Organic hydroponic food grower Edible Garden stepped up its tech game by improving its product planning and product availability management.

Starting with a 5-acre glass greenhouse facility in Belvidere, N.J., Edible Garden ships organically-certified 4-inch potted herbs, hydroponic basil, living and cut lettuce and fresh cut herbs throughout the United States. In addition to its own production operation, Edible Garden contracts with growers in other regions including the Midwest to supply organic crops to retailers in that part of the country. Edible Garden distributes its products through about 4,500 retail outlets including Walmart, Meijer, Hannaford, Wakefern Food Corp. and Target. Geographically its products are sold from Maine to Maryland to the south and Wisconsin to the west

“We currently have supply agreements with a number of contract growers in the Midwest,” said Scott Prendergast, chief data officer at Edible Garden. “Up until last year we were providing almost all products out of our Belvidere facility with some supplementation from small contract grows. The growers we are working with produce a variety of crops that cover all of our products. Some of the growers produce almost exclusively for Edible Garden while for others Edible Garden crops are just one of their product lines. These growers are also producing the majority of the Edible Garden crops organically.”

For almost two years Edible Garden has been the exclusive provider of 4-inch potted herbs, cut herbs, living lettuce and hydroponic basil to 260 Meijer stores in the Midwest.

“Initially we provided these products from our facility in Belvidere,” Prendergast said. “Our motto is “Simply Local. Simply Fresh.,” our goal is to reduce the food miles, support local hiring and provide the best quality. We wanted to deliver Meijer stores a fresher, more sustainable product using less production and shipping processes. We have accomplished this during the last six months by transitioning nearly all of our Meijer production to our Midwest contract growers. This has enabled us to reduce 1,000 food miles for each product three times a week.”

Why organic food crops?

Edible Garden, which began operating in March 2012, had initially planned to grow floral crops with plans to add a small line of container herbs. As market conditions changed and as market opportunities were identified, taking the greenhouse organic became the company’s primary interest.

“We saw a market opportunity with organic crops,” Prendergast said. “There was quite a bit of big box competition and generic or non-organic products on the market. Identifying the ability to provide a high quality greenhouse-grown, certified-organic product drove our efforts to grow organically.

“The process to become certified organic took Edible Garden a couple of years. Transitioning from traditional production methods to growing organically was a difficult transition. Without being able to use the same products associated with traditional growing including substrates, fertilizers and pest control products. Our crops had to grow within the same production systems to produce the same quality using all organic materials.”

The company started growing 4-inch potted herbs and then added a line of fresh cut herbs.

“After we began growing potted herbs we became a fresh cut herb provider for restaurant chains and distributors in the Northeast,” Prendergast said. “We provide basil exclusively in bulk. We provided restaurants with fresh greens and fresh cut organic sweet basil through food distributors from New York to Washington D.C.”

Edible Garden had also done some direct distribution to individual stores for some smaller food store chains.

“Higher shipping costs, including rising gas and lease prices, along with the inefficiencies to deliver to individual stores has caused Edible Garden to migrate almost exclusively to the distribution center model,” Prendergast said. “Ninety-five percent of our production is herbs and 5 percent is lettuce. We are planning to increase the amount of lettuce we are producing. Our goal is to be able to locally grow and distribute the lettuce. We’ve already seen this manifest itself in the first-of-its-kind offering of cut lettuce at Meijer, which utilizes partner growers aligned within a couple of hours or less of its DCs.”

Getting the numbers right

While Edible Garden was working out how to grow quality organic crops, another issue it had to resolve was determining how much product to produce.

“There was an overwhelming unsureness of supply vs. demand and demand planning, which led to unsold crops,” Prendergast said. “Being in the produce industry you have to pick, pack and ship in full. Our management team, coming from the commercial banking industry, would always try to err on the side of too much than not enough. Unfortunately when too much became too much we were throwing away plants because they grew too big to sell. That was a loss to our bottom line.

“The mantra of Edible Garden’s CFO Mike James is we are in a penny business. If we overproduce 1,000 potted basil plants that is 1,000 pots and 18,000 basil seeds thrown away. With those pots we are also throwing away the substrate, fertilizer, water and labor that were used to grow the crop. The need for adapting technology was driven by not having the margins to absorb these kinds of mistakes. We need to use every tool at our disposal and if we don’t have it, we need to make it so that we can capture every penny of margin we can.”

When Prendergast joined Edible Garden two years ago the biggest sticking point was the lack of advanced planning and product availability.

