OTA - Perspective

A game-changing year for organic... and challenges ahead

vbatcha — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 18:57:48 +0000

December 21, 2023

As we end this year and begin another, it’s time to reflect on the huge accomplishments of 2023 while also gearing up for more challenges ahead in 2024. First and foremost, I want to say thank you to all of the trade association's members for your unflagging commitment to organic and your hard work to keep pushing organic forward.

This year was a game-changer for the U.S. organic sector. Headlining the year were two hard-fought and historic regulatory victories, each of which will strengthen organic standards, solidify consumer trust in organic and help continue its advancement.

The year kicked off with USDA releasing its long-awaited Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rule to stop fraud and protect the integrity of organic. It’s the biggest change to organic regulations since the beginning of the National Organic Program, and it was mandated because of the Organic Trade Association and the organic community’s work in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Then in the fall, the USDA published its long-awaited final Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) regulation, creating clear standards for outdoor access for organic poultry and clarifying animal welfare standards for all organic livestock. Almost 20 years in the making, the final adoption of OLPS is a major win for organic producers, consumers and for all of us who have long advocated for organic to be the comprehensive gold standard.

Our advocacy efforts not only delivered regulations for the organic sector but also organic specific resources and support. USDA coupled its strengthening of organic regulations with a significant infusion of funds for organic producers and projects that push the organic needle forward. We saw USDA roll out a $100 million program, the Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP) to help struggling organic dairy farmers. OTA’s Organic Feedstuff Trade Relief Task Force was instrumental in making this happen through its tireless advocacy to Congress and USDA. The vital assistance to our dairy producers came on the heels of USDA’s unveiling last year of its $300 million Organic Transition Initiative (OTI), a groundbreaking multi-agency drive to expand organic ag through increased direct support and technical assistance to farmers and critical investments in the supply chain and market development.

Organic also scored key wins on Capitol Hill. As the debate over the next Farm Bill began, the trade association’s lobbying efforts proved fruitful in getting two important bills introduced in Congress to ensure the continued advancement of organic and to increase targeted market development funds for the organic sector. When the Farm Bill was extended, we were successful in making sure that a handful of critical but vulnerable organic programs were kept alive in that extension.

OTA’s 2023 Organic Industry Survey reported organic food sales in 2022 breaking through $60 billion for the first time, totaling $61.7 billion. Total organic sales – including organic non-food products – were a record $67.6 billion. This growth occurred despite the challenging headwinds of inflation tightening consumer wallets and a jump in the number of competing food labels.

By the numbers

All of these accomplishments were the result of a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work by all of you and by your trade association. As we wrap up the year, we want to share with you the numbers:

We had over 300 meetings on Capitol Hill during the year with lawmakers and their staffs.
During Organic Week alone, 118 OTA members participated in 163 meetings on the Hill.
288 members volunteered their time in 2023 to take part in 42 member community meetings, and more than 200 organic stakeholders took a week out of their busy lives to participate in Organic Week.
We held 43 educational events during the year, including 16 webinars, attracting almost 125 participants each on average.
OTA was featured in over 10,000 media stories, radio interviews and blogs and podcasts, including my appearances on CBS and NBC nightly news shows talking about SOE. Those two shows alone have some 12 million viewers.

The work ahead

We have no intention of resting on our laurels in the new year. We will keep pushing organic forward.

In Congress, we’ll continue to make our presence known. The Farm Bill debate is going to intensify next year, and we will not let the organic voice be drowned out by bigger interest groups. We will be engaged in the process and build upon organic’s successes in recent Farm Bills.

Organic needs investment in infrastructure, more funding for research and adequate financial support for organic producers. The growth of organic agriculture in this country still lags that demand, and that imbalance cannot continue.

Consumers need to know organic to value it. We’ll help consumers understand all the benefits of organic – for our environment, our health, our local economies – and work to keep organic the gold standard for sustainable agriculture and healthy food.

With your continued support, we know we can be successful in these critical upcoming fights to support and grow our industry. Organic has always been a community, and in 2024 we will turn to our community even more for inspiration, support and insight.

Together we grow organic.

