Going organic: USDA funds available to help farmers cover organic certification fees

To provide the opportunity for more farmers to become certified organic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as part of its National Organic Program, designed a plan to help farmers defray the cost of certification.

Created by the 2002 Farm Bill, the program provides states with an opportunity to reimburse farmers who become USDA certified organic, or who renew their organic certification. Becoming certified requires that crops, and records of their growth and sale, meet the approval of an inspector and also necessitates paying certification fees.

The USDA's Organic Certification Cost Share Program pays farmers back up to 75 percent of those fees, with a cap of $750.

"Producers who are certified organic have to meet specific regulations and guidance on certification, production, handling and labeling of USDA organic products," says Sarah Alsager, public affairs officer for the Missouri Department of Agriculture. "Any organic operation in violation of the USDA organic regulations is subject to enforcement actions, which can include financial penalties or suspension/revocation of their organic certificate."

Farmers can become certified in four categories, which include crop, processing/handling wild crop, and livestock certification.

A freshly planted gypsy broccoli plant peeks out of the ground at Laughing Stalk Farmstead April 2, 2014. (LAURA SIMON)

Dan Kuebler, owner of The Salad Garden in Ashland, Missouri, says his crops are certified, but if he wanted to tap his maple trees and sell the syrup as certified organic, that would require wild crop certification.

Missouri received $127,800 for 2015, which will provide cost share assistance for 170 certifications.

Funds are administered through the Missouri Department of Agriculture, and applications are being accepted until Oct. 31. They are reviewed monthly by MDA officials.

Reimbursement is made on a first-come, first-served basis, explains Sarah Alsager, public affairs officer for MDA.

"Some producers will have more than one certification," she says. "In 2014, 71 producers participated, and several of them had more than one certification."

Alsager says it's good for farmers who want to focus on organic certification, because it allows them to do so at a somewhat lower financial risk.

Much of the work of certification involves paperwork.

"Everything has to be documented, so everything can be traced, if need be. It takes some record keeping," Kuebler says.

The point of organic farming, he says, is to build up the soil as much as possible, so crops receive the nutrients they need from the soil, not from chemical additives.

"You are trying to create some very alive soil that is nutrient-rich," Kuebler says.

To continue learning better ways to do that, he says he frequently attends classes and seminars.

"I'm building the soil every day. That's the biggest thing on my mind every day, and you really have to keep on top of it," he says.

When he started farming 25 years ago, he says he grew about 40 different kinds of vegetables, but now he grows mostly specialty lettuces, tomatoes, kale, carrots, Japanese turnips and most lately, a lot of cabbage and pickling cucumbers.

That's because Kuebler recently started fermenting the cabbage and making sauerkraut and pickles, both of which he sells at a local farmers market.

He cannot sell the products themselves as organic because he doesn't have a processing/handling certification, but he can list the ingredients on the label as organic.

Selling, labeling and being allowed to represent products as organic is one of the biggest benefits to farmers who chose to participate in the program.

For consumers, the payoff is having the opportunity to purchase more fruits and vegetables that are chemical free.

There are no USDA-certified organic farms in the Cape Girardeau area at this time, but some local farmers, such as Ross Peterson and his wife, Emily Scifers, owners of The Laughing Stalk Farmstead, use organic growing practices.

"We don't just replace chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic ones," Peterson says. "We have a different approach."

That approach involves using compost for fertilizer and creating a system that encourages natural predators to control pests.

"It's a much more sustainable type of growing," he says.

Laughing Stalk Farmstead products are available at the Cape River Front Market on Saturday mornings.

For more information about the USDA Organic Certification Cost Share Program, visit ams.usda.gov and click on National Organic Program.