“Edible Garden was throwing away a lot of inventory because it did not anticipate the accurate sales of its customer base,” he said. “Over the last two years the company has developed Green Thumb, a proprietary web-based portal that does inventory management in the greenhouse. It does crop estimations, tracks waste and does advanced planning to develop a sophisticated forecasting algorithm.

“The Green Thumb system is dialed in to track daily sow, pick and pack activities as well as customer sales forecasting and advanced planning. The system tracks not only demand forecast, but any greenhouse events that may affect inventory. It manages this compensation so that there are no future problems, no future deliverability holes.”

Edible Garden’s production facility team members handle the data entry into the Green Thumb system.

“The team uses either hand-held devices or laptops to enter the data,” Prendergast said. “We track the progress of the crop, which we call “weeks to finish” (WTF). We track weeks to finish and how it is impacted by seasonality as well as the weather within the season. If there is a 10-day stretch of cloudy weather in the fall or winter, the system understands that and expands out the weeks to finish so a crop that was anticipated to finish in 10 weeks may take longer.”

As Edible Garden started to resolve its issues with inventory management the company began to look for other technology that could automate other processes.

“We created a dynamic palette-building tool based upon our orders,” Prendergast said. “This pallet-building tool created a streamlined process that the production facility could use to eliminate any questions about how to fill the pallets with orders.

“On average, we are shipping 80,000 to 100,000 plants per week just from one facility. This requires a lot of pallets, shipping boxes, placards and purchase orders. Incorporating the tools to eliminate or mitigate packing and shipping questions or issues has really provided some quantifiable benefits to the production side as well.”

For more: Edible Garden, (844) 344-3727; ljames@ediblegarden.com; https://ediblegarden.com/.

This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written by David Kuack, a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas.

CSO Urges Biden USDA transition team to make organics more inclusive and to continue defense of lawsuit

The CSO reached out to the Biden transition team to request that the incoming administration support a more inclusive organic community built for the needs of the future that include increasing demand and supply for clean and healthy foods.
 
We urged the Biden – Harris Administration to continue to make sure that organic farming remains open to growers from around the world that are ready to meet the high USDA standards. We asked that USDA continue to defend against the lawsuit brought by the Center for Food Safety that seeks to overturn decades of organic policy set by Congress and the USDA and affirmed by the National Organic Standards Board.
 
The CSO will continue to reach out to new political appointees in 2021 to make sure they continue to understand our issues.

Don’t let your voice be silenced as efforts to revoke your organic certification continue

If the lawsuit to revoke organic certification for growers using pots and other containers is successful, the case would have detrimental consequences for all organic growers that use containers including substrate production.

Your help is needed now to defend your interests in the lawsuit. Without your continued financial support to allow the CSO to fully engage with expert attorneys to strengthen our efforts in the courts in California, no one will be there to defend your farm and your production practices.  

Please join today at this link or donate today if you are more comfortable making a one-time contribution. The CSO members are grateful for whatever support you can provide.     

The CSO believes that everyone deserves organics. By working together, we can help sustainably and legitimately increase your markets and expand supplies to meet the needs of consumers.

CSO welcomes incoming House Agriculture Committee Chair David Scott of Georgia

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture will see significant changes to its leadership in the new Congress. The current Committee chairman Collin Peterson lost his reelection bid last month. In addition, the ranking Republican on the committee Mike Conaway will retire at the end of the current session. Democrats have selected David Scott of Georgia as the next chair of the committee.

“I am honored to have been chosen by my colleagues in the Democratic Caucus to serve as Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee,” said Congressman Scott. “I was born on my grandparents’ farm in rural Aynor, South Carolina, during the days of segregation, and the hardships, of those, on whose shoulders I now stand. I owe this historic selection as the first African American Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee to a diverse coalition of members from across our nation. And I will use this critical opportunity to represent the values of our entire caucus and advance our priorities for trade, disaster aid, climate change, sustainable agriculture, SNAP, crop insurance, small family farms, specialty crops, and rural broadband. The fault lines dividing our rural and urban communities are running deep, and climate change is now threatening our nation’s food supply. As Chairman, I will lead the fight to rise up and meet these challenges.”

Congressman David Scott has served as a Member of Congress and the House Agriculture Committee since 2003. In his various leadership roles on the House Agriculture Committee, Congressman Scott has chaired the Subcommittees on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit as well as Livestock and Foreign Agriculture. Scott played a key role in ushering through the three last Farm Bills, including by serving as a conferee, securing critical disaster aid for our farmers, strengthening the food and nutrition programs that help our families, seniors and school children and securing $80 million for new scholarships for students attending 1890 African-American land-grant colleges and universities.

