reduce the integrity of the organic label and consumer trust.  Why would we put more burden on that already fragile organic problem?  Fenbendazole should be left alone.

I appreciate all of your dedication to working for the full organic community, for hearing public comment this week, and for the farmers on the board especially, those who have carved out time during a busy harvest to represent organic farmers’ interest in a strong organic label.  Thank you to the outgoing NOSB farmer members Emily and  Jessie for your five years of service.

by Kate Mendenhall

NOSB Farmer Member Profile: Emily Oakley

October 2020

Emily Oakley from Three Springs Farm in Oaks, Oklahoma is finishing her five-year term on the National Organic Standards Board this month.  She has been an OFA farm member since 2018.  Emily and her husband, Mike Appel, farm three organic acres of hand-crafted vegetables and fruits on their Oklahoma farm since 2003.  They were first certified in 2007.  We interviewed Emily this summer to find out more about how she became such an incredible farmer-leader and organic advocate.

Why did you become a farmer? 

Farming gives me the chance to "be the change I wish to see".  Organic farming brings together my beliefs about environmental protection with the lifestyle of growing healthy food.  Surely there are more farmers around the world than any other profession, and I feel a sense of solidarity in doing this work.  Plus, who wants to sit at a computer all day when you can be listening to birds, feeling the breeze on your skin, watching the seasons unfold, feeling the awe of a seed you planted grow into food someone will eat!

Why did you choose to be certified organic? 

I advocate strongly for certification because without it, organic can mean anything to anyone.  Despite the challenges of having a national label, it's still the only way to verify that we're doing what we say we're doing.  Organic certification protects not just consumers but farmers as well.

What are the toughest challenges you face as an organic producer? 

I see the two biggest challenges in organic farming as building and maintaining soil fertility and weed management.  But each of those challenges also represents what is best about organic, the fact that we don't look for quick fixes but take the long view.  Organic farmers aren't farming for that particular season but for 10, 20, 30 years from now.

What are the most valuable lessons you've learned since you started? 

Persistence, adaptability, and resilience.  That's true both for farmers and for the agroecosystems we shepherd.  As an admitted control-freak, there's nothing like organic farming to teach both humility and release.  Farming has shown me how to let go of so much that I can't control--weather, pest invasions, market changes--and to celebrate the small pleasures throughout the day.

What is most rewarding about being an organic farmer? 

I get to work outside, with my body and my mind, with my family, doing something I deeply believe in.  I receive so much more than I give, from the hummingbirds flying over my head as I harvest tomatoes, to watching my daughter pretend to be a cheetah in our cover crop, to being nurtured by the customers who've supported our farm and created community.

Why did you decide to serve on the NOSB? 

I was at a point in my life in which time opened up for me.  After a brief hiatus in serving on boards after becoming a parent, I felt ready to take on a new effort.  Why did I apply to the NOSB in particular?  As farmers, we rely on the label to communicate our practices and values to other farmers and our customers.  I'm a big believer in community service, when life affords the opportunity, and this felt like a chance to be a part of upholding organic integrity.

What impact do you feel you have had during your 5-year term as a farmer-member on the NOSB? 

As a full-time, small-scale farmer I hope I've been able to bring the voice of the producer to my time on the board.  I'm one of only a few folks on the board who experiences being out in the field, knows what it's like to depend on your farm for your living, and relies on the decisions the board makes to produce the food I grow.  Making sure that full-time farmers have a voice is critical to ensuring the organic label represents the people who created and built this movement.

Why did you decide to be involved in Organic Farmers Association? 

While serving on the NOSB, I saw how much representation large farms and corporations have at board meetings, but there was an obvious missing voice in the room: farmers.  Every time OFA presents public comments to the board, I feel proud to be part of an organization that speaks on behalf of farmers, that articulates our concerns, and is so keenly in touch with the needs and beliefs of organic farmers on a national level.

This article was written for New Farm Magazine, the magazine of the Organic Farmers Association.  All OFA Members receive a complimentary issue of New Farm annually.  Join Today!

by Kate Mendenhall

USDA Announces Second Round of Farm Payments for Coronavirus

September 22, 2020

On September 18, 2020, the USDA announced the second round of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2). This new round of the program has up to $14 billion available for direct payments to eligible operations.

