From the USDA:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on March 12 announced the decision to withdraw the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule published Jan. 19, 2017.

The rule would have increased federal regulation of livestock and poultry for certified organic producers and handlers. The withdrawal becomes effective May 13.

Significant policy and legal issues were identified after the rule published in January 2017. After careful review and two rounds of public comment, USDA has determined that the rule exceeds the department’s statutory authority, and that the changes to the existing organic regulations could have a negative effect on voluntary participation in the National Organic Program, including real costs for producers and consumers.

“The existing robust organic livestock and poultry regulations are effective,” said USDA Marketing and Regulatory Program Undersecretary Greg Ibach. “The organic industry’s continued growth domestically and globally shows that consumers trust the current approach that balances consumer expectations and the needs of organic producers and handlers.”

According to USDA reports for 2017, the number of certified organic operations increased domestically by 7 percent and globally by 11 percent. Industry estimates show that organic sales in the United States reached almost $47 billion in 2016, reflecting an increase of almost $3.7 billion since 2015.

The USDA carefully considered public comments and the relative costs and benefits for both producers and consumers of imposing the proposed additional regulations.

More information on the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule is available in the March 12 Federal Register or https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification at this link.

NOFA-NY Holds Annual Conference

Go to http://www.troyrecord.com/general-news/20170121/farming-group-celebrates-diversity-at-capital-region-event to check out the story.

Organic Producers, Handlers Now Eligible to Apply for Federal Reimbursement

From the USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that starting March 20, organic producers and handlers will be able to visit over 2,100 USDA Farm Service Agency offices to apply for federal reimbursement to assist with the cost of receiving and maintaining organic or transitional certification.

USDA is making changes to increase participation in the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program  and the Agricultural Management Assistance Organic Certification Cost Share Program, and at the same time provide more opportunities for organic producers to access other USDA programs, such as disaster protection and loans for farms, facilities and marketing. 

Producers also can access information on nonfederal agricultural resources, and get referrals to local experts, including organic agriculture, through USDA’s Bridges to Opportunity service at the local Farm Service Agency office.

Historically, many state departments of agriculture have obtained grants to disburse reimbursements to those producers and handlers qualifying for cost share assistance. Farm Service Agency will continue to partner with states to administer the programs. 

For states that want to continue to directly administer the programs, applications will be due Feb. 17. 

Eligible producers include any certified producers or handlers who have paid organic or transitional certification fees to a  USDA-accredited certifying agent. 

Application fees, inspection costs, fees related to equivalency agreement/ arrangement requirements, travel/per diem for inspectors, user fees, sales assessments and postage are all eligible for a cost share reimbursement from USDA.

Once certified, producers and handlers are eligible to receive reimbursement for up to 75 percent of certification costs each year up to a maximum of $750 per certification scope — crops, livestock, wild crops and handling.  

Today’s announcement also adds transitional certification and state organic program fees as additional scopes.

To learn more about organic certification cost share, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/organic or contact a local FSA office by visiting http://offices.usda.gov.

Organic Farming on the Rise in NY

Check out this http://www.wcax.com/story/33480821/officials-organic-farming-growing-across-ny story here.

Got an Ag Problem? Call the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station

Sarah Hulick, a grad student in horticulture at Cornell, studies pumpkin plants with Steve Reiners.

From Empire Farm & Dairy magazine:

By DEBRA J. GROOM
Empire Farm & Dairy
 
When there are problems in the world of agriculture, there is only one place to go for help.
 
The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station is filled with scientists, researchers and professors who work for years to solve some of the most daunting problems faced by farmers and food processors. 
 
How about a pesky fruit fly from Asia that devastates berry crops?
 
What do you do with a nasty bug that transmits a virus to snap beans?
 
Just how do you grow organic beets?
 
How do you get fruits and vegetables pollinated when the honeybee population is waning?
 
“Everyone who works here has a passion for this place,” said Susan Brown, a long-time apple breeding scientist at the station and now its director. “There are many sites that do agricultural research, but what’s unique about the station is we crave and excel at interdisciplinary research.”
 
Those at the station prove this time and time again.
 
When there’s a problem to be solved, it doesn’t go to just one scientist. Usually a whole team with varying expertise will work on the issue.
 
For example, in 2001, when Steve Reiners, a vegetable expert, began looking at the devastation brought to snap beans by the cucumber mosaic virus, a group of horticulturists, entomologists, plant pathologists and plant breeders jumped in to work on the problem.
 
“Working together, we found the soybean aphid (an insect pest) was transmitting the virus,” he said. “There were questions we didn’t have answers to,” he said, so everyone put their heads together to find out how to help New York’s snap bean farmers.
 

Thomas Bjorkman, center, with buckwheat grown as a cover crop.

He said one of the short-term solutions was to control the soybean aphid with sprays. But since many farmers like to stay away from chemicals as much as possible, the scientists also looked at varieties of snap beans that may be resistant to the virus.
 
“My colleague Brian Nault was looking at patterns with the soybean aphid and found that they were picking up the virus in alfalfa fields. So then we were able to look at the varieties with greatest resistance to the virus,” Reiners said.
 
