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CapitalPress.com
January 27, 2017
Organics
Organic checkoff proposal exposes split in industry
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
A research and promo-
tion checkoff for the organic
industry is meeting with di-
vided support as the USDA
seeks public comment on the
proposal.
The Organic Trade Asso-
ciation, which represents pro-
ducers, handlers and proces-
sors, has worked for several
years to formulate a checkoff
that would meet the needs of
the entire industry, which has
grown to $43 billion in do-
mestic sales.
But the No Organic Check-
off Coalition, consisting most-
ly of farmer organizations,
contends OTA has missed
the mark and USDA has not
satisfactorily addressed their
concerns.
OTA has logged “thou-
sands and thousands of miles”
meeting with stakeholders to
shape an effective program,
Laura Batcha, OTA’s CEO
and executive director, said in
a telephone conference.
“We’re really thrilled to
reach this milestone. … It’s
been a program that has gone
through multiple iterations,”
she said.
OTA has incorporated re-
forms based on stakeholder
input and their concerns with
other checkoffs to arrive at a
unique program that spans the
many commodities in the or-
ganic arena, she said.
The program puts heavy
emphasis on research, infor-
mation and extension to bol-
ster organic production, edu-
cate consumers and provide
value to the entire industry,
she said.
The checkoff would pro-
vide money for produc-
tion-based research, one of
the areas of greatest interest to
stakeholders. It would also fa-
cilitate the transfer of knowl-
edge to those entering the in-
dustry and technical services
to accelerate the adoption of
organic practices, she said.
There is also a high inter-
est in educating consumers
so they fully understand the
rigorous steps involved in or-
ganic production so farmers
can realize prices that make
sense for what they do. That
understanding and promotion
of organic brands will benefit
processors as well, she said.
“This is really all about the
(organic) sector coming to-
gether and investing in itself,”
she said.
The coalition, however,
contends the checkoff is more
likely to promote large pro-
cessors’ needs over those of
family farmers.
Representation
While the makeup of the
board appears fairly balanced
— with eight producers, sev-
en processors, one importer
and one at-large member —
the reality is those producer
seats would likely be filled
by large-scale farmers, whose
interests are more typically
USDA
lowers
hurdle for
transitioning
to organic
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Capital Press File
Cows relax on an organic farm. Organic farmers are debating a proposed checkoff system to help fund research and other activities.
aligned with large agribusi-
ness, said Kate Mendenhall,
coalition coordinator and a
beginning organic farmer in
Iowa.
It’s a lot harder for
small-scale farmers to
leave their operations and
travel to meetings, and
large-scale farmers have
ended up on checkoff boards
in the past, she said.
In addition, farmers make
up the majority of certified
organic operations, and the
board should mirror that, she
said, adding that farmers are
responsible for building the
organic movement and mar-
ket, and they should be better
represented.
Another problem is that
60 percent of certified organ-
ic operators are small-scale
farmers — whose sales fall
below the mandatory assess-
ment level — and they won’t
have a vote in the referendum
to establish a checkoff unless
they volunteer to participate
in the checkoff and incur bur-
densome assessments, she
said.
Farmers, handlers and pro-
cessors with gross organic
revenue below $250,000 can
choose whether to participate.
The assessment is set at one-
tenth of 1 percent of net or-
ganic sales. The checkoff also
applies to importers.
If small-scale farmers do
choose to participate, it will
be big industry on the board
making decisions that will
benefit bigger-scale produc-
tion and small-scale farmers
will be funding their own
competition,
Mendenhall
said.
“History has shown in
checkoffs that big industry
wins out,” she said.
OTA contends it has
worked hard to come up with
a unique checkoff that better
represents all producers and
addresses their needs and that
even if small farmers decide
not to participate, they will
still receive the benefits of the
program.
Research money
The checkoff could pro-
vide more than $30 million
annually, and 50 to 75 percent
would be earmarked for re-
search and related activities,
such as technical assistance
and dissemination of research
findings. It would require that
25 percent of the assessments
from producers be used for
local and regional research,
according to OTA.
The proposed rule states
that no less than 25 percent
of the funds shall be allocated
to research; 25 percent shall
be allocated to information;
25 shall be allocated to pro-
motion; and 25 percent shall
remain discretionary, with no
more than 15 percent expend-
ed for administration, mainte-
nance and functioning of the
board.
