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Organic Topics
Organic Certification
An increasing number of farms and food businesses are pursuing organic certification for access to the organic market. "Each production or handling operation or specified portion of a production or handling operation must be certified if it produces or handles crops, livestock, livestock products, or other agricultural products intended to be sold, labeled, or represented as "one hundred percent organic," "organic," or "made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))." (7 CFR 205.101, National Organic Program). The State of Washington has adopted the National Organic Program (NOP) as its organic food law. Operations that sell only directly to the consumer and have gross annual sales less than $5000 are exempt from certification but still must follow all the rules for certification (including recordkeeping) if they represent their product as "organic."
Many resources are available to help understand the certification process (see below). Any USDA accredited certifier can be used in any state. In Washington, the WSDA Organic Food Program certifies over 90% of the organic acres. Both WSDA and OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) maintain Brand Name Material Lists to help growers and processors choose inputs that are in compliance with the NOP.
WSU Publications
Material Registration for Organic Production - Winter 2008
Article in Sustaining the Pacific Northwest Newsletter
Organic Farming Compliance Handbook: A Resource Guide for Western Region Agricultural Professionals.
Produced by UC Davis, OMRI, WSU, OSU, and NMSU as part of a SARE PDP grant. January 2005.
Organic Certification in the United States and Europe - March 2004
Article in Sustaining the Pacific Northwest Newsletter
Organic Certification Available for Many Agroforestry Products - January 2003
Article in Sustaining the Pacific Northwest Newsletter
Organic Resource Manual
SARE Project EW-96.006 and WSDA Organic Food Program. 1999.
WSU Presentations
Organic Livestock: Principles, Practices, and Prospects
Videostream of October 29, 2004 WSU Satellite broadcast.
National Organic Agriculture Standards: What do they mean for you?
Video stream of March 21, 2003 WSU Satellite broadcast.
Resources
Some WSU Extension web sites provide links to external sites for the convenience of users. These External sites are not managed by WSU Extension. Furthermore, WSU Extension does not review, control or take responsibility for the content of these sites, nor do these sites implicitly or explicitly represent official positions and policies of WSU Extension.
Organic Sector Organizations
Some WSU Extension web sites provide links to external sites for the convenience of users. These External sites are not managed by WSU Extension. Furthermore, WSU Extension does not review, control or take responsibility for the content of these sites, nor do these sites implicitly or explicitly represent official positions and policies of WSU Extension.
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
Florida Organic Growers and Consumers
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
NASDA Policy Statement on Organic Agriculture
The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) released a policy statement in September 2003 that supports organic certification, marketing of organic products, collection of organic production and marketing data, and supports USDA funding for organic research.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Northeast Organic Farming Association
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association
Organic Crop Improvement Association
Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF)
A non-profit foundation founded to sponsor research related to organic farming practices, to disseminate research results to organic farmers and to growers interested in adopting organic production systems, to educate the public and decision-makers about organic farming issues.
Organic Trade Association (OTA)
The OTA is a national association representing the organic industry in Canada, the US, and Mexico. Contains links to government sites, fiber, organic organizations, market information, Canada, university sites, general organic agriculture information, certifiers, publications, and more.
Texas Organic Growers Association