From there, the scientists found a snap bean variety called Huntington that had great yields when planted in New York and also had good resistance to the virus.
 
But farmers needed a long-term solution to the problem too. So the scientists began working on coming up with new varieties of snap beans that would be even more resistant to the soybean aphid and the virus.
 
“We used everybody’s expertise to solve it for the short term and long term,” Reiners said.
 
There’s never enough time
 
Sometimes, time is of the essence, like in the snap bean problem.
 
Farmers are having a problem right now and can’t wait years for a solution. (Sometimes research and testing for new varieties can take from five to 10 years).
 
But other times, there’s a problem that needs to be worked out slowly and steadily. Such is that with weeds and soil quality in vegetables.
 
Ag station scientist Thomas Björkman focuses part of his research on cover crops for vegetables. Björkman, who has been at the experiment station for more than 20 years, said cover crops are important because they can help improve soil quality and eliminate weeds.
 
“When herbicide development went way down, we had to have multiple approaches for controlling weeds,” he said.
 
Björkman began by looking at crops that are harvested in July, such as spring greens, spinach, peas or early green beans. The farmers wanted something they could do to their fields to keep them free of weeds and healthy so they could use those same fields in the fall to plant something else.
 
“So we thought about using buckwheat as an alternative,” he said. “It’s one of these things we know in principle that it works, but we had to put in the effort to know exactly how to do it.”
 
He said he looked at ground preparation and what is needed to make the buckwheat grow and keep out the weeds. Farmers throughout the state (especially in Western New York and the Hudson Valley) began using it about 10 years ago and it is working well. 

A Cornell University website post by Björkman states “classic uses include: ground cover after early vegetables, cover before planting strawberry beds, and bringing idle land into production.”
 
“When it turns white, the farmers mow it and prepare for fall planting,” he said. The buckwheat can be harvested or it can be put back into the soil as a grain manure — its complex carbohydrates from the roots help hold together soil aggregates and build the condition of tilled soil.
 
Way too much waste
 
There are times when farmers have problems not with growing their vegetables or fruits, but figuring out what to do with leftover waste.
 
A butternut squash farmer in Western New York sold his squash cut and prepared in bags at area grocery stores. His problem was what to do with all the leftover guts — the seeds and insides of the squash not used after processing.
 
Ag Experiment Station scientists at the Food Venture Center put the farmer in touch with Gregory Woodworth, who ran a cookie company and was looking for a healthier oil for his cookies.
 
Station director Brown said the parties worked together and came up with butternut squash seed oil that Woodworth now sells through his Stony Brook WholeHearted Foods company based in Geneva. The oil debuted in 2008 and sells in individual bottles or by the case.
 
According to the company’s website, the oil is high in unsaturated fat, particularly unrefined omega 6 fatty acid (linoleic acid) and a moderate amount of monounsaturated fat (oleic acid). The oil also has high amount of vitamins A and E, which is quite different from other oils.
 

Good broccoli grown in NY

George H.W. Bush
wouldn’t be happy
 
Broccoli is a cool-weather crop that grows best in areas that have moderate temperatures that stay about the same all the time.
 
Björkman said a lot of the broccoli in the country is grown in the Salinas, Calif. area, which is near the Pacific Ocean and maintains highs in the low 70s and lows in the 50s and 40s.
 
This is why broccoli does not grow well in New York state. Björkman said the plant — a member of the cabbage family — does not tolerate the high highs (can you say 90s) we can see in New York.
 
“It’s just too warm for the buds to develop,” Björkman said. “So we had to find out what it takes genetically to grow broccoli and now are breeding broccoli hybrids that are successful.”
 
The trials have been so promising that seed companies are investing “in the promise of Eastern broccoli.” 

This will be a boon for the area because of the Buy Local campaigns and people wanting to buy fresh food grown locally, instead of getting broccoli that has been shipped all the way from California.
 
“Our Eastern broccoli has a milder flavor, but it has the freshness and is locally grown,” Björkman said. To date, growers with Eden Valley Growers in Erie County and Upstate New York Growers and Packers Co-op in Oneida County are selling the broccoli as is Wegman stores.
 
But there is more work to be done on the broccoli.
 
“We are not done with the broccoli yet,” Björkman said. “While we have greatly imporved gybrids in the breeding programs, they still need to be commericialized. The companies are fully on board to do that, but it is a time consuming process. There’s probably five years of more work to be done.”
 
Björkman also said hybrids that work in the spring also need to be developed and more market development needs to be done. He hopes the “food hub trend is a solution to that problem, and we are using that model with broccoli as a high-volume part of what a food hub might offer.”
 
Fly, fly away, fly
 
Berry farmers were having a horrible time beginning in 2012 when the spotted wing drosophila (a type of fruit fly) made its way to New York state from Asia and California. This pest is unlike other fruit flies that normally lay eggs in rotting fruit — it lays its eggs in fresh fruit.
 
Reiners said farmers needed a way to keep the fly out of the berry fields — mostly blueberries and raspberries. First they urned to netting which covers susceptible fruit and keeps the fly out.
 
