Organic production is certainly a hot topic in World agriculture. If you are thinking of converting from conventional to organic, much planning is needed.
Certification of farms is handled by entities accredited by the USDA. These certifying agents will determine whether or not your farm and its products fulfill the organic standards. If they do meet the product-specific standards, you can publicly claim your products are organic.
Organic certification can be granted for products such as grain crops, livestock, processed products and wild crops. Grain crop certification is arguably the hottest organic topic in recent months. The land upon which crops are grown must not have had “prohibited” substances used in production for the previous three years prior to requesting certification.
Another prerequisite to an organic determination is the development of an Organic Plan. The Organic Plan is a roadmap to ensure the integrity and sustainability of the organic crop. Many items must be considered in establishing an Organic Plan prior to submission including crop management, seed sources, audits of crop registry, input use, soil building, pest management and natural resource protection.
Certification and labeling can be complex and wrought with pitfalls. If you are going down this route, it is crucial to have knowledgeable counsel assist with an Organic Plan and the certification process. At the outset, a thorough review of certification costs of the Certifying Agent should be completed, and a discussion about any annual recertification processes must be pinned down.
If you’d like to know more about this blog, or other agricultural matters, please contact one of our Goosmann Law Firm attorneys at info@goosmannlaw.com or the ag law blog author at baileyb@goosmannlaw.com