INTERESTED IN
BECOMING
ORGANIC?
Understand Organic Production Principles
Gain the knowledge to grow your crops in accordance with organic guidelines.
Evaluate Market & Transition Financials
Explore whether demand exists for your organic products and analyze cost and return of an organic transition.
Develop Organic Transition Plan
Develop a comprehensive plan for transitioning to organic production practice, and receive support to prepare and apply for your third-party independent organic certification.
Support Through Transition Period
Recieve feedback for your ideas and questions as your operation evolves through the transition to organic.
Organic Transition services are free, although participants will be responsible to pay their own certification fees. Team Ag and Kitchen Table Consultants (KTC) will provide technical assistance services to all participants free of charge.
Eligible producer types for this program:
We are looking for agricultural producers and meat processors that are interested in or are considering transitioning to Organic in the next 3 years. Some producers and processors will be more prepared for this transition than others, depending on how many organic practices you might already be implementing on your farm or in your processing facility. We encourage all producers and processors who have a genuine interest in transitioning to Organic to apply, regardless of how prepared you feel.
Transitioning to Organic can offer a variety of benefits for producers and processors, but the journey through transition can have barriers and challenges to plan for. TeamAg is prepared to help you plan for this transition across agronomic, operational, financial, and certification considerations. This will include:
Possibly. For those that meet certain Organic requirements, they may be able to be ‘fast tracked’ to become certified Organic, and at the end of the program you would have the ability to apply for certification. Others may have longer timelines (3 years) to ultimately become eligible for Organic certification. And still others may go through this program and determine that becoming Organic is not the right decision for them. Regardless, if you engage thoughtfully with this program, you will become fully prepared to make the transition to Organic if you choose to.
We expect this program to take one year for participating farmers and meat processors to complete, although the Organic transition process can take three years or longer before certification for farmers. Meat processors may transition much quicker than this.
Organic food products are increasing in the marketplace, and consumers are becoming more aware of the benefits. Environmental concerns have caused consumers to appreciate sustainable and organic agriculture. Consumers and growers are considering their health and the health of their families and workers. Soil is every farmer’s most important asset, and there is no doubt that crops grow better in well-cared-for organic soil so the health of the environment is improved.
The United States Department of Agriculture requires anyone who produces, processes or handles organic agricultural products must be certified by a USDA-accredited certifier in order to sell, label or represent their products as “organic: and use the USDA organic seal.” To become certified, an organic producer, processor or handler must develop, implement, and maintain an organic system plan.
Once an organic system plan is approved, a qualified organic inspector will perform an on-site evaluation of the organic operation. Then, based on review of the organic system plan, inspection report and related documents, your certifying organization will determine whether the operation meets the requirements of organic certification. A certified operation must update its organic system plan, pay fees and be inspected annually.
Organic certification is not a guarantee of quality or purity of the product. Rather, it is evidence of the operation’s adherence to a prescribed system of agriculture and food production that involves the building and enhancing of the soil naturally, protection of the environment, and avoidance of toxic synthetic substances.
USDA requires that producers submit an “Organic System Plan”. TeamAg will provide an application to help you meet those requirements and our staff can assist you with completing the application. Record-keeping is required and varies according to the type of operation.
You can place a portion of your farm or handling operation under organic management (with an approved organic system plan) and certify other areas as they become eligible. If you intend to manage part of your operation non-organically, proper separation and record-keeping must be maintained between organic and non-organic production.
The honest answer here is: It depends. Some farmers and meat processors will be better positioned than others to make the transition to USDA Certified Organic. For instance, a farmer that is already utilizing organic practices, is receiving premium pricing, and just hasn’t formalized their Organic certification will have a much easier time with the transition and could likely execute this quickly. On the other hand, if the farm or meat processor is utilizing conventional practices regularly, is in the commodity market, and is surrounded by other conventional producers, this could pose more challenges.
We believe that most producers and processors – with thoughtful planning, consideration, and expert support – can make the transition to become certified Organic.
Peggy Fogarty, M.S.
Agricultural Business Consultant
Peggy assists farmers in evaluating the financial impact of transitioning to organic production and implementing strategic marketing and business strategies that lead to success. As one of the early founders of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement, Peggy co-owned and operated a certified organic farm in Ephrata from 1999-2012. She helped establish Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative. Her services include writing business plans, conducting feasibility studies, and developing budgets and pricing strategies to increase profitability
Sue Ellen Johnson, PhD
Organic Farm Systems Specialist
Sue Ellen advises farmers on planning and implementing production-based agroecosystem solutions to transition to regenerative and organic systems. Sue Ellen has been a regenerative farm systems advisor with TeamAg since 2021. She is the author of Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual through the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES). Her services include crop-livestock integration, pasture enterprises, and animal well-being.
Leslie Zuck, Esq.
Organic Certification Specialist
Leslie guides farmers and processors on the certification process, and record-keeping standards. Leslie co-founded Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) and served as its Executive Director for 21 years. She is the owner-operator of Common Ground Organic Farm for over 35 years. She has performed quality and certification audits for the USDA National Organic Program, and edited content for the Organic Integrity Learning Center. Her services include developing a transition plan, a record-keeping system, support with the certification application, and conducting a pre-inspection audit.
Reposted from Lancaster Farming – Apr 13, 2023 Philip Gruber, pgruber@lancasterfarming.com KUTZTOWN, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro wants Pennsylvania to be the nation’s leader in organic farming. That would mean tripling the state’s organic sales to keep pace with much bigger California. Still,......
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January 13, 2023 Harrisburg, PA HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) — It’s a classic chicken-and-egg dilemma. Organic chicken and organic egg, that is, as a lot of people won’t buy organic food until it declines in price. But it won’t decline in price unless farmers produce more......
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If you have questions, or are interested to consider a potential transition to organic, we’d love to talk!
Feel free to call the TeamAg office or fill out the contact form below:
TeamAg, Inc.
120 Lake Street
Ephrata, PA 17520
717-721-6795
