Small Producers Versus Big Producers

As of January 1, 2012 some states will no longer have their DOA agencies be certifying agents for organic farms due to massive budget cuts. This means if a grower is already certified, they will have to contact an outside agency to maintain organic certification and pay for it out of pocket. If a grower is wanting to become newly organic certified, they will have to apply for out of state certification which could take much longer with no guarantees of availability. There is a misconception that organic certification is handled by the United States Department of Agriculture, but the USDA’s National Organic Program doesn’t provide certification, it just sets the organic standards for certifying agencies and approves states or private agencies to do so. With what would be a considerably high cost for bringing in out of state certifiers, most small family farms will not be able to afford organic certification; resulting in organic consumers having to buy organic produce from out of state or from foreign countries. Looks like organic growers may soon be facing the same dilemma as conventional growers; small producers versus big producers.