Gregory Loeb, a professor of entomology at the ag station, tried some of the netting at a blueberry farm in Stephentown, Rensselaer County, that was “pretty successful.” The problem was the farmer had an upfront cost for the netting and had to have supports for the netting.
 
While the netting is being used, Loeb said he and other scientists are looking for other ways to control the fly.
 
“Can we understand the chemical cues to find out where the (fly) accepts or rejects to lay its eggs,” Loeb said. “If we can do this, we can manipulate the behavior of the insect.”
 
He said scientists also are looking at developing “an attractive target” that would pull the fly away from the fruit and then kill it.
 
“It will take us a few years to get this to a management effect, but we’re making progress,” Loeb said.
 
Getting more pumpkins
 
Reiners said ag station scientists have been working with pumpkin growers to try to increase the yields of this popular fall veggie.
 
Some of the ideas they’ve been working on include spacing between pumpkin plants, starting the plants in a greenhouse and then transplanting them, using black plastic on top of the plants and working on a fertility program to increase the number of pumpkins. 
 
Love Beets
 
Scientists at the Ag Experiment Station today are looking at how beets could be grown in New York state organically.
 
Reiners said conventional beets have problems with diseases and weeds, but the scientists are trying to find out how to grow them organically to help a company called Love Beets, which is seeking nearly 2,000 acres of organically grown beets for its beet products and beet juices.
 
There are beet growers in the state, mostly near Batavia, but they grow conventionally. Reiners said if a method to grow beets organically can be found, New York growers could expand their markets and possibly grow more acres by teaming with Love Beets.
 
Food without bees
 
Honeybees have been having problems for more than a decade with various maladies, including Colony Collapse Disorder, in which whole colonies of bees would die off or just leave for no reason. Bee populations have been dying off and some beekeepers have lost large percentages of their colonies.
 
Without the bees, farmers are having difficulties getting their crops pollinated. So, in comes the scientists from the Ag Experiment station who are trying to create a type of zucchini that is seedless and needs no bees for pollination.
 
Also, the station scientists looked into bringing other types of bees to fields for pollination. they planted flowers around fields to attract other types of bees that would come to the flowers and then move among the flowering food crops, pollinating them so they would produce vegetables and fruits.
 
The apples of her eye
 

The two newest apple varieties in New York were developed after 10 years of research by Brown and the breeding program at the experiment station.
 
SnapDragon is characterized by its “monster crunch” and a spicy and sweet flavor. One of its parents is the Honeycrisp. RubyFrost is crisp and blends sweet and tart flavors.
 
Brown calls SnapDragon and the RubyFrost® her babies. The station has developed 66 varieties of apples, including the Empire, Macoun, Jonagold and its first — the Cortland, which turns 101 years old this year.
 
The study of food and drink
 
Christopher Gerling, extension associate in the food science department, says “anything you can think of happens here.”
 
“Here” is the Food Research Building at the Ag Experiment Station. In this building are laboratories that study taste, smell, texture and mouth feel of various foods and beverages.
 

Pam Raes, a technician in the Vinification & Brewing Laboratory, pours wine into the still for distillation into brandy.

Gerling said companies trying to come up with a new food or drink and people who want to see if they can take grandma’s sauce recipe and make it into a commercial success come to the labs to test their products. Station scientists in the viticulture area also will test how new varieties of grapes fare when made into wine or will see what two different types of grapes will make when put together for a wine.
 
They also look for different ways of making wine, beer and distilled spirits. One study took a bunch of all the same type of grape and then “we wanted to see what happens with different yeast or different fermentation,” he said.
 
“First they see if a certain type of grape grows well, but then, they have to see if it makes a good wine,” Gerling said. “We are always breeding to see if they make good wines.”
 
And it certainly isn’t party time when it comes down to testing these wines or beers or spirits.
“It’s not as fun as it sounds,” Gerling said.

 


 

Organic Cheese Plant Working to Meet Demand

By TED BOOKER
EMPIRE FARM & DAIRY
 
Health-conscious consumers sometimes choose to eat organic cheese over the regular variety, and they’re willing to pay more for it because of how it’s made.
 
Those are the kinds of consumers being targeted by Homestead Heritage Cheese, an arm of certified organic dairy farm Homestead Fields on Eiss Road near the hamlet of LaFargeville in Jefferson County. A creamery built on the farm started making cheese curds in October for the business, which is a brainchild of farm owner W. Edward Walldroff and his son-in-law, David Van Pelt II.
 
During a tour of the creamery at the 130-cow, 700-acre farm, Walldroff said the launch of the cheesemaking business came after years of careful planning. While the facility is now making only cheese curds, he said, production will be expanded next spring to include cheddar and possibly blue cheese.
 
Production has started on a small scale at the creamery, where a partial batch of cheese curds is made once a week using a 245-gallon vat and other equipment bought from a company in the Netherlands. But Van Pelt said he believes the business will expand rapidly as more retailers decide to buy wholesale batches of cheese curds. He said the farm, which became a certified-organic operation in 2006, is among a handful across the state that make organic cheese.
 
