Thinking of enrolling your farm or ranch in USDA’s dynamic 
Like many others invested in organic agriculture, the decision at last week’s National Organic Standards Board meeting to phase out an antibiotic used in certified apple and pear production may have left you wondering, why was it allowed to begin with? The straightforward answer is that, throughout its history, organic certification has allowed a very small number of materials, even pesticides, that we more often associate with conventional agriculture.
Organic family farmers are facing real hardship due to Congress’ ongoing failure to get its act together. Case in point: When it finally passed the 2013 federal budget in January, Congress stripped funding from a host of essential programs which support small- and medium-sized organic farms. Among the abandoned programs were the $5.5 million which had funded the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program (NOCCSP) each year since 2009. 
The near stranglehold which agribusiness holds over policymaking in Washington, DC was painfully evident in the six month spending measure Congress approved last week. Buried deep in the last minute compromise were two legislative riders hand crafted by the agricultural biotechnology and concentrated animal feedlot operation (CAFO) lobbyists. The first rider guts judicial review of the process for approving genetically modified seeds while the second rolls back USDA’s already weak regulations protecting the contract rights of poultry and beef producers. 
The Capitol has survived Frankenstorm. Sadly, New York City and other parts of the eastern seaboard didn’t fare as well. Flooding, fires, fallen bridges, millions without power--it’s the kind of doomsday backdrop that you expect to see in a Halloween horror flick, not on the front pages of The New York Times.
This week, I discussed the needs / challenges of organic farmers with one of the administrators of the Farm Service Agency (FSA). A paramount need of organic farmers, both big and small, beginning and established, is access to loans to sustain and expand their operations. FSA is the primary government agency tasked with making these loans available to farmers. The challenge is getting an accurate financial picture of an organic farm as the basis to calculate loans. This requires good price data, and that’s harder to compile for organic farms because their operations are typically more diverse. 
The 2008 Farm Bill has officially expired. Dozens of innovative programs for organic farmers that put healthy, organic food on our tables are in political limbo until Congress returns in November. That’s a long way off for those of us who fought so hard to build the infrastructure of organic. We can’t let the organic gains made get lost in the political shuffle after the election. While some in Washington are saying the impact will be negligible in the near term, organic farmers and members of Congress from agricultural states and districts know better.
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