Tom Chapman

CEO/Executive Director

Organic Trade Association

Exit Interview: Alexis Carey

stephanie@llmpubs.com — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 17:28:25 +0000

September 9, 2022

After four years of supporting and growing U.S. organic products in the global marketplace, Alexis Carey has departed the trade association to pursue an advanced degree and further her international career goals. The Organic Report caught up with her to discuss her time at OTA.

Tell us about the best part of working in the international department at OTA?

This job is so diverse—I love that aspect. I’ve been able to work on trade policy, international marketing, and advocacy with USDA. That being said, the best part about this job is the travel! OTA took me to dozens of countries all over the world over my last four years, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity.

Where is the biggest opportunity for U.S. organic products abroad?

The knowledge and interest in organic is growing globally, but we certainly have a huge role to play in expanding the market! Recently, we’ve seen interest skyrocket in the Gulf region, particularly in the Dubai metro area. This is an important area to continue pursuing for growth, especially since the population is eager for more organic products and friendly to U.S. brands.

What’s your most memorable international trip on the job?

It’s hard to pick just one. I’ve been so fortunate to have had a myriad of trips in this role. My first trip to Biofach in 2019 was eye opening—it was definitely a work hard-play hard environment, organic style. I learned so much on that trip, but was most in awe of the passion for organic globally. This is truly a unique and diverse industry. Sharing beers in an old German beer hall after a long day at the trade show wasn’t too bad, either!

What’s the best thing you ate or saw while traveling?

Getting to see the sun rise over the Dubai skyline was a pretty amazing experience. That being said, one of the things I will miss most from this job is the food! My first traditional Korean meal was an experience—if you know, you know. I will really miss the ramen vending machines in Japan.

What international practice or item do you wish was more common in the U.S.?

Such a good question—other countries, especially in Europe, have sustainable practices so entrenched in their everyday routines. They bring Tupperware to restaurants to carry their leftovers home, composting is much more common, etc. The U.S. organic community is really good about sustainable practices, but I think we can all continue to do more, and Europe is a great example.

Where are you headed next, and what is your dream for the future?

I’m off to pursue a Master’s in International Affairs from George Washington University in DC. I’m hoping to focus on food and water security, and ensure we have the resources we need to feed ourselves in 50 years. I know I’ll keep the organic community close, and hope my next job is at least half as fun as this one has been.

As we say goodbye to Alexis, we welcome Sarah Gorman as OTA’s new International Trade Manager. We look forward to sharing more about her in future issues.

This article was originally published in the Fall 2022 Organic Report, you can view the full magazine here.

Organic Trade Association Recommendations for New Organic Transition Initiative

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 20:35:26 +0000

June 16, 2022

Following a series of working groups and listening sessions with Organic Trade Association (OTA) members throughout the last year, on June 1, 2022, USDA announced its intention to invest $300 million into a new Organic Transition Initiative program as part of the USDA Food System Transformation Framework.

“USDA's new Organic Transition Initiative will jumpstart that growth by making the organic transition process more accessible and impactful; particularly for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, who experience unique challenges to accessing resources and support programs,” said OTA CEO and Executive Director Tom Chapman in a press statement celebrating the announcement. “This historic investment in food production, which increases options for American farmers to ‘adopt practices that are both good for their businesses and the climate,’ is a significant win for our industry.”

According to USDA, the new Organic Transition Initiative (“the Initiative”) will deliver wrap-around technical assistance, including farmer-to-farmer mentoring; provide direct support through conservation financial assistance and additional crop insurance assistance and support market development projects in targeted markets. Few additional details have been released to date. OTA's recommendations to ensure that the Initiative is effective and accessible for America’s next generation of organic producers are summarized here.

Technical Assistance

The lack of organic-specific technical assistance is one of the primary barriers to organic transition. Significant investment in technical assistance is required to meet the needs of organic and transitioning farmers spanning diverse production systems, scales, and geographic regions. USDA’s programs should address gaps in support by ensuring there are targeted resources available for producers transitioning to, currently in, and expanding organic production.

OTA encourages USDA’s program to support the expansion of organic-trained farmer mentors as well as experts that can provide one-on-one technical assistance to organic and transitioning farmers. Where experienced organic mentors cannot be found or cannot be found in enough numbers, USDA should offer additional alternative technical assistance tools that are relevant to farms across a wide diversity of crop and livestock products, production system types, and scales of production. Tools should also be designed to adequately support all farmers interested in transitioning, including socially disadvantaged farmers/businesses, traditionally underserved populations, and those in geographically isolated regions.

