Certified Organic Questions and Internet Access on Farms
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**With assumptions about high fees, extra paperwork and inspections, some farmers avoid becoming certified organic even though they may already be organic or want to transition to earn higher prices.
But some who’ve gone through the process suggest such
perceptions may be overblown, and the benefits outweigh the added cost and effort.
Vasken Hauri of Country Nerd Farm in Mariposa County, says being able to label his specialty mushrooms with the certified organic logo is “a huge trust builder.”
**Census of Agriculture data says across rural America, the percentage of farm operations or operator residences with internet access increased from 75.4% in 2017 to 78.7% in 2022.
While many southeastern states still lag behind the U.S. average, most of them had significant increases in producers’ internet access over that period.
There are still a surprising number of producers, at 21.3%, who don’t have access to the internet.
**Recent political rhetoric from Democrats blames the meat and poultry industry for rising meat prices.
Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris says the food industry’s “corporate price gouging” would be the focus of an upcoming speech.
National Chicken Council Interim President Gary Kushner says it’s time for the administration to stop using the meat and poultry industry as a scapegoat and distraction for inflation and economic challenges.