“We’d like to soon be in New York City and in a couple of artisan cheese stores in Rochester,” said Van Pelt, who completed a course in the summer of 2011 at the University of Vermont’s Institute of Artisan Cheese to become a cheesemaker.
 
The business already has begun to sell organic cheese curds to retailers in the north country, Walldroff said. Eight-ounce packages of curds - priced in stores from about $6 to $8 - are sold at the Mustard Seed health food store in Watertown, 1000 Islands River Rat Cheese in Clayton and a bookstore at St. Lawrence University in Canton. 

“We want to sell it in college towns where there’s a more health-conscious population,” Walldroff said, adding that his long-term business plan calls for eventually opening a retail store in a community along the St. Lawrence River. “We’d like to be able to do it in the next two to five years, and it would be like a health-food store.”
 
Walldroff, whose family has operated the farm here for five generations, said the farm has been run for nearly a decade as an organic operation. To receive a national organic certification, milk is made without using any antibiotics or pesticides. Cows are fed only a mixture of grasses and grain grown organically on the farm.
 
Cheese products made by the farm will complement the organic beef it already sells to area businesses, Walldroff said. The beef comes from the farm’s cull cattle - those not producing enough milk or getting too old.
 
“It all starts with the barn on the ground and the breeds of cattle that are going to produce milk for the best cheese,” Walldroff said. “We’re producing cheese here that others aren’t going to be able to duplicate, and we’re marrying it to an upscale market as a value-added product.”
 
Van Pelt is responsible for making cheese curds each Sunday at the creamery, in the same structure as the milking parlor. The process starts at 6:30 a.m. and typically finishes about 9 p.m., he said, after curds are packaged.
 
The farm bought the cheesemaking equipment in the fall of 2014, thanks to a $12,000 loan from the Development Authority of the North Country’s value-added agriculture loan fund and a $48,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant program.
 
Though the stainless steel vat has room to make larger batches of cheese curds, Van Pelt said, he is now making batches of about 80 to 100 pounds to meet the demand of clients. To start the process, milk is pasteurized by heating it to a temperature of 145 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.
 
He said milk then is cooled to below 100 degrees. Live cheese cultures are added to the milk, which begins to thicken as it’s agitated in the vat. The mixture is stirred slowly until it’s thick enough to cut into slices with a curd knife. 

As part of the process, called “cheddaring,” the semisolid curd is separated from liquid whey that is released from the bottom of the vat. The whey is fed to cattle.
 
“Cheesemaking suits my personality and detail-oriented career background,” said Van Pelt, an accountant at Carthage Area Hospital for five years before joining the farm about four years ago.
 
About 150 packages were made from an 87-pound batch of curds, he said. The curds, which are lightly salted, stay fresh for about a week.
 
Walldroff said he plans to build a concrete “aging facility” at the farm next spring that will be used to age cheeses. He said the aging process can last from six months to two years. 

The climate-controlled facility will be built by Jason Schnauber, a co-owner of the farm who is engaged to marry Walldroff’s daughter, Monica Schnauber, a Clayton native, said his construction experience has come in handy on the farm. He helped build the creamery during the past two years. But he said his daily chores vary widely.
 
“One day I’m a farmer,” he said, “and the next I’m a veterinarian or a builder. Every day has a different chore.”

Organics On the Rise

By DEBRA J. GROOM
Empire Farm & Dairy
 
While organic farming is growing by leaps and bounds, there is one farm in the Southern Tier that was way ahead of the trend.
 

Organic potato harvest at the Engelbert Farm

Engelbert Farms in Nichols, Tioga County, began back in the 1860s when the first members of the family came to this country from Germany. The family has been on the same site in Nichols since the early 1900s.
 
But it was 1981 when current farm owners, Kevin and Lisa Engelbert, began to farm organically. They became certified organic in 1984.
 
“Before, the farm was very chemically intensive,” said Lisa Engelbert. “Our herd was not well. We came to see the correlation of the extensive chemical use on the land and what was happening with the cows. So in 1981, we went cold turkey. No more chemicals.”
 
This farm was dubbed the “the first certified organic dairy farm in the country” through a national poll done by ODairy, a message listserv operated by the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance.
 

Engelbert Farms organic veggies

In that poll, “Kevin responded that we were first certified in 1984 with NOFA-NY. He thinks the survey contacted certifiers, too,” said Lisa Engelbert in an email. “It was determined by that survey. We knew we were the first certified-organic dairy in NYS, but that survey actually showed that we were the first certified organic dairy in the U.S.”
 
Just what made the Engelberts so ahead of the game?
 
Lisa Engelbert said she and her husband believe a farm is only as good as its soil. The soil at the farm had been treated for so many years with various chemicals and was not in good shape, she said.
 
Cows were eating what was grown in this soil and they were having numerous medical problems. She said vet bills were averaging $1,000 a month on the 175-milker herd.
 
“It starts with the soil,” she said. “The chemicals kill all the microorganisms in the soil and the soil can’t take up any of the naturally occurring nutrients.”
 
It took about a year — to 1982 — before the Engelberts starting seeing benefits from not using chemicals on their more than 2,000 acres.
 
In addition to pastureland for the herd, they also grow vegetables and raise pigs, chickens and beef.
 