Currently there is a severe lack of USDA field staff, crop advisors, extension agents, and other agricultural service providers with organic management literacy to support farmers. USDA should dedicate resources toward improving organic training of field staff and partner with non-profits, cooperatives, and other organizations that can help address the shortage of organic technical assistance. USDA should develop a competitive grant program for organizations that provide regionally adapted technical assistance programs and services that support farmers transitioning to organic. Establishing public-private partnerships across organizations, sectors, and supply chain participants can amplify organic technical assistance efforts and should be a significant component of the USDA initiative.

Market Development

Increasing processing capacity and supporting market development opportunities is critical to ensure a healthy organic marketplace, however, market development programs should not be one-size-fits-all. Specific sectors, commodity types, and geographic regions have different needs and must be supported through targeted programs and resources. USDA should develop a competitive grant program for market and infrastructure development to expand organic processing capacity including retooling, refurbishing and rebuilding processing facilities to meet organic market demand across all regions, commodities and scales.

Focus areas identified as priorities for USDA by OTA include but are not limited to:

Domestic production and handling of livestock feed proteins (e.g., soybean meal, canola, alfalfa, sun cake).
Market development for rotational crops (e.g., oats, barley, field peas, lentils).
Sourcing staple ingredients for manufacturing (e.g., sugar, peanuts, red fruit, sun oil/edible oil).
Domestic production and handling of fiber crops (e.g., cotton and hemp).

Other Programs

USDA has stated that the Initiative will also provide additional, direct support to transitioning producers through existing conservation and crop insurance programs. OTA has provided detailed recommendations on a variety of financial, policy, and improvements to make these programs more accessible and effective for certified and transitioning-to-organic producers. Many of these recommendations are detailed in the trade association’s June 2021 comments to USDA.

Program Administration

OTA will be watching for where within USDA’s Market and Regulatory Program architecture this initiative will be administered. If any of the components are to be administered through the National Organic Program, OTA seeks assurance that the program administration will not compromise existing NOP priorities (ex., standards development and enforcement).

OTA appreciates USDA’s efforts to support organic agriculture through multi-faceted investments in reducing financial risks, improving market and infrastructure development, increasing access to land and credit, providing technical assistance, and removing disincentives to transition. Every dollar invested in organic agriculture drives significant economic, environmental, and health co-benefits for our people, our planet, and our organic producers and businesses.

OTA Recommendations for the Biden Administration - A Progress Report

Anonymous — Tue, 17 May 2022 17:57:06 +0000

May 17, 2022

Addressing climate change and bolstering American resilience was a central promise of President Joe Biden’s campaign. While still on the trail, then candidate-Biden stressed that “climate change poses an existential threat – not just to our environment, but to our health, our communities, our national security, and our economic well-being.” Biden also promised to invest in organic farming practices “such as conservation programs for cover crops and other practices aimed at restoring the soil and building soil carbon". Two years into his presidency, we assess how well the Biden-Harris Administration has lived up to its campaign promises on climate and agriculture and how actions taken by the Administration to date stack up against the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA) top transition memo recommendations on advancing organic agriculture.

Successes

Publish a Final Rule on Origin of Livestock

After seven years in the regulatory process, on April 5, 2022, the USDA National Organic Program published a final rule to amend the requirements for dairy animals eligible to produce organic milk and milk products. The Origin of Livestock (OOL) Final Rule came as a result of years of advocacy by the Organic Trade Association and our Dairy Council members.

The OOL Final Rule addresses several key gaps in the regulations and is largely in line with OTA’s recommendations:

Organic milk and milk products must be from animals that have been under continuous organic management from the last third of gestation. There is a one-time exception for operations to transition non-organic dairy animals to organic milk production by managing animals organically for 12-months.
Once an operation uses its one-time transition opportunity, it cannot transition any additional nonorganic animals.
Breeder stock must be managed organically from the last third of gestation of its offspring through the end of period that the breeder stock is nursing the offspring.

OTA’s OOL Fact Sheet and additional information on the final rule can be found on our website.