Congressman David Scott grew up living and working on his grandparents’ farm when his parents moved north to find work.  During his 18 years in Congress, he has developed a deep understanding of the critical issues facing farmers today and the practical challenges posed by an agricultural lifestyle.  He also understands the critical role agriculture plays in our economy and the importance of policies that preserve our place as the #1 exporter of agricultural products.

In addition, the Senate Agriculture Committee will have a new chair regardless of the outcome of the Georgia special election Senate results. Chair Pat Roberts is retiring.

If you would like to participate in outreach to any new leaders and their staff in the upcoming year, please contact the CSO at info@coalitionforsustainableorganics.org.

There has been much discussion over whether controlled environment hydroponic food production should be allowed to be certified organic. Regardless of where you stand on the topic, Michigan State University horticulture marketing professor Bridget Behe said CEA hydroponic growers might be valued more by consumers if they promote their crops as being locally grown.

“Hydroponic growers should accentuate the local dimension until market researchers can determine if and how much consumers value the hydroponic dimension,” Behe said.” In a 2011 online study over 800 consumers were shown ornamental, vegetable and herb transplants that were labeled organic, sustainably-produced or local. The study participants were told how the plants were grown, but weren’t given definitions for organic, local or sustainable. Our hypothesis was that there was a dimension of the market that wanted organic. We didn’t distinguish whether the transplants were certified organic or not.

“We were surprised by the study results that found local was the big winner in terms of consumer willingness to pay and likelihood to buy. It went local first, sustainably-produced second and organic was third. It doesn’t mean that organic was valued. It just meant that locally-grown meant more to more people.”

Researchers concluded that when it comes to whether transplants are organic, it is not as important as transplants that are locally grown. The study results indicated “one of the main reasons consumers purchase local products is to support the local economy and local farmers. Both local food products and local plants can achieve the same objective.”

The definition of local can mean different things to different consumers.
“Depending on the population density, local in the Northeast is a vastly different mileage than local out West,” Behe said. “In places like Colorado and South Dakota, the mileage is going to be longer for local compared to a more densely populated state like Connecticut.”

Consumer perceptions of local, organic

In 2014 an online survey of over 2,500 people was conducted that included both American and Canadian participants. The survey asked participants to explain what local and organic meant to them. The survey referred to organic without the term “certified”.

“We started the survey by asking what is local and what is organic and what did those terms mean to the participants,” Behe said. “After they gave their free-form answers we asked them which terms or characteristics were associated with either local or organic. Some could correctly be associated with these words and some were incorrect association. Based on the responses received, 96 percent of the survey respondents had heard of the term local and 97 percent had heard of the term organic.”

Survey respondents had both accurate and inaccurate perceptions of local and organic. Sixty-seven percent of the participants correctly perceived local to mean decreased miles to transport. Sixty-seven percent also indicated that organic was produced with no synthetic pesticides.

In regards to respondent inaccuracies, 23 percent of participants perceived local as being grown organically. Another 17 percent thought local produce was grown without synthetic pesticides.

A hydroponic grower’s perspective

Tim Gehman, co-owner of Bux-Mont Hydroponics LLC in Telford, Pa., began growing hydroponically in 2005. He operates over 28,000 square feet of greenhouses equipped with nutrient film technique (NFT) and deep water culture production systems to grow lettuce and basil. His crops, which are USDA GAP-certified, are sold with the roots attached. Bux-Mont’s customers include grocery stores and several food distributors in the Philadelphia area. Most customers are within a 50-mile radius of the production facility.

“Our grocery store customers are more interested in locally-grown than in certified-organic,” Gehman said. “Some stores promote the locally-grown products that they offer. That is a big help for growers like me who are selling to those markets. Most average consumers don’t really understand what is involved with organics. Some think that organic produce is never sprayed and that’s not the case.”

Gehman said GAP certification is a requirement of his customers. Being able to supply GAP-certified lettuce and basil, Gehman is very aware of having to grow, harvest and pack clean, healthy produce.

“GAP-certification isn’t voluntary,” he said. “Our retail customers wanted us to be GAP certified. We are dealing with a large supermarket chain and several independent grocery companies that have several stores. Some of these are smaller co-ops that operate local grocery stores. We also sell to some farm market stores.”

Food safety issues

Behe said GAP-certified produce is sort of an invisible certification to the general public.