The checkoff would pro-
vide a stable, reliable source
of funding to support re-
search on organic production,
dissemination of research
information to farmers and
the development of support
systems to enable the expan-
sion and success of organic
farmers, said Doug Crabtree,
an organic farmer who raises
grains, pulses and oilseeds in
Montana.
“We see first-hand the
need for more research,” he
said during OTA’s confer-
ence call.
In particular, the indus-
try needs seed varieties that
work in organic systems,
which rely on crop rotation
to protect against weeds and
pests. Non-organic varieties
are less suited for organic
production, and there is very
little being done to develop
viable varieties, he said.
Climate change and
weather variations are also
a huge challenge. Strong
research and commitment
are needed to address all the
challenges in organic pro-
duction, he said.
But the coalition also
takes issue with the research
part of the proposal, which
states that the majority of re-
search funds shall be allocat-
ed to agricultural research.
A majority could be as lit-
tle as 12.6 percent, and that’s
not enough; it should be 100
percent, Mendenhall said.
The remainder of the 25
percent research funding
could end up going to other
research, such as marketing
or processing, she said.
“Everyone thinks we
need more research dollars,
we just think there’s a better
way to get that money, she
said.
Organic farmers have
always thought outside the
box. The industry can do
better than a checkoff that’s
bad for family farmers, she
said.
Organic growth
The checkoff would also
support information to bring
more farmers into organic
4-4/#7
Online
The proposed rule is available
at: http://bit.ly/2iTW01D
production. Significant im-
ports of organic commodi-
ties illustrate the amount of
lost opportunity, Crabtree
said.
Organic can be an eco-
nomic engine for rural Amer-
ica, said Melissa Hughes,
OTA president and general
counsel for Organic Valley.
The checkoff will also
allow the industry to speak
with one voice to make sure
consumers know what the
organic seal means, she said.
“Now more than ever,
the organic industry needs
to come together and invest
in its future,” Batcha, the
OTA’s CEO and executive
director, said.
But the coalition con-
tends checkoffs are inherent-
ly bad for small-scale farm-
ers, are another tax and come
with restrictive guidelines,
heavy bureaucracy, lack of
accountability with a history
of corruption and cost of ad-
ministration.
“A failed federal program
does not belong in organic,”
Mendenhall said.
In addition, promoting
organic sales now would in-
crease imports, she said.
“We already have a sup-
ply problem in the U.S. We
don’t need more promotion;
we need help for producers
to transition into organic pro-
duction,” she said.
More demand would be
filled by imports that would
decrease prices and hit organ-
ic farmers the hardest. Grow-
ing organic acres and promo-
tion need to go hand-in-hand,
she said.
A referendum is required
to put the program in place
and every seven years to con-
tinue the program.
4-4/#16
Transitioning from con-
ventional farming to organic
production is no easy feat, but
it might have just gotten a lit-
tle easier with a new national
certification program for those
making the switch.
Using standards developed
by the Organic Trade Associ-
ation, USDA is launching the
National Certified Transition
Program that will provide
oversight for accredited agents
offering transitional certifica-
tion to producers.
The new program is ex-
pected to ease the three-year
transition process, allow farm-
ers to sell their products at a
premium and help encourage
more organic production.
“We view it as another tool
to support producers who want
to go into organic,” said Nate
Lewis, OTA farm policy direc-
tor.
There are significant ob-
stacles to getting into organic
production, but the biggest
challenge is the financial hur-
dle of the transition period.
Transitioning producers expe-
rience lower yields and aren’t
yet able to benefit from organ-
ic price premiums, he said.
The new program “is a tool
to help producers get over that
hump,” he said.
A couple of years ago,
OTA was approached by some
members looking for a way to
harmonize transitional certifi-
cation programs. About a doz-
en certifying agencies, which
were operating certification
programs before the National
Organic Program came into
existence, still offer those
programs, but their standards
vary, he said.
OTA set up a task force
to create one set of standards
with the benefit of govern-
ment oversight and to build
the foundations for a potential
market for transitional prod-
ucts. Such a market could of-
fer some type of premium and
lower the financial barriers of
transitioning.
Some companies relying on
organic production are offering
economic incentives to transi-
tioning producers to secure a
supply once those growers are
certified organic, he said.
“We hope this will foster
more of those types of ar-
rangements,” he said.
California Certified Or-
ganic Farmers offers tran-
sitional certification and it
participated in the efforts to
establish a transitional certifi-
cation program under the Na-
tional Organic Program, said
Cathy Calfo, CCOF executive
director.
“It will provide at least
a uniform standard across
all certifying agencies,” she
said.