Organic Certification
What is organic certification?
Organic certification is the process that allows farms or other facilities to make, Label, represent, and sell their products as organic. Having a product marked as organic provides consumers with more variety of choices in the marketplace. Usually, products that are marked as organic tend to be more expensive than conventional products which tend to be cheaper because they don’t undergo the rigorous processes as organic products do. However, what products can be labeled as organic? According to the USDA, the organic regulations recognized four categories in which products can be organic which include
- Crops: Can be planted in which are grown to be harvested as food, livestock feed, and fiber which can be used to add nutrients to the field in order to have a better harvest.
- Livestock: Any animal that can be used in the production of food or feed. Some examples include chickens, cattle, sheep, pigs, etc…
- wild crops: Plants that are from a growing site that isn’t cultivated
- Processed Products: Includes items that have been made and packaged or mixed, processed, and packaged.
What steps does one undergo to become certified organic?
- According to the USDA, there are five steps to becoming an organic certified farm. The first step is to develop an organic system plan. In creating an organic system plan, you are establishing the foundation for the begging of the process. While every system plan is unique, all address the practices of farming, including, tilling, grazing, harvesting, storing, and transporting. The Plan also lists the specific substances that have been approved to be used and monitor the practices, recordkeeping, and barriers in order to keep products coming in contact with substances that are prohibited.
- While step one focuses on creating a plan that sets the foundation, Step two focuses on implementing the organic system plan. Organic operations are certified by “certifying agents” that are private, foreign or are instate agents that are accredited by the USDA. Certifying agents are responsible for verifying that all organic products meet the standards.
- In step three, the farmer/handler receives inspection. All operations that apply to be organically certified, have to be inspected on the site by the certifying agents. These inspections are heavily detailed but are all different depending on the farm or facility. For example, for crops, it includes field inspections, soil conditions, and crop health. For livestock, the inspections include the inspection of food production, reed rations, health management, animal living conditions, health records, and the number of animals that are present on the farm.
- In Step four, the certifying agency has to review the inspection report taken by the inspector. In the review process, the certifying agent carefully analyzes the report and compares the processes to the organic system plan to ensure that everything is according to regulations. After reviewing the inspection form, the inspector gives an evaluation of the risks of contamination from materials that were prohibited.
- If the farm complies with all policies and regulations, the final step is to receive organic certification from the certifying agency which lists all the products the farm is able to sell and mark as organic. Every year the now certified organic farm/facility has to update their plan as it changes practices and an inspection process is taken once a year to uphold the certification.
Sustainability of organic production
Sustaining an organic farm isn’t the easiest thing in the world it’s not just turning off the chemicals sprayers and for farmers, it’s important to learn how to manage soil nutrients without the need of adding fertilizers and having to get rid of weeds and insects without the use of herbicides or insecticides. For many farmers switching to organic comes with a learning curve because they have to start fresh. Many family farmers that would try to convert to organic farms needed money in order to be able to afford equipment for organic farming. Organic certification requires a three-year rotation of crops while growing different crops every season which helps break weeds, pests, and many disease cycles.
Solutions that organic farmers have come up with to fight pests and weeds are laying black plastic sheets over the soil which surrounds their crops. This helps heat up the soil, which helps accelerate the plant growth rate while preventing erosion. The black sheets of plastic also help with the use of drip irrigation which lets the water drip into the roots of the plants which saves a lot of water. However, these practices bring issues with the lining of huge swaths of land with plastic that’s only able to be used once, creating a large amount of waste. The sustainability of organic agriculture is vastly complicated and farmers that want to convert to organic farming have to take into consideration that many problems can arise, and with very little known research on organic farming, there is a small-scale of professionals that are able to help.
A blog by Adam Resendiz
An organic farmer using black plastic sheets in order to prevent erosion.
a sign to let farmers know to not spray any hazardous chemicals.
A look at how certifying agents inspect crops by taking root samples.
A Blog by Adam Resendiz
Bibliography
Benefits of Organic Certification | Agricultural Marketing Service. (n.d.). Benefits of Organic Certification. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/benefits/
Cernansky, R. (2018, September 20). We don’t have enough organic farms. Why not? National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/future-of-food/organic-farming-crops-consumers/
Why Become Certified Organic? – MOFGA Certification Services. (n.d.). MOFGA Certification Services. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://mofgacertification.org/why-become-certified-organic-2/