Farms can apply for funding from CFAP 2 starting on September 21 through December 11, 2020.

Even if you were not eligible for the first round of CFAP (which was the case for many organic farms), it may be worth checking again because the USDA has changed some of the eligibility requirements and the methods for calculating payments, which may work better for some organic farms. The USDA is using three different methods for calculating payments (a flat per-acre rate, a per-bushel or per-head rate and a percentage of 2019 sales), which vary between different commodities.

Here’s what changed:

Longer time frame

CFAP 1 covered crops that had price losses or market disruptions from mid-January through mid-April of this year. CFAP 2 covers losses for the rest of the year.

More Ways to Calculate Payments

There are three different methods being used to calculate payments, and one of them should work better for specialty (fruit and vegetable) crop producers and diversified operations. For specialty crops, USDA has a new option of covering a percentage of 2019 sales (using a sliding scale – the first $50,000 of sales triggers a 10.6% payment, sales of $50,000 to 99,000 trigger a 9.9% payment, with three more steps for higher sales amount.) There is still no distinction on payment rate for crops with a premium (like organic), but using 2019 sales figures should help capture some of that premium if the crops were sold with a premium for organic last year.

More Eligible Crops

CFAP 2 has more eligible commodities than CFAP 1, including several types of wheat (and also mink, mohair and hemp.) You can see a list of crops that are eligible for some type of payment here.

Just like CFAP 1, this round is being administered by the Farm Services Agency. To apply, you will need to refer to your sales, inventory and other records. The USDA has more information about what records you will need to apply on their website.

You can get more information about payment rates for each type of crop and how to apply here. You can apply on the website or make an appointment with your local FSA office to get assistance over the phone.

The USDA is hosting a webinar about CFAP on Thursday September 24 at 3:00 eastern. You can register for the webinar here.

by Kate Mendenhall

OFA Director on Food Sleuth Radio

Listen to OFA Director Kate Mendenhall's interview with Melinda Hemmelgarn on her radio show, Food Sleuth Radio. The show touches on organic certification, cost share, and the pandemic.

by Kate Mendenhall

ORGANIC FARMS ADAPTING DURING COVID-19

Resilience, Soil Health, and Community = Winning Strategies

By, Noah Cohen, Organic Farmers Association

Despite much uncertainty and upheaval of our economy during the 2020 outbreak, many organic farms have been bright spots of the COVID-19 economy. With consumers now having 100% control over their food dollars, we have seen nationwide increase in organic sales.  An increase of home cooking has mirrored an increase in purchase of organic whole foods.  Organic farmers have pivoted to shift their businesses in new directions to better serve the local direct markets as well as rethink our food systems for the future.

Here’s how a handful of organic farmers from around the country have fared:

JENNIFER TAYLOR, LOLA's ORGANIC FARM, GLENWOOD, GA

• FARM FACTS: Taylor runs Lola’s Organic Farm, which sells organic fruits and vegetables through farmers markets, a co-op, and a CSA program.  She also works at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) as the coordinator of Florida’s Statewide Small Farm Program, which helps farmers obtain education and training to implement organic methods.
• EXPERIENCE: Lola’s Organic primarily grows fresh fruits and vegetables—food categories that saw especially astronomical sales increases nationwide during the pandemic’s early phases, with consumers suddenly gravitating to products perceived to boost immune system health. “That [sales boost] was true for us,” Taylor says, “and that’s still going on.” “One outcome of this whole thing,” she explains, was that “it caused everyone to slow down and reflect on what’s important to us and to our communities, and as we did that, to think about our health. Because health was an issue.” Many of Taylor’s local community members began to focus on “how to build our own immune systems, and how to eat healthy foods,” she says. “And that was why the customers were being, and still are, very appreciative and supportive of the farmers gearing up to share and sell their local organic produce to the customers [through channels like farmers markets].”
• TAKEAWAYS: Taylor, who works with small farmers to implement organic practices and enter “different alternative types of marketing systems” at FAMU, says the COVID crisis has “verified” the resilience of local organic farming and underscored its importance to community food systems. “Communities found that [local organics] did not stop being available [during COVID], and food from your local organic farmers was and is the reliant food resource for the community,” she explains. “It also verified [that] for us, because we knew we were essential food providers long before we were deemed that role.” While the organic farmers of Taylor’s community broadly adapted well to the pandemic restrictions, she says farms that “use direct connections from the farmer to the consumer and to the communities” have been especially successful.Taylor also observes that the pandemic’s disproportionate public health impact on communities of color drives home the need to bring the essential health benefits of organic agriculture to urban areas, which she says calls for helping urban and underrepresented farmers implement organic methods through technical assistance, education on certification, and cost-sharing. “Healthy environments, healthy food resources, pollinator habitats, the lack of toxic chemicals being used-- all these are benefits that urban communities see through growing organic agriculture in the soil,” she explains. “And so expanding and enhancing resilient agriculture systems and growing [organics] in urban areas-- that supports minority communities.”

