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To Certify or Not to Certify?

3/18/2013

9 Comments

 
That is the Question.

Our newly purchased farm was certified organic for the last three years by the previous owner who raised mixed vegetables. Now that we're (mostly) settled in, I'm ready to start planning my own vegetable production for 2013. The question becomes whether or not to apply for organic certification.

In the past, I've generally been skeptical of organic certification, as I thought of it as just another label that became increasingly meaningless the more one looked into it. For instance, huge commercial growers in California produce monocultures of "organic" crops that require inputs of toxic "organic" pesticides. My bent was toward producing vegetables grown organically, but without the certification, relying on direct interaction with customers to communicate the cultural practices. I also( don't like getting shoehorned into a narrowly defined set of rules that tell me what I can and cannot grow.

(As an aside, organic certification for livestock is a whole other can of worms that I won't tackle in this post).

I have received some advice that led me to believe it might be worth keeping up the certification. For example, there is a growing infrastructure for food distribution in the area that will only accept certified organic produce (eg Puget Sound Food Network). Some sort of certification standard makes sense when moving beyond direct marketing because consumers lose the connection to the farmer and need to be assured their food is meeting a minimum quality standard. Secondly, we are going to be running the Chuckanut Farmstand at the farm, this year, and we'll likely catch a lot of tourist traffic traveling Chuckanut Drive. It would be nice to be able to advertise our produce as "Certified Organic". Lastly, we're likely going to go to a single farmer's market this year, and for the same reasons, having that certification makes some sense.

After thinking all this through, I actually went to the WSDA Organic website and started reading about certification. I already knew that I couldn't just transfer the certification from the previous owner to myself, so I'd have to apply for a new certification--at a cost of $470. The certification would also take 3.5 months. Our goal for this year is to keep our costs to an absolute minimum, and $470 seems like an awfully large chunk of cash--probably more than 10% of our sales of organic produce for the year. Luckily, I read that I can market my produce as "organic" (but not certified organic) if I do less than $5000 in gross sales this year and follow all the rules and guidelines for certified organic producers. Next year, we could choose to pay the fee and get certified if we expect to grow our gross sales considerably or find that certification has a significant benefit.

We haven't made a final decision, but we'll need to decide soon. The 3.5 month window puts us past July 1st if we start the certification process right now.

9 Comments
Liz Clark link
3/18/2013 02:26:12 am

You can't say you are organic unless you are certified organic. Period. The USDA trademarked organic and you risk them coming after you if you don't get the certification. I have taken some WSU classes and all of the speakers, from other farms, companies and WSDA employees have ALL said that you don't want to advertise yourself as organic unless you are certified. Not worth the risk. Get that certification now, since it sounds like you have a leg up on it.

Reply
Rachel
3/18/2013 02:33:47 am

You absolutely can use the words organic or say that your food is raised with organic methods. You can not use the USDA organic seal (which is a regulated label) without certification. The organic term and organic methods are not trademarked, but they are regulated, and marked with an official government label. A small farm can use organic methods and use the term organic without going through certification, they just can't use that regulated label.

Reply
Jeff
3/18/2013 05:03:23 am

There appears to be a distinction between the term "certified organic" and "organic." I'm 99% sure I can claim organic production under WSDA rules if I produce under $5000. Here is the direct quote from the rules:

§ 205.101 Exemptions and exclus
ions from certification.
(a)
Exemptions
.
(1) A production or handling operation that sells agricult
ural products as “organic” but whose gross agricultural
income from organic sales totals $5,000 or less annually
is exempt from certification under subpart E of this
part and from submitting an organic system plan for acceptance or approval under § 205.201 but must comply
with the applicable organic production and handling requir
ements of subpart C of this part and the labeling re-
quirements of § 205.310. The products from such operatio
ns shall not be used as ingredients identified as or-
ganic in processed products produced
by another handling operation.

Reply
Rachel
3/18/2013 02:29:37 am

I totally understand your hesitation about the organic certification...the label certainly has questionable value, especially for a small farmer who often exceeds organic requirements.

That said, I think you should consider doing it (for marketing purposes!), and I think you should consider the power of crowdsourced funding for something like this, and other expenses on your farm. Kickstarter would be an excellent venue for you guys...you have tons of pictures, this blog, and a history of happy customers that indicate that you are doing something amazing, and worthy of investment. I am sure there are many people willing to make donations to see a worthy business flourish.

Reply
Jeff
3/18/2013 05:15:15 am

I think Kickstarter or something like it could be a great resource, although I lean a bit more toward crowd-investment. This will probably be my downfall, but I feel that any money someone gives/invests in the farm should give a 100% return--if not in money back, then in value of product. I know that there is some value in just having small farms around, but to me the small farm needs to have an adequate, profitable business plan to continue to be around. Charity is not a long term solution.

If I get to the point where I NEED to raise some serious capital, I'd like to issue something like a credit that could be redeemed for future food of equal value.

Reply
Carolyn
3/18/2013 10:30:38 am

Something to consider is that you should be able to receive up to a 75% refund of the certification fees from WSDA via the national organic cost share program. At least that was the case last year. The renewal fees are also substantially less than the initial application.
More info here: http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/Organic/docs/2182_us_costshare_appl_12.11.pdf

Also, if the certification lapses, you may be looking at 3 more years to get the land re-certified if you choose to do so next year or sometime down the road.

It's a tough decision. Ultimately we felt it was worth the hoop jumping for marketing and market access, but it's certainly not the only way to go.

Reply
Bruce King link
3/18/2013 04:09:08 pm

The rewards you give kickstarter customers can be tangible or intangible. So you could offer, for instance, CSA shares in return for certain donation levels, or particular products (dozen eggs? Pound of bacon? Lucious red, ripe tomatoes in season?).

lots of projects offer not much for folks who donate $5 or $10, and progressively more for folks who donate more.

I've liked the CSA model provided that the part where you get the entire payment before the season starts is followed; your initial "seed" capital arrives and at the right time to cover the initial startup costs.

Perhaps a small discount for folks who help cover the costs. is there any infrastructure that you'd like to have that you do not? Hoophouse, for instance? Water supply lines run for livestock water (carrying water sucks!).. fencing?

Reply
george
3/18/2013 09:11:36 pm

IIRC you also are required to pay a percent of gross sales to the certifying body as well, something like 1.5%.

If the land is already certified, I'd probably go ahead and keep it up. Buy in some certified feed, and process them at a USDA organic facility and you have organic livestock which certainly commands a higher mark up.

Reply
Joanna link
3/19/2013 04:07:03 am

The decision of whether or not to continue certifying is one we grapple with every year. Here's our latest thinking on the matter:
http://cherthollowfarm.com/2013/02/organic-re-certification-decision/

If cost share isn't reinstated by next year, then we're very unlikely to re-certify, and we would have dropped it this year if we hadn't already advertised certified organic produce to our CSA members.

Washington doesn't appear to be on the list with cost share this year:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateQ&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page=NOPCostSharing&description=Organic%20Cost%20Share%20Program

From what I know, it sounds like it makes sense to use the $5000 exemption in your case, meanwhile keeping the records that you'll need if you decide to certify in the future when your gross income goes up.

One other consideration: Some markets have their own rules that require certification to use the "o" word, not honoring the $5000 exemption established by the USDA.

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