“The whole food safety issue is more product-centric,” she said. “Consumers perceive sprouts as being very risky. Fruit like melon, unless it’s cut, is lower on the public’s risk scale. Consumers have heard about recalls for crops like leafy greens. They’ve heard about E. coli and about people getting sick. They associate these problems more with the crop than they do with a production method. This would be a good question to ask consumers. Would you be as likely to have E. coli on greenhouse-grown, hydroponic lettuce vs. field-grown, certified-organic lettuce?”

Behe said even though the consumer’s mindset is likely suspect of many sprouts, some lettuce and leafy greens, the good news is that consumers have a very short memory.

“Even though there have been numerous issues with spinach, people went back to eating it within a short period of time,” she said. “I expect the same was true with the recent Romaine lettuce scare. If they like the lettuce they are going to go back to eating it.

“I’m not sure where consumers are going to fall on food safety. My hypothesis is it is going to be very crop-based. With leafy greens and lettuce, it is all going to be perceived equally regardless of how it was grown. I don’t have that evidence, it’s a hypothesis.”

Interchangeable word usage

Behe said in people’s minds they have different motivations for wanting to buy produce that is locally-, sustainably- or organically-grown.

“Consumers may want to buy local because they want to support a local business, but they may also want to buy local because they can buy organic produce and know the farmer,” she said. “These words are being used interchangeably. It’s not clearly a distinct perception as to what local is and what organic is. Certified organic has a specific standard. But I don’t see most consumers making differentiations between these words. It’s kind of morphed into this philosophy of wanting to do something good for me and wanting to do something good for the environment. So they choose local, which is probably fresher which may taste better which is more likely to be organic.”

Behe said hydroponic growers should play up the local and sustainable because practices that move consumers toward organic are seen more favorably than practices that move consumers toward more conventional production methods. The closer a crop is grown to where it is marketed the more favorable the product is seen by consumers.

“We can still identify consumer segments and the one that has the biggest appeal and to me the greatest market potential if it continues to be is local product,” she said. “That is the one that growers need to promote more often.”

For more: Bridget K. Behe, Michigan State University, Department of Horticulture, East Lansing, MI 48824; (517) 353-0346; behe@msu.edu; https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/dr_bridget_behe; http://connect-2-consumer.com.

This article is property of Urban Ag News and was written by David Kuack, a freelance technical writer from Fort Worth, TX.

BY THE COALITION FOR SUSTAINABLE ORGANICS

The Center for Produce Safety delivered a petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture calling for the USDA to

1. Issue new regulations prohibiting organic certification of hydroponic agricultural production based on the National Organic Standards Board’s April 29, 2010 recommendation on Production Standards for Terrestrial Plants in Containers and Enclosures.
2. Specifically, amend 7 C.F.R. 205.105, Allowed and prohibited substances, methods, and ingredients in organic production and handling, to prohibit hydroponic systems.
3. Ensure that ecologically integrated organic production practices are maintained as a requirement for organic certification as defined by the existing OFPA regulations.
4. Revoke any existing organic certifications previously issued to hydroponic operations.

The petition defines “hydroponics” as “a diverse array of systems which incorporate, to some degree, containers that house plant roots in either a liquid solution or various solid substrates, including coconut coir, soil, compost, vermicompost, peat moss, bark, sawdust, rice hulls, potting soil and a number of other growing media.” In short, any production system that uses a container or tray or soil lining that isolates the roots of a plant from the outer crust of the Earth is targeted for decertification by the petition.

The petition states that the following groups support the decertification effort – The Cornucopia Institute, Food & Water Watch, Cultivate Oregon, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Certification Service, Northwest Organic Dairy Producers Alliance (NODPA), Organic Farmers Association (OFA), Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (CT NOFA), Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council, Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA-NJ), Northwest (sic) Organic Farming Association – New York (NOFA-NY), Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), and PCC Community Markets.

Here is a copy of the press release issued by CFS. The CFS did successfully bring legal action to overturn USDA National Organic Program guidance that allowed the use of compost made from materials collected under municipal yard clipping collection programs.

We have not heard any reaction from USDA at this time.

BY THE COALITION FOR SUSTAINABLE ORGANICS

New York, NY – Sept 10, 2018

VegBed.com, the leader in innovative hydroponic growing medium, announced they released updated versions of their popular bamboo fiber microgreen mats. The company has been working closely with microgreens farmers to help design the new product.

The mat weight has been increased from 160gsm to 200gsm to allow for even more water absorption. The normal 10” x 20” mat will be able to hold about 10X’s its weight in water. The new roll option now offers the bamboo fiber with dimensions of 10” x 400”, great for large scale farms.