Restore Organic Leadership Within USDA

On April 27, 2021, President Biden announced his intention to nominate Jenny Lester Moffitt to the role of Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, which oversees the USDA National Organic Program. This appointment was particularly important to the organic industry, given Moffitt’s deep roots in organic agriculture – having grown up on an organic walnut farm – and established commitment to sustainability and conservation. Previously, Moffitt served as Undersecretary at the California Department of Food and Agriculture and as Managing Director at Dixon Ridge Farms, her family’s organic walnut farm and processing operation in Solano County, California. A profile of Moffitt can be found in the Spring 2022 OTA Organic Report.

Restore the Senior Organic Advisor Role at USDA

Marni Karlin was appointed as USDA Senior Organic Advisor in October 2021; a move which OTA celebrated in a press announcement welcoming Karlin. Reviving this role at USDA was among OTA’s top priorities for the Biden administration (it was eliminated during the Trump administration) as it ensures that organic is integrated across USDA staff, activities, and policy making.

Works in Progress

Ensure organic has a seat at the table in climate discussions

Of OTA’s 12 total recommendations for supporting organic, our top priority was ensuring that organic has a seat at the table in climate discussions – particularly in the development of any certification-type programs that incentivize climate-friendly farm practices. On February 7, 2022, USDA announced that it would be “delivering on its promise to expand markets by investing $1 billion in partnerships to support America’s climate-smart farmers, ranchers and forest landowners”. In the announcement, USDA encouraged stakeholders to apply for pilot projects that would incentivize farmers to adopt climate-smart practices and reward early adopters including organic farmers. OTA recently submitted a proposal for the project that, if funded, would provide free soil testing and technical assistance for up to 1,600 organic and transitioning farmers. The project would also invest in a consumer-facing marketing campaign to promote the climate benefits of organic farming systems.

Reinstate the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule

Organic livestock and poultry producers have been clamoring for stronger animal welfare standards for nearly 20 years – almost as long as the Organic Foods Production Act has existed. After years of public and industry engagement in the rulemaking process, the Trump Administration abruptly rescinded the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) rule in 2017. In response, OTA filed a lawsuit against USDA (ongoing) and has been working to bring the rule back to life ever since. To date, almost 120,000 comments have been submitted to USDA on OLPP, only .07% of which were opposed to implementation of the rule.

Soon, USDA plans to publish a new version of this rule – the Organic Livestock Poultry Standards (OLPS) rule. OTA urges USDA to swiftly finalize OLPS and to set a reasonable implementation timeline (organic regulations typically have implementation periods of around two years) that ensures uniform, higher standards are in place as soon as possible.

Publish an interim final rule to address the backlog of NOSB recommendations and establish a new framework for standards development

In February 2022, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced a “public listening session, with request for comment, regarding upcoming standards development activities, including feedback about specific recommendations received from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)”. This progress comes as the result of years of advocacy by OTA and from our allies in Congress to create transparency around the organic rulemaking process as outlined in H.R. 2918, the Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards Act.

Integrate organic into federal nutrition and procurement programs

In their 2022 supply chain report, “USDA Agri-Food Supply Chain Assessment: Program and Policy Options for Strengthening Resilience,”USDA highlights the need to expand flexibility in purchasing programs to include local and organically produced options. The agency recommends specifically that Congress take action to “enact and promote policies that allow sourcing of ‘values-based foods,’ such as locally produced and processed foods, organic foods, and climate-smart foods, for food procurement. OTA is encouraged by USDA’s interest in bringing more local and organic foods and ingredients into federal nutrition and procurement programs and will continue to work toward expanding this opportunity for our industry.

Restore full-funding for organic certification cost-share

OTA’s transition recommendation urges USDA to restore National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program (OCCSP) funding to defray the cost of organic certification to the full/historic reimbursement rate of 75%. In May, 2022, USDA released the full details of the 2022 OCCSP funding opportunity along with details on the new Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program (OTECP) – $20 million in pandemic assistance to cover certification, education, and other expenses for agricultural producers who are certified organic or transitioning to organic. While the reimbursement rate for OCCSP is still set at 50%, below the OTA recommended rate, OTECP does fill the gap – for now – by allowing farmers to cover up to 25% of their transition costs through that program.