LORETTA ADDERSON, ADDERSON'S FRESH PRODUCE, AUGUSTA, GA 

• FARM FACTS: Adderson has run Adderson’s Fresh Produce since 2007, where she grows organic fruits and vegetables on her 56-acre multi-generational family farm.
• EXPERIENCE: “Our biggest challenge was finding a market for our produce,” says Adderson, who had ordered seedlings before the pandemic started with the expectation of selling to 12 different distribution channels, including multiple restaurants, school districts, and retail markets. “We immediately realized we had overproduced… due to the pandemic, we only had one online market and one juice bar [to sell produce to].”Faced with lagging sales and over 15,000 seedlings, Adderson pivoted by introducing a Grab Bag Program—which, to better meet public health standards during the pandemic, soon became a Grab Box Program—targeting two different communities. One market where this transition was particularly challenging was the Veggie Park Farmers Market, an organic produce market that serves the Harrisburg neighborhood of Augusta. Harrisburg is a food desert—an urban area where accessibility to affordable fresh food is limited. Many Veggie Park customers, Adderson explains, could not access traditional CSAs because they had no credit or debit card, making it impossible to pay online. The farmers were not set up to receive EBT card payments either, so innovation was necessary. “The boxes were delivered to a central location, and the customers would pick up their boxes and place a check or cash in a container beside the boxes,” Adderson says. While Veggie Park did get some customers for the Box program—especially when their annual Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program opened—sales remained down significantly compared to their traditional farmers market sales from previous years. Nonetheless, Adderson’s Fresh Produce has weathered the storm, albeit with lower sales than usual and the loss of many of their crops due to extreme summer heat. “Our plan for the fall is to step up our game with an increase in brassicas,” Adderson says, “and to add a Box CSA for a stronger 2021.”
• TAKEAWAYS: “We still have a lot of work to do,” Adderson says of the implementation of her Box Program. “The CSA is a new concept for our communities, families and farmers… [so we need to] educate, and, importantly, allow EBT for online purchases.”
  As a retired nutritionist, Adderson has been preaching the importance of building immune health since long before the pandemic. Now this commitment has begun to pay off, with consumers finally gravitating toward the vitamin-rich, immune boosting organic vegetables she has long been committed to growing to improve the health of her community. “Providing organic dark leafy greens and other high-nutrient vegetables to help reduce nutrition-related diseases is our mission,” she says. “Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, mustards, and spinach are full of vitamins and minerals. Excellent sources of Vitamin A and C, too.” Adderson plans to keep using her platform as a staple food resource for her community to drive home the connection between health and diet and encourage her customers to consume more fresh, nutritious, and vitamin-rich foods to protect their health, both during the pandemic and beyond.