“Things started to heal,” Engelbert said.
 
Today, the Engelberts have 2,400 acres of certified-organic land that produces vegetables, pastures the cows and grows crops such as hay, corn, soybeans and wheat. The cows also are not treated with artificial hormones or antibiotics.
 
While the number of organic dairies continues to soar, it seems there are still a shortage of them to produce enough products to meet consumer demand.
 
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service organic survey, New York had 13 percent of the nation’s certified-organic dairy farms in 2011, producing 8 percent of the country’s organic milk.
 
But Americans spent more than $5 billion on organic dairy products in 2014, with double-digit annual growth during much of the past decade, according to the USDA. While this demand increases, the supply of organic milk from co-op farmers has stayed fairly flat for the last few years, Travis Forgues, Organic Valley vice president of farmer affairs, recently told a Minnesota newspaper.
 
“The demand is huge, especially regionally like in the Northeast,” said Liz Bawden, a St. Lawrence County organic dairy farmer. “The highest demand is for organic dairy products and there’s also good demand for organic fluid milk.”
 
Bawden, who has been milking about 50 cows with her husband in the town of Hammond for about 15 years, said most organic dairies are small operations since the cows have to be in the pasture most of the time.
 
“Places like us could get bigger, but they still have to fit the organic standards (pasturing all the cows) and be placed along a route where they can pick up the milk,” Bawden said. “We’re good where we are right now.”
 
Lisa Engelbert agreed. She said it would be difficuilt for an organic dairy to reach the size of some conventional farms, such as those with 1,000 or more cows. Engelbert, who also works for the New York certification agency NOFA-NY, said there are many (she didn’t have an exact number) organic dairy certifications in the pipeline. 
 
Becoming an organic dairy is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of planning and paperwork that goes into it.
 
A certified organic farm is one that goes through the certification process with an organization such as NOFA-NY. An exempt organic farm is one that follows National Organic Standards, but is too small to go through the certification process.
 
At one time, most states had their own standards for what it means to be organic. It made things extremely confusing, especially when it came to farmers from one state trying to sell products in other states.
 
Then in 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture set up one uniform organic standard that everyone must follow. Different organizations do the actual certification of farms, but they all use the same USDA uniform organic standard.
 
Farms in New York are usually certified by NOFA-NY (Northeast Organic Farming Association-New York). The Engelbert farm was certified by NOFA Vermont because Lisa Engelbert works for NOFA-NY and had to stay away from a possible conflict of interest.
 
A certified farm can use the USDA Organic seal on its products. An exempt farm can use the term organic, but cannot use the USDA Organic seal.
 
To have their land certified, farmers must prove they’ve added no fertilizers or chemicals to it for three years. They also have to be sure there is a buffer between the organic land and neighbor’s farmland, so chemicals used there don’t end up on the organic land. And then every year, there is more paperwork to recertify the farm.
 
According to organic guidelines, an organic dairy herd must get 30 percent of its feed from the pasture. The rest must be organic grain or hay. Lisa Engelbert said her farm’s herd is in the pasture from the end of April to mid-November, depending on the weather.
 
“Grass and clover — a cow’s natural feed is grass,” she said. “We don’t press them for production. We don’t feed huge amounts. Our production average is 35 to 40 pounds of milk a day.”
 
They sell their milk to Organic Valley, one of the largest organic dairy product cooperatives in the U.S. with nearly 1,800 farms. You’ve probably seen Organic Valley milk, butter, yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, eggs, cheese and cream in local grocery stores.
 
The Bawdens sell their milk to Horizon, a brand within WhiteWave Foods, the company behind Land O’ Lakes and International Delight creamers. They also grow organic hay for their own use and for sale to local farmers.
 
The Engelberts sell their meat products, cheese and produce at their farm stand and at some stores.
 
“Pigs are fed certified-organic grains, milk, hay and leftover vegetables from our organic gardens,” according to the Engelbert Farms website. “No animal byproducts are ever fed to our animals.”
 

Changes Made to Help Farmers Transition to Organic Crops

From the USDA:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has introduced a new step to support farmers transitioning to certified organic production.

Vilsack

Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack said the department is expanding a crop insurance option to allow producers to purchase insurance coverage that better reflects their product's actual value. 

The expanded coverage is part of the department's continued commitment to provide farmers with resources and tools to meet the growing demand for certified organic products. 

"Consumer demand for organic products continues to increase and the industry has experienced remarkable growth, representing more than $39 billion in U.S. retail sales," said Vilsack. "This growth creates opportunities for farmers and businesses across the country. Expanding the safety net for farmers wanting to enter the organic market ensures they have the tools and resources they need to meet this growing demand while protecting their operation."

The organic sector is growing, and certified organic products often return higher profits for farmers. It can take producers three years, however, to transition from conventional to certified organic production. 

Previously, producers of transitional crops were able to insure them only at the same price as a conventional producer. But this department change enables producers to insure transitional crops to their contract price (within approved limits).

Producers transitioning to certified organic production can now use the Contract Price Addendum to cover their crops at a higher price than traditional crops. The Contract Price Addendum allows farmers transitioning to organic production to insure certain crops at their contract price rather than the published U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency price election.

