Organic
Agriculture
Organic
farming is among the fastest growing segments of agriculture. Senator Leahy, known as the Afather@ of the
national organic standards, led House and Senate conferees to include expanded
organic provisions in this Farm Bill.
NEW! Exemption
of Certified Organic Products from Assessments: The farm
bill exempts farmers who produce and market 100% organic products from paying
assessments under commodity promotion laws.
NEW! National
Organic Certification Cost-Share Program: The 2002 farm bill establishes and
provides $5 million in funding for a national organic certification cost share
program to assist producers and handlers of agricultural products in obtaining
certification under the National Organic Program established under the Organic
Foods Production Act of 1990. Each
producer or handler will be eligible for a reimbursement of up to 75 percent of
its costs of certification, not to exceed $500. This program was initially created as a
15-state pilot by Leahy in crop insurance legislation. Last year,
NEW! Organic
Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative: The farm
bill expands this initiative to include on-farm research and development for
working organic farms, determination of desirable traits for organic
commodities, and identification of marketing and policy constraints on the
expansion of organic agriculture.
$15 million is provided to fund these organic farming research
initiatives, which will be made available through a competitive grants process
($3 million/year 2003-2007).
In addition, the Secretary of Agriculture is required to facilitate
access to organic research conducted outside of the
NEW! Organic Production and Market Data Initiatives: The Secretary of Agriculture is required to ensure that segregated data on the production and marketing of organic agricultural products is included in the ongoing baseline of data collection regarding agricultural production and marketing