“I am very excited to announce Version 2 of our product as well as the option to purchase the bamboo fiber as a roll. A lot of farmers have channels and different sized trays, so we created the roll to help accommodate the custom sizing. Now, our bamboo fiber microgreens mat will be able to work with a variety of systems”, says VegBed founder Albert Lin.

VegBed has been researching and producing easy to use, clean and innovative growing mediums for the hydroponic market since 2018. The company ships worldwide and works closely with farmers to help bring them solutions to their specific farm setups.

To learn more about VegBed growing mediums, future plans, or to book an interview, contact Albert Lin at (646)-247-1783 or email, info@vegbed.com, or visit the website at www.vegbed.com

About VegBed

VegBed provides the cleanest and easiest to use grow medium for hydroponic farms and other horticultural applications. We currently offer 3 products – foam grow cubes, bamboo fiber microgreen mats and a bamboo fiber microgreens roll.

VegBed can custom size their products for many application types – aeroponics, deep water culture, nutrient film technique, floating raft, vertical, flood & drain and many more. We work with commercial farms, hobby growers and are headquartered in New York, NY.

BioBee has developed protocols for the integration of its beneficial insects and mites with selective pesticides under strict pest monitoring programs. These protocols can be used by conventional and organic growers of vegetables, fruits and ornamentals.

“BioBee believes that insects are the future,” said Rami Ben Dor, general manager at BioBee USA. “We are inspired by nature when we integrate our beneficial insects and beneficial nematodes into our growers’ IPM programs based on our 35 years of field experience and research and development.”

BioBee offers a variety of biological controls for some of the most common pests that infest both edible and ornamental crops, including spider mites, western flower thrips, sweet potato whitefly, aphids and leaf miners.

“Hort Americas has been looking to add biological controls and beneficial insects to its catalog for a few years,” said Chris Higgins, general manager at Hort Americas. “There has been an increasing demand for greenhouse-grown, pesticide-free products.”

Hort Americas partners with leading suppliers of commercial horticultural products from around the world to serve North American professional greenhouse and indoor growers with the latest technologically advanced products.

For more: Hort Americas, (469) 532-2383; customerservice@hortamericas.com;
https://hortamericas.com. BioBee USA, http://www.biobee.us.

New this year is The Organic Farmers Fair (TOFF) that spotlights innovations and knowledge of organic agricultural technology and was organized together with IFOAM, FIBL and their five partners – Bejo, DCM, Steketee, Koppert Biological Systems and Delphy – and with Wageningen University & Research as a supporting partner. TOFF is the international meeting place for organic growers as well as conventional farmers considering switching to organic. GreenTech and TOFF will take place from 12 – 14 June 2018 at RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre, the Netherlands.

Organic production is booming

Consumers increasingly value organically grown products; the global market has grown steadily for decades by an average of some 10% per year, to a current level of 100 billion euros. Interest in organic farming is also rising among farmers and horticulturalists due to the expanding market, the good pricing for products and thanks to the solutions this holistic approach offers for soil fertility, non-chemical weed control and the management of diseases and pests.

TOFF in detail – programme and range

Knowledge sharing in the TOFF theatres plays an important role this edition. There the audience can participate in various sessions that discuss the most relevant themes in the field of organic farming. GreenTech will feature speakers including:

• Darko Znaor and Martien Lankester (Avalon) will present the results of a recent study into true cost accounting for organic farming in comparison to conventional production in the Netherlands. Does switching to organic farming really generate more money if you also take the environmental and health costs into account?
• Wijnand Sukkel (WUR) will present the results of and insights provided by multi-year research conducted in the Dutch province of Flevoland. Which advantages does strip cultivation offer with respect to crop resilience, yield and quality? To what extent can this be put into practice by large-scale, professional companies?
• Panel discussion: experts from Bejo, FIBL and other organisations provide their opinion: which techniques should you allow in vegetable seed breeding or not and why? A hot topic in agriculture, politics and definitely also in the organic sector.
• Leonard Mol (Steketee) will discuss Precision weed control and the utility and effect of precision hoeing.
• Koppert Biological systems, Biobest, DCM and knowledge institutions such as WUR and the University of Amsterdam will provide a status update on the latest developments in the field of organic crop protection.
• Organizations such as FIBL, Bionext and LBI will share their insights into the conservation and improvement of soil fertility; one of agriculture’s biggest long-term challenges.
• TOFF On tour – Daily field trips will be organised to Bejo Zaden, Lepelaar Biodynamic Farm Shop and Huiberts Organic Flowerbulbs. For more details: www.greentech.nl/toff/visiting/

Free registration until 5 June

If you wish to attend TOFF, and so GreenTech too, you can register for free until 5 June at www.greentech.nl From that date onwards an online ticket price of € 40 including VAT will apply. On exhibition days tickets can only be purchased from the ticket office for € 70 including VAT.