Organic transition should also be on track to receive additional support, according to an announcement at OTA’s June 2021 member meeting made by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. At that meeting, Vilsack announced $200 million would be invested in a new Organic Transition Program. Through the new initiative, USDA plans to invest in technical assistance for farmers and organic training for USDA field staff, as well as market development investments to expand processing and distribution capacity for organic supply chains. The program may also make improvements to existing USDA programs to better serve organic and transitioning farmers including conservation, crop insurance, certification cost-share, and research. OTA expects USDA will soon announce further details on this initiative.

Improve Crop Insurance and USDA risk management tools

USDA has made some important strides in the risk management assistance and opportunities they offer to organic producers. In 2022, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) increased expansion limits for organic producers with coverage through Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP). RMA is also updated the insurance option to allow producers to report acreage as certified organic or transitioning, as long as organic certification was requested by the acreage reporting date. Additionally, this year, RMA introduced a new WFRP option, Micro Farm, which is designed for producers with small-scale operations that sell locally, including organic producers.

Reform federal milk marketing orders

Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs) establish certain provisions under which dairy processors purchase fresh milk from dairy farmers supplying a marketing area. Efforts in Congress are currently underway to explore this in the next farm bill, though the organic dairy sector has not yet released specific recommendations or priorities.

Needs Improvement

Embed organic within USDA research programs

While organic has seen steady improvements in programming and funding for designated organic research programs (e.g., OREI - Organic Research and Extension Initiative) and set asides (e.g., EQIP-OI - Environmental Quality Incentives Program – Organic Initiative), there still remains significant work to be done in order to bring organic resources into parity with conventional agriculture.

“Organic Consumer” is an Oxymoron

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 00:30:58 +0000

February 28, 2022

In use for centuries, the term ‘consumer’ came into its own in the 1920s, as our economy offered a greater volume and variety of things to purchase, accompanied by the development of advertising and personal credit, which together brought us to the point where marketing can be referred to as the business of convincing people to buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have.

While we might debate its value to our trade, I doubt many of us would argue that, had the word not already achieved universal application, ‘consumer’ would be our first choice as a self-identifier.

When I consider how to approach “consumer education,” I believe we first need to educate people that they are something different and more than a consumer, a term that, as one colleague pointed out to me, infers that our role is simply to show up, buy and use stuff up, minus responsibility for how it was produced or distributed.

Which is precisely how the conventional food and fiber sectors want us to behave. There is no need for us to see behind the curtain. In some cases, they even try to prevent us from seeing behind the curtain, as they oppose labeling of GMOs and pass laws making it illegal to document or object to conventional practices. Our role is to show up to examine finished product, consider price, and make our selections. Period.

By its nature, our trade encourages a different approach. We offer shoppers the opportunity to witness production and distribution from soil to table, as we take down the curtain and provide visibility into organic practices and presence at the table when we deliberate guidelines and regulations.

This approach calls for us to recognize different roles with different labels, of which at least two are close at hand:

“Eaters”—Wendell Berry did us the favor of defining eating as an agricultural act, and I think most shoppers of organic goods would embrace the term. These shoppers aren’t typically producers beyond a garden, if that, but they are conscious in their purchasing, truly voting with their dollars.
“Co-producers”—courtesy of SLOW Food, which asks us to not only look behind the curtain, but to go there as a participant in supporting the transitions we seek. There are many opportunities here, mostly in contacting producers directly, not only at their farm or farmers’ markets or through CSAs, but also by engaging organizations that support the evolution of integrated holistic production of food.

When I entered the trade 40 years ago, we referred to the status quo as “commercial.” That was, until we admitted to ourselves that our efforts were also commercial. We wondered where to go from that descriptor and ultimately determined that “conventional” was a more accurate term for agricultural products and practices that weren’t organic and soon the switch was made across the board. We did it once, so I know we can do it again.

Reframing our business relationship with our fellow citizens ultimately requires us to be compassionate, transparent, and accountable in the totality of our dealings. It empowers them to make informed decisions, and compels us to solicit, intuit and respect their needs.

David Lively is Pioneer Emeritus at Organically Grown Company and a member of OTA’s Board of Directors.

This article was originally published in the Spring 2022 Organic Report, you can view the full magazine here.