The Risk Management Agency has also expanded organic premium price elections to 57 crops, up from four in 2011, providing organic producers the option to protect their 2016 crops closer to the market value. 

Barley, rice and wheat are among the crops for which organic price elections have been added. New additions for 2017 will include grapefruit, lemons and oranges.

For example, under the Contract Price Addendum, a producer in Nebraska can use a contract price for millet up to a maximum of $7.34 per bushel (for transitional) or $8.44 (for certified organic production), as opposed to using the existing Risk Management Agency price elections of $3.67 (for transitional) or $4.22 (for certified organic production). 
A Contract Price Addendum fact sheet is available online at http://go.usa.gov/cyFGR.

Since 2009, USDA has strengthened programs that support organic producers as they grow, thrive and respond to increasing consumer demand for organic products. 

Last year, USDA reported that U.S. certified and exempt organic farms sold a total of $5.5 billion in organic products in 2014, up 72 percent since 2008. The U.S. retail market for organic products is valued at more than $39 billion, and in 2014 there were 19,474 certified USDA organic operations in the United States, representing nearly a 250 percent increase since 2002. 

Worldwide, in 2014 there were nearly 28,000 certified organic operations in more than 120 different countries. 

More information about USDA's support under this Administration for organic producers and businesses can be found at www.usda.gov/results.

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. Contact a local crop insurance agent for more information about the program. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers or online at www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agent.html.


A list of commodities eligible for the Contract Price addendum is available online at www.rma.usda.gov/news/currentissues/organics/cpa_eligibility.html.

More information on risk management tools available for organic farmers can be found on the RMA organic crops website. Visit www.usda.gov/organic to learn more about USDA's resources for organic agriculture.

New York Certified Organic Winter Meeting March 8 in Geneva

The New York Certified Organic Winter Meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 8 in Jordan Hall at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.

A number of speakers will discuss new and changing global markets for organic grain and dairy producers, flax grain production and uses and "What Do You Want to Make Per Acre on Your Farm?"

One of the featured presenters is Bob Quinn of Big Sandy, Montana, talking about developing new markets for organic grain. Quinn considered several options before settling on the ancient grain of kamut as a good fit for his 2,400-acre organic farm, which is in an area that can receive 13 inches of rain in one season. 

He will talk about the importance of research, dedication to establishing a strong market and what farmers can do to develop their own niche.

Mary-Howell Martens of Lakeview Organic Grain

Mary-Howell Martens, who operates Lakeview Organic Grain and co-owns an organic grain farm with her husband Klaas Martens in Penn Yan, Yates County, will cover changes in the world grain market. The Martenses are highly respected agricultural innovators who willingly share their knowledge to encourage other farmers to be successful. 

Luke Gianforte of Gianforte Farm, Cazenovia, Madison County, will help audience members answer the question of what each wants to make per acre with their farming enterprise. He will share how he tracks costs and returns for 500 acres of up to 10 different organic grains and row crops he and his dad grow in any given year. 

The Gianfortes also operate their own small mill and package whole and milled grains in bulk and for restaurant, retail and farmers’ market sale, largely serving the Central New York and Mohawk Valley regions.

Ed Schefler of Groton, Tompkins County will be among the growers on the after-lunch panel discussing alternative grains production. Schefler will show slides about growing flax and pressing the seed for oil and cake, which he feeds to his cows.

There also will be a brief description of how crop insurance can benefit organic farmers at the March 8 program.

There is no cost or need to register to attend the program. Participants are asked to bring a dish to pass at the potluck lunch.

For more information, contact Fay Benson at (607) 745-3807 or email  afb3@cornell.edu

Money Available for Organic Dairy Farming

The New York Organic Dairy Program has partnered with the New York Farm Viability Institute to make grant money available for organic dairy producers to participate in the Cornell Organic Dairy Farm Business Summary program and select a project for immediate attention through a modified Dairy Profit Team approach.

Farms participating in the Dairy Farm Business Summary and those that have not completed a Dairy Farm Business Summary before are both eligible for grants. Priority for grants will be given to certified organic dairies, however, farms in transition to become organic are encouraged to apply.

Farmers may first apply for funds to:
** Work with a qualified farm business consultant to upload the operating and financial information for the individual farm into the Cornell Organic Dairy Farm Business Summary,

** or, if the farmer has completed a 2016 Summary, to work with the consultant to review the data to select a short-term project that will benefit the farm. Varying levels of funding are available for this initial step.

Money is also available for farmers to work with a consultant on a project that will help the business better meet its goals. Applicants for a project grant must first complete a 2016 Dairy Farm Busines Summary.

Farmers requesting project funds will be required to work with the New York Organic Dairy Program to document their desired goal and projects must be achievable within 18 months of the formation of the consultant ‘team.’ 

Examples of projects include, but are not limited to, developing a business plan, enhancing transitioning practices and constructing facilities. The New York Organic Dairy Program will provide up to $1,500 for the consultant and team to complete its project work.