Eighteen months ago, the outlook for hydroponic, aquaponic, and containerized growing methods in the National Organic Program looked bleak.  A small, yet vocal, minority in the organic sector had mounted a campaign within the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to prohibit these production methods from organic certifications despite a lack of scientific basis to do so.  Through the hard work and dedication of CSO’s Board and member companies, we were able to launch a strategic advocacy plan to push back against this unfair and arbitrary effort.  After three failed votes in the NOSB, our place in the organic industry is safe for now but more work is needed to ensure the continued success of these systems.

As the NOSB considers additional potential regulations that may impact your on-farm practices, we must remain vigilant in our efforts to educate policymakers on the integrity and sustainability of your production systems. The CSO still needs you as a member to fight the good fight and ensure a sustainable future in the U.S. organic industry for farmers incorporating containers in their operations. Please fill out the linked application form today to join the CSO.

The CSO is closely monitoring the following additional potential threats to hydroponic, aquaponics and containerized growing methods:

1)      Some Certifiers Continue to Refuse to Certify Legitimate Organic Operations: In spite of the recent NOSB votes rejecting proposals to prohibit container, hydroponic, and aquaponic production tools used by organic growers, widespread inconsistencies remain between USDA-authorized certifiers. Many certifiers are defying USDA regulations and refusing to certify operations incorporating containers beyond their use for nursery stock.  Other certifiers will certify growers using certain types of substrate, but not growers using Nutrient Film Technique or Floating Raft Systems regardless of the fact they have created complex, living biological systems to cycle nutrients in an organic manner.

2)      NOSB’s Next Steps for Containers Remains Unknown: At the close of the November 2017 NOSB meeting, the Board released a draft agenda indicating a plan to continue to pursue additional recommendations to revise USDA’s organic standards related to containers including potential regulations on new labeling requirements and the reuse and recycling of containers. This remaining uncertainty hurts growers and producers looking to make investments and upgrades.

3)      Groups Opposed to Organic Certification for Containers Threaten Legal Action: After their latest setback at the NOSB, our opponents are now planning to file legal action against the USDA over the current certification policy that does allow for container production systems. Specifically, they claim that the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and as amended REQUIRES that crops must be grown in the soil. The CSO stands ready to defend the rights and interests of its members.

4)      Voluntary “Regenerative Organic” Label Efforts Move Forward: The Rodale Institute is leading efforts to create a new, and at this time voluntary, label currently taking the name of Regenerative Organics. This label would exclude containers from participation. Groups like the Organic Consumers Association are coalescing around this effort. Details of that standard can be found here. The idea is to add specific requirements for soil management including tillage practices as well as social justice and animal welfare elements that are not part of the current USDA standard.

Your Help Is Needed 

The CSO needs your continued participation in efforts to safeguard your rights to select the most appropriate growing methods in your organic operations.  Our opponents continue to push Congress to pass restrictions on our operations and will only ramp up their efforts after their defeat at the NOSB.

Actions to take:

• Send a version of the draft letter below.
• Offer a tour of your operations to the Member or staff.
• Visit Washington, DC to see your Member of Congress.  If you are a member of CSO our team in will coordinate meetings on your behalf.

Please forward any notes and the contact information you gathered during the visit to Lee Frankel at info@coalitionforsustainableorganics.org.

You can find the contact information for your Member of Congress and Senatorat the highlighted links.

Thanks for your help.

Sample Letter to email or fax

The Honorable XXXXXX
United States House of Representatives or United States Senate
Local Address

Date

Dear Representative XXXXXX, 

As your constituent, I am writing to invite you to visit our farming operation to learn more about the use of hydroponic/container/aquaponic cultivation to grow certified organic produce for our community. 

Our company grows [list your products here] in [city of facility/farm] and employs XXX people. In addition, we are perfecting our growing methods to expand our line into more and more fresh produce items. Our current production is helping to make fresher produce available to our community and alleviating food deserts in the area. We achieved certification under the U.S. Department of Agriculture and take pride in meeting all the necessary requirements under the law to meet this incredibly high standard.  