MARYROSE LIVINGSTON - NORTHLAND SHEEP DAIRY, MARATHON, NY

• • FARM FACTS: Livingston runs Northland Sheep Dairy, a 177-acre farm that produces “completely handmade” aged sheep cheese and lamb using 100% grass-fed sheep, and primarily sells wholesale to restaurants and retail outlets.
• EXPERIENCE: Livingston considers herself incredibly lucky that due to the production timeline for both aged cheese and lamb, her sales dropping off precipitously during the pandemic has not hugely affected her livelihood. “I make aged cheeses, so I’m usually selling the previous year’s cheese,” she explains. “I’m mostly wholesale—we make whole wheels that go to a couple distributors, mostly to restaurants. But of course [this year] the restaurant sales went kaputt, as did my distributors… so I have a couple really small retail outlets I sell to, but other than that I’m really not selling much cheese. So therefore, I haven’t weaned my lambs… I’m not milking, I’m not making cheese, yet.” As for lamb, Livingston does direct sales to customers, which were, as usual, concentrated around November last year. “So we sold all our lambs at once and had a nice nest egg from that, so we’re doing fine,” she says. “We’re using this year to do lots of projects we’ve never had time to do, we’re making the most of it, and it’s going pretty well.” And for this year’s slaughter season, she says, “I’m fortunate that I have a wonderful relationship with a great USDA butcher that’s certified organic, and I have my appointment, and I’m good to go.”
• TAKEAWAYS: “Being small has made us resilient,” Livingston says, “and so has making aged cheese [which can be stored rather than sold for a long time]. If I were producing a ton of fresh cheese, I’d be really under the gun to keep them moving.”

NATE POWELL-PALM - COLD SPRINGS ORGANICS, BELGRADE, MT

• FARM FACTS: Powell-Palm is a millennial farmer who has been running his own organic cattle-growing operation since the age of 12, and the owner of Cold Springs Organics, an 875-acre ranch where he produces grains and grass-fed beef.
• EXPERIENCE: “In Montana, we sort of socially distance natively, so it wasn’t all that much of a change for us. And in the summertime, me and my crew don’t really leave the farm, it’s just too busy for that,” quips Powell-Palm, who I finally reached after several weeks during a 30-minute break between marathon sessions of combining wheat. The biggest impact of COVID on his day-to-day operation, he says, is that it “disrupted some of the supply chain, so ordering parts [for machinery like combines] has been kind of tricky.”
  With meat processing plants shutting down en masse during COVID, many meat growers have been left unable to sell this summer. Powell-Palm, however, was able to “inch by,” thanks to Montana’s robust system of local, family-run slaughter plants, which have fared much better than the industrial-scale processors elsewhere. “The plants here don’t have very many employees, so they’re pretty resilient as far as surviving [the pandemic],” he explains. But by next year, Cold Springs will be better prepared: this year’s shutdowns have inspired them to open their own processing plant. “We had mostly been selling our cattle to Whole Foods, which goes through a larger processor that’s experienced disruptions throughout the pandemic,” Powell-Palm explains, “so it’s kind of inspired us to take the jump.”
• TAKEAWAYS: Powell-Palm says the pandemic has made it clearer than ever that organic grass-fed beef is not only the only ecologically sustainable beef production system, but also a critical solution for consumer health and a bulwark against devastation for farmers during economic crises. Unlike other beef, which is loaded with the blood pressure-spiking Omega-6 fatty acids that spur nutritionists to warn against too much red meat, grass-fed beef largely replaces these fats with the much more heart-healthy Omega-3s. “Grass-fed beef actually has nearly the same Omega-3 [fatty acid] profile as salmon… so when you talk about salmon’s ability to bolster brain function and heart health, grass fed beef does that as well,” Powell-Palm says. With consumers becoming unusually health-conscious during the pandemic, he says, many have started to take stock of these benefits. “There’s also been a lot of studies about farm economic liability and grazing,” Powell-Palm says, “and the farms that graze [their livestock] as opposed to using feedlots, they’re really the ones that survive the bad times, like this pandemic. They’re the really resilient model.”Reflecting on his decision to open his own meat processing plant as well as his own feed mill—which he says is “kind of as a service” for members of his community who want to raise their own food—Powell-Palm says local processing infrastructure and self-sufficient local food systems are key to keeping food available to communities during crises like COVID. “Thinking about the wake-up call of [COVID],” he says, “we’ve got a lot of food going un-used at the local level right now, so we’re trying to figure out how you make [our local commodities] more accessible, more able to utilize at the local level, and more available to consumers and to communities.”

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Most organic farmers seem to agree on one thing: that COVID-19 has exposed fundamental flaws in the food system status quo. Mark McAfee calls the pandemic “a national stress test on our food system [where] consolidated, huge industrial systems have failed” while local, organic, consumer-connected systems have thrived. While COVID-19 has been tragic, Bishop says, it has unexpectedly provided “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to reevaluate our current food system and imagine how it might improve for the future, using the resilience and success of the many thriving local, organic farms as a blueprint.