Agriculture Topics Addressed in State of the State Speech

Some of what Gov. Andrew Cuomo said about agriculture in Wednesday's State of the State address:

"This year I propose our most ambitious entrepreneurial partnerships that we are excited about.

The first deals with agriculture and food. As you know, agriculture is a critical part of our economy. As you also know, there is a growing health concern among consumers about the food we eat -- what is in it and how it was grown. There is a burgeoning market for safe, healthy food. 

However, consumer confidence is lacking. Many of the labels that are on those products are virtually meaningless and they have no standard and they have no legal definition. Labels like “all natural” or “no antibiotics” actually have no legal definition. Much of our quote-unquote organic produce comes from overseas. So consumer skepticism is justified. To reassure and inform consumers – and provide an opportunity for New York farms – we will initiate the first program to certify the bona fides of natural products.

The Departments of Health and Agriculture will define what are now vague standards and conduct inspections to certify those standards are being met. Labels like “all natural” will mean something. “No pesticides” will mean something. “Hormone free” will actually mean something. The Attorney General will police the program so consumers will know when they buy that product, they are getting exactly what that product says it is.

We are going to call it the 'NY Certified High Quality' program. It will be voluntary for our farmers to participate but we will advertise this program and its products nation-wide and we think there is a significant marketing asset for the farms that participate. It’s an exciting opportunity. It can help grow our farms. Better products for our consumers. It’s exactly what we need. Let’s take a moment and say thanks to Commissioner Ball, Dr. Zucker and Attorney General Schneiderman."

Cuomo also reiterated his push for a $15 an hour minimum wage, although this move is opposed by some in agriculture, including the New York Farm Bureau.

Grants Available for Organic Agriculture Research and Outreach

More than $17 million is available to support research and outreach activities that will help growers, producers and processors find innovative ways to improve organic agriculture. 

The grants are being funded through the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), a program that is administered by USDA’s National Institutes of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.

Funded projects will aid farmers and ranchers with whole farm planning by delivering practical research-based information and will improve the ability for growers to develop the Organic System Plan required for certification.

Applications are due March 10. Please go to http://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/organic-agriculture-research-and-extension-initiative to see specific program requirements. 

NOFA-NY Winter Conference Coming in January

Check out information about the upcoming 2016 NOFA-NY Winter Conference.

The event is Jan. 22 through 24 in Saratoga Springs.

Go to http://www.cvent.com/events/2016-winter-conference/event-summary-bf38f07d98c0412e8d06fb4ae29fa39e.aspx for information.

New York Certfiied Organic to Talk Small Grains at Winter Meetings

The winter meetings for New York Certified Organic will be Jan. 13, Feb. 10 and March 10.

During these meetings, attendees will receive information to help grain and dairy farmers throughout the state.

The free New York Certified Organic meetings begin at 10 a.m. in the Jordan Hall auditorium at the state  Agricultural Experiment Station, 614 W. North St., Geneva.

The 2015 meetings will address a variety of topics including the increasing demand for NY-grown organic small grains.
Klaas Marten, a New York organic grain producer who also operates an organic grain mill in Penn Yan, will be among those discussing soil health for organic growers and the new Soil Renaissance Initiative that is drawing attention nationwide.

Additional topics for the meetings include why good forage quality is not a matter of luck and the perennial issue of weed control for organic crop growers.

The meetings also include question and answer session for brainstorming.

NYCO has received support funding from the New York Farm Viability Institute. 

"Forums such as those held by the New York Certified Organic group for more than 20 years now directly answer the needs and opportunities identified by the growers for critical attention," said Farm Viability Managing Director David Grusenmeyer.

Registration is not required; participants bring a dish to pass for the potluck lunch. For more details, contact Fay Benson at (607) 753-5213 or afb3@cornell.edu.

Cornell Study Shows GMO Labeling Would Increase Food Prices

From the Coalition for Safe and Affordable Food:

As food prices continue to rise for families across the country, a new study from Cornell University last week revealed that New York’s proposed mandatory GMO labeling bill would cost families an average of $500 per year at the checkout aisle. 

The study comes on the heels of similar studies in Washington state and California that showed mandatory GMO labels would result in similar increases in the cost of food.

“American families deserve safe, abundant and affordable food,” said Claire Parker, spokeswoman for the Coalition for Safe and Affordable Food. 

“GMOs have been used in our food supply for more than 20 years and no study has ever shown them to be unsafe or different from foods without GMOs. Repeated studies, however, have shown that the high cost of mandatory labeling would dramatically increase the price of groceries at the checkout aisle for consumers. A mandatory GMO label will just make it more difficult and expensive for hard-working American families to put food on the table,” she said.

 

The study, released last week, found that families forced to buy organic food instead of conventional foods containing GMOs could see their food prices increase as much as $1,556 per family per year. Similarly, such a mandatory labeling law would likely cost the state of New York millions of dollars in revenue to implement the new requirements and to account for a loss in farm income.

Earlier, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that April was the third consecutive month that American families saw an increase in food prices, rising a total of 3.9 percent since January.

The study was conducted by Professor Bill Lesser from the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University to evaluate the added costs that will be passed on to consumers if mandatory labeling becomes law in New York.

