Organics in Farm Bill
This article was originally published in March 2014
When President Obama signed the 2014 Farm Bill into law, he said in his speech the bill supports organic, which “makes my wife very happy!” In fact, the final farm bill includes all of the Organic Trade Association’s “asks,” including:
- Increased funding for organic research to improve organic farm practices, develop organic-compliant responses to threats such as citrus greening, and develop new seed varieties for organic farming.
- Increased funding for organic data collection and distribution to enable organic farmers to make more informed decisions about what to grow, what quantities the market needs, and what prices are available.
- Increased funding for the National Organic Program (NOP), ensuring enforcement of organic standards, improved technology, increased accreditation of certifiers, and development of international equivalency arrangements.
- Additional enforcement tools for NOP to root out fraud.
- Increased funding for certification cost share for new and transitioning farmers.
Hill staffers reportedly see these wins as a “coming of age” for organic, and say this Farm Bill will be remembered as the “moment organic took its full seat at the table.”