Several farmers also recommended specific policy priorities, including:

• Establishing federal quotas for dairy to stabilize dairy prices, protecting dairy farmers from market shocks like the pandemic
• Establishing robust certification processes for the grass-fed label on meat to ensure uniform standards and increase consumer transparency
• Allowing EBT cards to be used for online CSA purchases, to enable consumers without access to credit or debit cards to access fresh produce delivery
• Bringing the crucial soil health benefits of organic farming to cities by supporting urban organic farmers
• Improving nutritious food access for Black, indigenous, and people of color communities by supporting underrepresented organic farmers via technical assistance, organic certification education, and increased funding for the organic certification cost-share program
• Enforcement of antitrust laws to combat meat/dairy industry concentration, which many have called “the root cause” of COVID-related processing supply chain disruptions
• Fixing the organic livestock enforcement loophole, which has tanked organic dairy prices
• Mitigating the farm workforce’s vulnerability to border closures by introducing a new longer-term farm worker visa for immigrants and an agriculture-centric path to citizenship
• Prioritizing local farms + disproportionately impacted communities when distributing stimulus money
• Making federal investments into organic sector development
• Revising eligibility restrictions for SNAP, creating incentives to buy fresh, local foods

by Kate Mendenhall

Take Action: Organic Cost Share

On August 10th, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced a reduction in the reimbursement rates for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program. The cost share program reimburses organic farms and handling operations up to 50 percent of an operation’s certification expenses, to a maximum of $500 per certification scope (crops, livestock, wild crops or handling). Previously the limit on reimbursement was 75 percent, up to a maximum of $750 per scope.

The FSA is blaming lack of funding for this change. But the 2018 Farm Bill provided new funding for the program and also clearly directed USDA to carry over balances from previous years to fund the program for the next several years. There should be plenty of funds available for the program to maintain the same reimbursement levels for 2020 as in the past. And this reduced reimbursement level comes after months of delay by the FSA in releasing the money for the program, during a period where organic farms have largely been left out of other pandemic response programs and taken on new expenses to stay in operation.

There are two things organic farmers can do right now:

1.  Apply now to receive your organic certification cost share reimbursement!

You can apply at your local FSA office, or in some states, with your state agriculture department. There is conflicting information coming out of USDA about the deadline, which is either October 31 or November 2^nd. Either way, it makes sense to apply now in case funding runs short. Right now, your reimbursement would be based on the 50 percent / $500 maximum level announced this week. But FSA did say they could potentially make an additional payment to those operations that had already applied if more funding becomes available.  You can get more information on how to apply here.

2.  Tell your members of Congress to restore organic certification cost share!

Right now, the best way to reach your members of Congress is likely to be email, since many congressional offices have shifted their staffs to working remotely. You can find contact information for your Representative at www.house.gov (use the “Find Your Representative” box at the top right and then go to your member’s website and look for a Contact tab) and your two Senators at www.senate.gov (go to the “Senators” tab and then “Contact” to find the Senators from your state.)

Sample Email:

I am your constituent and an organic farmer. I urge you to make the USDA restore full funding for the Organic Certification Cost Share program, which helps organic farms stay in business.

The USDA announced it was cutting how much organic farmers could be reimbursed for their organic certification expenses, despite the fact that Congress has already provided adequate funding for this program. Congress clearly set reimbursement rates at 75 percent of the certified organic operation’s eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $750 per scope, but the USDA announced a revised reimbursement rate of 50 percent of the certified organic operation’s eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $500 per scope.

This decision by USDA disregards the Congressional funding directives in the 2018 Farm Bill and is unacceptable, especially in light of USDA’s long delay in making these funds available at all. Organic, direct market, and diversified operations have largely been left out of the USDA’s pandemic relief programs, so to delay and then reduce this modest program for organic farms during a pandemic is inexcusable.

I urge you to ensure that the USDA’s Farm Service Agency reinstates the full organic certification cost share reimbursement. In addition, given USDA’s delay in announcing the funding availability, they should extend the deadlines for state agencies to apply to administer the program, and for organic operations to apply for the assistance.

Sincerely,

[Your name, Your Farm Name]

[Address]

by Kate Mendenhall