The fall meeting of the National Organic Standards Board is coming up, and the public can either give oral or written comments on a variety of subjects before the in-person November 4-6, 2025 meeting in Omaha, NE. Oral comments from organic farmers and supporters will be taken at webinars on October 28 and 30, written comments must be submitted before 11:59pm ET on Oct. 8, 2025. 

Register for oral comment, submit written comments and read the NOSB recommendations at this website. 

Numerous items will be voted upon for the National Organic Program to consider for rule-making, and your farmer voice can have a significant impact!

• A proposal to allow synthetic compostable polymers in compost used on organic land is on the work agenda. OFA does not support this proposal, and organic certifiers do not currently allow these “compostable plastics.”
• A proposal for prohibited material residue testing of imported grain feedstuffs is based upon the well-written discussion document from the spring NOSB meeting, and OFA supports this increased scrutiny proposed for imported organic grain.
• Risk-based certification, which addresses the increased certification burden all operations are experiencing, provides guidance to certifiers to modify their compliance oversight for operations that present “less-risk” to organic integrity. OFA is reviewing this proposal.
• Organic seed use and organic labeling proposals also affect what organic farmers will need to change for organic certification.
• New materials that will be discussed for inclusion on the national list are:
  • Pear ester as an insect attractant in pest control and chitosan for controlling fungal issues in wine production.
  • The NOSB will be discussing modification to the regulation to allow livestock in agroforestry crops, OFA requested this in our public comment.

A list of materials having their five-year sunset review to remain on the National List (and can be found here) and include materials in wide use that will probably remain, and some that may be removed.

OFA will be hosting virtual Farmer Workgroups with organic farmers interested in learning more about the issues, as well as informing the OFA public comment and preparing their own comments.

Meetings will last one hour on Wednesdays at 3pm ET / 2pm CT / 1pm MT / 12pm PT on September 17, 24, and October 1. 

Register for a Workgroup Here