You may be aware that, over the last few years, USDA’s advisory committee on organic agriculture, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), has been considering multiple proposals to revoke the existing organic certifications for growers using hydroponic methods to produce fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit. While the latest proposal was defeated by an 8 to 7 vote, the NOSB continues to examine ways to limit our ability to maintain our organic certification through their insistence that only farms that look like theirs should carry the organic label. 

This is an unnecessary and burdensome action that will significantly impact our livelihood, jobs in your district, and reduce the availability and accessibility of fresh organic produce.  If the use of these innovative and practical growing techniques is limited, our company will no longer be permitted to continue to produce certified organic fresh produce, and our economic potential will be significantly impacted. 

I look forward to welcoming you to our operation to demonstrate our use of these techniques to help meet the rising consumer demand for organic produce.  

Thank you for your consideration.  You can contact me at [email address] or by phone at [phone number].

Respectfully, 

Your Name
Farm/Operation Name

Click here for a Sample letter to Congress expressing support for the NOSB’s Organic decision

Originally published in Issue 14, July 2016

Organic hydroponic and aquaponic growers are waiting for the results of a National Organic Program task force report which is scheduled for release this month. Members of the NOP Organic Hydroponic and Aquaponic Task Force were appointed last fall to examine hydroponic and aquaponic production practices and their alignment with USDA organic regulations. The task force includes members who are USDA organically-certified hydroponic growers.

Hydroponic and aquaponic growers are concerned that the report may contribute to the overturning of the long-standing USDA policy to certify their operations. The reason for this concern is that there is an effort by some field growers to stop the organic certification of hydroponic and aquaponic growers by USDA.

Lee Frankel, executive director of Coalition for Sustainable Organics, said the organization was formed in March 2016 to give growers a platform to preserve their ability to choose the most appropriate growing method, including those where the plant is not grown in the outer-crust of the Earth, to meet their site specific conditions when producing organically.

“The coalition members believe that sustainability and using natural inputs are the pillars of the organic philosophy and movement,” he said. “For instance, some of the initial members are from Arizona and southern California, where water availability is a major issue. Being able to grow hydroponically helps these growers use up to 10 times less water to be more sustainable.”

The coalition currently has 35 members and includes growers from the United States, Mexico and Canada. Some of these organic growers produce in the field as well as hydroponically.

Frankel said the supply of organic products is becoming more international.

“Nearly one-third of all USDA-certified operations are now outside the United States,” he said. “USDA sets the standards and determines what inputs can and cannot be used, regardless of country or method of production. USDA then accredits certifiers to inspect operations around the world.

“Opponents have cited the fact that there are a number of other countries that have a ban on hydroponic organic products. But if you examine the matter more closely, the issue is often a question of semantics. For example, growers in Canada and even in some of the Nordic countries in the European Union can grow organically in containers despite a ban on hydroponics in their regulations.”

Opposition to hydroponic, aquaponic production

Frankel said one of the main opposition groups pushing for the changes in USDA organic rules is Keep the Soil in Organic. The spokesperson for the group is David Chapman, who operates Long Wind Farm in Vermont. Chapman is a member of the NOP Organic Hydroponic and Aquaponic Task Force.

“Other groups that have spoken out against hydroponic organic production include many of the organic trade associations and organic certifiers in the northeastern part of the United States,” said Frankel. “Some of the certifiers have been working with field growers for a long time so they feel it is in their best interest to support their current customers.”

While there is a philosophical debate as to what organic growing does or does not mean, Frankel said there is also an economic component.

“Retailers and consumers are voting with their pocketbooks,” he said. “They appreciate a variety of flavorful and available hydroponic and aquaponic organic products on a consistent basis that meet their expectations for produce grown without synthetic pesticides.

“Sustainability and economics go hand in hand. As inputs are reduced, seasons are extended and yields are increased, enabling growers to reduce their costs.”

Frankel said another benefit to growing in containers is that it is really scale neutral.

“It allows for people who are just getting started, who were not fortunate enough to inherit a family farm or are in urban areas with high land costs, to be able to grow organically,” he said.

Changes to current standards

Frankel said USDA selected members for the NOP task force from a cross-section of people in the organic industry. They represent a broad range of technical expertise, knowledge and philosophies to examine the current regulations.

“These people were tasked with helping clarify the regulatory issues and to describe the current technologies in use,” he said. “I expect that the task force will describe how container, hydroponic and aquaponic production systems operate, how they meet the current standards and identify different interpretations of the regulations.

