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Organic: choosing a certifer

The first step to certification, at least for us, was choosing a certifier. This is the agency/company/group accredited by the USDA to conduct inspections and issue certifications. There are a truly...

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Organic: Outline of Certification Requirements

We are now actively writing and compiling our official application for organic certification, and it is a thick task. I’m grateful for my experiences in assembling a teaching portfolio for my Masters...

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Organic: Certification Section I

As promised, as part of our series documenting our transition to organic certification, I will be posting much of the text and documentation that we’ll be submitting to the certifier. The goal in doing...

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Organic: Public Records

While many of the record-keeping requirements of certification are onerous, they have several hidden benefits and opportunities. One of these is the chance to really educate consumers about farming and...

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USDA: organic methods benefit pecans

The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service recently released results from a fascinating study on the use of organic methods on pecan orchards. Starting with an 800-tree conventionally managed orchard in...

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Organic: avoiding GMOs

Genetically Modified Organisms. Just typing the phrase practically guarantees some sort of heated reaction to a blog post. I don’t have the time or inclination to jump head-first into the debates over...

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Antibiotics in vegetables

A quick lunchtime post on the type of cold, sunny day that I like best for outdoor work: The Ethicurean has an informative, provocative recent column on the uptake of veterinary antibiotics into...

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Organic certification update

I have partially failed in my earlier goal of posting all our organic certification paperwork as we generated it, but I’d like to accomplish that this spring. Regardless, we finally got the application...

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Organic certification – inspection

We’re moving on to the next step in the certification process; the inspection. On April 1, a licensed inspector will visit the farm and spend hours poring over our records, documentation, maps,...

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Organic certification – inspection recap

Our official Organic inspection took place yesterday, and I think it’s fair to say it went well. Having never gone through the process before, I’ll walk through it for the interest of customers and...

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Organic Inspection in photos

We had a special guest during yesterday’s organic inspection: photographer Catherine Szalkowski. Cat contacted us back in February, interested in conducting a long-term project tracking the transition...

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Organic Certification – It’s official!

Our mail today contained a most welcome delivery: our official Organic certification certificate, along with a copy of the inspector’s report and other documents. I’ll post more about these when I have...

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National organic farm maps

The NY Times recently published an absolutely fascinating map showing the distribution of organic farms as compared to other types of farm operations. It’s a must-peruse for anyone bothering to read...

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Quirks in organic transitions

I received an email question from a reader, who is starting a small farm and planning to certify, asking how to handle long-term things like fruit trees which they want to source from a local but...

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2010 Organic inspection

We’re about to have our official annual Organic certification inspection, scheduled for this Thursday, June 10. Last year our initial inspection happened in early April, because the certifier...

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JJR Farm quitting organic meat & egg sales

John & Julie Rice of JJR Farm face an uphill battle trying to produce certified organic meat & eggs in central Missouri. There are no reliable local sources for organic grains; John’s often had...

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The Stanford organic study: Bad science, terrible reporting

There’s been a lot written about the so-called Stanford organic study,  that peer-reviewed journal article that came out around Labor Day. The study generated a flurry of headlines to the effect that...

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Organic cost-share, the Farm Bill, and us

Among the hoopla and uproar over the still-delayed Farm Bill is one situation that has important implications for our farm. As a general rule we’re not directly sensitive to Farm Bill contents, as we...

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Organic certification costs – Harvest Public Media radio story

Recently a reporter from Harvest Public Media visited our farm to talk about the costs & benefits of organic certification; a well-timed story given concerns over the effect of a stalled Farm Bill...

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Organic re-certification decision

Back in November, we wrote about the political uncertainty surrounding organic cost-share funding, and its potential impact on the farm for this (and future) years. Harvest Public Media did a story on...

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