Going Organic
There are many benefits to following organic farming techniques, especially within cities. Depending on your farm’s yearly sales a certification process may be required to use ‘organic’ in marketing language. Regardless of certification status, organic farmers must meet a set of guidelines in their practices. In this sheet find information on becoming organic certified as well as the general regulation requirements in an urban environment.
Why Organic?
Organic practices are particularly important in urban environments, where limited land often requires intensive use, and chemical inputs–such as fertilizers and pesticides–can contribute to soil contamination and water system pollution. Additionally, organic crops can demand a higher market price, important for farmers aiming to maximize profits from small parcels of land.
Becoming Certified
Many farms that sell directly to their customers choose to adopt organic practices without going through full certification. They must walk a fine line though, avoiding calling their practices “organic” and instead communicating transparently with their customers that they only use organic-approved fertilizers and pesticides, for example.
Regardless of whether you use organic practices, if you have farm sales of more than $5,000 per year you cannot legally sell your products as organic unless your farm has been officially certified.
If you sell less than $5,000 per year of product and would like to use the word “organic” in your marketing, you must adhere to organic practices even though there is no certification process required. To learn more about this, download the PDF of Small Scale Organics.
You can find the list of all certifying agencies by going to the USDA’s National Organic Program website. You may use any agency listed. The two located in New York are:
- NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC
834 Upper Front Street, Binghamton, NY 13905
(607) 724-9851 , certifiedorganic@nofany.org
Scope: Crop, Livestock, Handling
Accredited: 4/29/02 - Natural Foods Certifiers (NFC)
80 Broad Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY. 10004
(888) 422-4632, nfccertification@gmail.com
Scope: Crop, Livestock, Wild Crop, Handling
Accredited: 10/08/02
General Overview of Organic Regulations
Organic regulations are complex and ever-changing, which is why it is important to work with your certifying agency on everything that you do to assure compliance.
In general, you cannot use synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, or petroleum-based fertilizers. To certify a field as organic it must not have had pesticides or petroleum fertilizers applied for the past three years. To certify animals as organic, there are various transition requirements depending upon the animal species: dairy cattle, beef cattle, pigs, poultry, et cetera.
Great attention is paid to nurturing the soil by the use of composts, cover crops, rock minerals and natural fertilizers. Plant disease and pests are controlled through the use of crop rotations, resistant varieties, cultivation, biological and botanical pest control. Animal health is maintained with wholesome food, adequate shelter, access to the outdoors, and preventive health plans.
Documentation of field maps, adjoining fields, complaints, crop inputs used, yields, sales, feeds purchased, medications used, and equipment-cleaning logs must be kept to maintain your certification.
Alternatives to Organic Certification
When deciding whether or not to become a certified organic producer, it is important to consider the cost of certification and to what extent it will increase the marketability of your product(s). You can also consider alternatives to certification, such as Farmers Pledge or Certified Naturally Grown .
Resources for Organic Farmers
Northern Organic Vegetable Improvement Collaborative (NOVIC) joins researchers and farmers in Northern U.S. states to address organic farmers’ seed and plant breeding needs. The collaborative includes researchers and educators from Oregon State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Washington State University, Organic Seed Alliance, and the USDA. They are partnered with over 30 organic farmers to breed new varieties, identify the best performing existing varieties for organic agriculture, and educate farmers on organic seed production and plant variety improvement.
Cornell Production Guide for Fruits and Vegetables is an in-depth guide from Cornell Cooperative Extension and Cornell Integrative Pest Management that explores postharvest handling of produce, recommendations for specific crops, and storability.
Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease Management is a comprehensive guide created with SARE support to provide a useful and scientifically accurate reference for organic farmers and agricultural professionals searching for information on best practices, available materials and perhaps most importantly, the efficacy of materials that are permitted for use in organic systems.
Soil Management: National Organic Program Regulations is a publication from ATTRA-NCAT that provides management guidelines for meeting, and measurable parameters for monitoring specific land practices, general soil management and environmental protection techniques in sustainable, organic production systems.
Creating a Weed Management Plan for Your Organic Farm is a straightforward guide from Penn State Extension that provides a general overview of weed maintenance on organic farms, useful for farmers looking to develop their own plans.
Cornell Integrated Pest Management Guide for Organic Dairies provides an outline of practices for the management of external arthropod pests such as flies, lice, mites and grubs on organic dairy farms.
Cornell Organic Dairy Initiative provides information to all parts of the organic dairy industry, including: the consumer, dairy retailer, dairy processor, organic certifier, and farmers. The information provided helps New York State grow the dairy industry into a viable farming style that responds to the needs of its consumers, its environment, and its farmers.
Funding
There may be funding available to cover all or part of the cost to certify your farm as organic. For more information on this, visit the ‘Grant and financial Opportunities’ fact sheet.