For more information, visit www.cfsaf.org.

What's New at Cross Island Farm

Here is news from Cross Island Farm on Wellesley Island, NY submitted by farmer Dani Baker

THE ROADSIDE STAND IS OPEN, stocked with recently dug wintered-over "rainbow" carrots and sweet parsnips, lettuce, chard, spinach, asparagus, rhubarb, our coveted certified organic free range pastel colored (by the chickens) eggs, as well as our delicious duck eggs.  As we add new items, we will try to post them on our facebook page which you are welcome to "like" and comment on.  When you stop at the stand, remember that our USDA inspected cuts of beef and pork including  a new item, lean and tasty hot or sweet pork rope sausage perfect for the grill, are available at the house.

ORGANIC EDUCATONAL FARM TOURS, available daily by appointment, include picking and eating a vegetable or fruit right from the plant, a walk through the edible forest, a visit outside or inside the paddock with the goats and cows, petting or holding a baby goat, tickling the tummies of a pig, and petting or holding a newly hatched chick or duckling.  Fun for the whole extended family!

THE EDIBLE FOREST IS BLOOMING, now in its second year,  with a few plum, honeyberry, juneberry, current, strawberry, pineberry, and two tiny pale pink almond blossoms beckoning for bees.  If the bees find them, we might have our first fruit and nuts this year!!  Stay tuned.

INTERNS IN ABUNDANCE will grace our farm this season.  Within the week we are welcoming three student interns: an  Environmental Conservation and an Environmental Biology major from SUNY ESF and an Environmental Science major from Clarkson U., who are residing with us for the season.  We are grateful to all our volunteers who help us complete many projects.  Top priorities this season are improvements in the Edible Forest Garden.

CLAYTON GOES ORGANIC!  In addition to some of our veggies and meats being available at the Clayton Food Co-op for you to prepare at home, our salad vegetables are now featured on the menus of both Bella's Bistro and the Clipper Inn in Clayton.  So when you patronize these establishments for a meal out, please let them know you appreciate their providing local organic produce from Cross Island Farms.

SPRING FEVER IS RAMPANT  in our animal herds as the weather is warming. 

The first knock on the door:  "Did you know your cows are in the road?"  Apparently the paddock assigned by Farmer Dave was insufficiently suitable, so the herd headed to Nut n' Fancy for a bite.  When they found it closed, they "high tailed" it back, past the farm, and were on their way to the State Park when Dave and our neighbor, Dick Huntley, were able to induce them to return. 

A few days later, another knock:" did you know your goats are in the road?"  Seems the grass WAS greener on the other side of the fence, a fact not unnoticed by the hungry moms and babes.  So over the portable fence they went.  So much for Farmer Dave's planned priorities for the day.  Two hours later they were secured in a new paddock with fresh grass, but for how long?

Then, as I was heading out on an errand, I saw two of our little kids (goat kids, that is) prancing atop their new goat house which has a roof fashioned of  discarded  pallet wrapping from Wellesley Island Building Supply..  Although the "patter of little hooves" is a joy to hear and observe, it can be quite destructive to a fabric roof..  I quick pulled out my cell phone and called Dave to tell him.  "I'm glad we didn't buy a tarp this time," was his response.

Need a Job? Check This Out

Anyone interested?

Go to http://ithaca.craigslist.org/lab/4347701844.html for a farm work opportunity.

Organic, GMOs, Yes or No??

Check out this interesting http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/02/27/243163/#.UxTs__RdUjf blog entry from the Genetic Literacy Project.

Then send some comments on what you think.

More About Chipotle's New Ad Series about Industrial Farming

The New York Times has written about Chipotle's new series of shows about how food is produced in the United States.

Read it http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/business/media/chipotle-blurs-lines-with-a-satirical-series-about-industrial-farming.html?_r=0

Also, ABC did a story about this Tuesday a.m. Go to http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/chipotle-takes-show-business-hulu-web-series-22561052 to see the report. The series is called Farmed and Dangerous.

USDA HAs One-Stop Shop for Organic Info

This is from the USDA:

Looking for USDA programs and services that support the growing organic sector? USDA has created a centralized web resource center at USDA.gov for all the programs, services, and data we have that support organic agriculture.

Visit (and bookmark) the organic web resource center at http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=organic-agriculture.html to access:

• Conservation programs, flexible microloans, and other financial resources for farmers and ranchers.
• Organic price reports, cost/revenue comparisons, and other economic and market data.
• Improved crop and livestock insurance and other programs tailored to the organic sector.
• Production and conservation assistance and research on organic agriculture.
• Benefits of organic certification and how to get certified.
• USDA staff at your local field offices and much more!

USDA is committed to helping organic agriculture grow and thrive by removing obstacles for organic farmers and businesses.

Earlier this year, Secretary Vilsack instructed all USDA agencies to incorporate the needs of the organic sector into their programs and services, and asked AMS to lead this effort.

This one-stop shop for organic-related programs and services at USDA.gov is one way we are meeting those needs.

Go to http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/12/18/a-one-stop-shop-for-organics-with-lots-in-store/ or check out http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=organic-agriculture.html for more information.