Ag Policy Blog

USDA Touts Organic Growth as Organic Advocates Sue

Chris Clayton
By  Chris Clayton , DTN Ag Policy Editor
Connect with Chris:

USDA issued a news release Wednesday touting the growth of organic farming with 19,474 certified organic farm operations around the country and 27,814 around the world.

Still, several organic groups have filed suits over the last week challenging the way USDA is running the organic-standards program.

USDA's National Organic Program shows the number of organic farms nationally has increased by more than 250% since USDA's organic program began counting certified farms in 2002. The number of certified organic farms grew 5% over the past year, or just under 1,000 new certified operations.

"As demand for organic products continues to soar, more and more producers are entering the organic market," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "USDA tools and resources have created opportunities for organic farmers and more options for organic consumers. Growing demand for organic goods can be especially helpful to smaller family operations. The more diverse type of operations and the more growing market sectors we have in American agriculture, the better off our country's rural economy will be."

P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Vilsack spoke Wednesday at a policy conference in Washington organized by the Organic Trade Association. The growth of organic sales has been perhaps more impressive. An annual survey released by OTA on Wednesday showed organic food products accounted for $39 billion in sales in 2014, and 11% increase from a year earlier. https://www.ota.com/…

USDA stated the department is now developing the Organic Integrity Database to provide more detailed information about organic operations. The system would effectively allow people to go on-line and confirm a farm's certification.

While USDA championed the number of organic producers, various groups in just the last week have sued USDA over the way organic standards are overseen. The groups argue that changes to official organic farm standards were done improperly. Old practices on the National Organics Board were set to that substances such as fertilizers or other materials used in organic farming were automatically sunset for review every five years. Then the National Organic Standards Board would have to review the substance and two-thirds of the board would have to sign off before re-approving, or "re-listing" the substance. Organic groups said the rules were flipped when USDA changed the rules to a situation where now a substance is approved unless two-thirds of the board votes to de-list any material.

The lawsuit was filedApril 7 by the Center for Food Safety, Beyond Pesticides, Equal Exchange, Food & Water Watch, La Montanita Co-op, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association, the Cornucopia Institute, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, PCC Natural Prodcutions, Greensward/New Natives LLC, Frey Vineyards Ltd., Organic Consumers Association, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association.

The groups suing USDA over this argue the new rule hurts organic farmers and consumers because it weakens the integrity of the National Organic Program. http://www.cornucopia.org/…

Another suit filed on Wednesday -- led again by the Center for Food Safety and other groups -- now also claims USDA weakened some prohibitions on synthetic pesticides in setting new guidance for compost standards on the allowed list. The old compost standard specifically prohibited any synthetic substances, but the groups filing the lawsuit say USDA changed the rule and usurped required rulemaking procedures when the department did so.

Follow me on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN.

P[] D[728x170] M[320x75] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[L2] D[728x90] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Comments

To comment, please Log In or Join our Community .

Bonnie Dukowitz
4/19/2015 | 7:36 AM CDT
Either way, which one third of the apple should I eat?