“The task force is not technically supposed to make recommendations. The task force is analyzing whether the production technologies used today meet current USDA regulations, standards and laws. The task force will also determine whether any areas within those regulations may need to be updated, revised or defined based on their findings.”

Frankel said once the report is released, the National Organics Standards Board will study the document and determine if it would like to recommend changes to the current regulations. NOSB has traditionally sought input and testimony from the organic industry prior to making recommendations on any proposed changes or modifications.

“If NOSB votes to forward recommendations to USDA, USDA would then translate those recommendations into formal proposed regulations and open them up to public comment,” he said. “USDA would then respond and would incorporate meaningful comments into the final rule.”

Time for growers to respond

Frankel said release of the task force report will be another opportunity for hydroponic growers to tell their story to prevent NOSB from starting the process to push the growers out of the organic market.

“Organic-certified hydroponic and aquaponic growers need to make a case about the validity of what they are doing,” he said. “In addition to their production methods being thousands of years old, USDA has long recognized the legitimacy of these systems. The systems have helped to grow demand for organics while reducing inputs and opening the market for new growers.

“Most critically from a philosophical perspective, these production systems use the same biological processes as those of organic field growers.”

Frankel said growers have a number of ways of bringing attention to their rightful place in the organic industry.

“Growers need to participate in the all-important public comment periods in the rulemaking process,” he said. “Growers can have their retail customers share their stories through company newsletters. Highlighting growing operations with CSAs (community supported agriculture) or reaching out to the local press can help spread a common message while building a grower’s own business. Hosting farm visits is often the easiest way to directly show how a grower’s operation is following the organic principles of cycling nutrients, eliminating synthetic pesticides and conserving resources such as land and water.”

Frankel said these farm visits for fellow growers, certifiers, elected officials, trade association staff, USDA officials and even NOSB members have proven to be an effective method to dispel any misconceptions spread by opponents of these organic production systems.

“From the coalition’s point of view, everyone deserves organics,” he said. “Containers are an integral part of a more resilient production system that allows for growers of all sizes and economic backgrounds to produce organic products that an increasing number of consumers are demanding.”

For more: Coalition for Sustainable Organics, (619) 587-45341;  info@coalitionforsustainableorganics.org; http://coalitionforsustainableorganics.org.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

The members of the NOSB voted on Wednesday by a margin of 8 to 7 to reject the proposals to make Hydroponic and Aquaponic production methods prohibited practices under the USDA organic standards. In addition, the NOSB rejected the proposal by a vote of 8 to 7 to create prescriptive nitrogen ratio requirements and to limit delivery of nutrients through irrigation systems in other container production systems. The proposed definition of hydroponics was any system in a container (roots of a plant not in the outer crust of the Earth) that does not have at least 50 percent of the nitrogen needs of the plant in the container before planting and that no more than 20 percent of nitrogen needs are delivered through the irrigation system, watering cans or in a liquid form.

The NOSB did vote to make aeroponics a prohibited practice by a vote of 14 in favor of the ban with 1 member abstaining from the vote. This recommendation will now go to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Given that the NOSB is technically a Federal Advisory Committee, the staff of the National Organic Program and other USDA officials will determine if the USDA will begin formal rulemaking to modify the existing USDA organic standards. The USDA typically will move forward with rule making or return the proposal for additional clarification. Only after a public comment period and regulatory review would the proposal convert into a regulation.

Greenhouse production practices to be discussed on Thursday by NOSB

The NOSB will begin discussions on the need to create modifications to the standards regarding the use of artificial light, the composting and disposal of green waste and substrate after a production cycle, requirements to recycle containers, and the use of plastic mulches and weed cloth in greenhouse and container operations. No votes are scheduled for these topics.

CSO thanks all growers who contributed their views through written or oral testimony

The CSO wishes to express its gratitude to the roughly 70 producers from all sides of the issue who delivered oral comments and the hundreds of individuals that submitted written comments. The Coalition especially appreciates the time of the many growers who volunteered their time to help educate members of the NOSB and the organic community. Ultimately, both the quantity and quality of the voices explaining the importance of preserving the rights of growers to determine the most appropriate growing method for their site-specific conditions led to this mostly positive outcome.

What happens next?

The vote did not resolve the long-standing issue of the lack of consistency in how accredited auditors review the farms and production facilities of growers that incorporate containers in their systems. The members of the NOSB and the USDA NOP staff will determine in the coming hours, days and weeks if there is value in continuing work on proposed regulations that would impact other aspects of greenhouse and container production systems. The CSO will be there to protect your interests.

Everyone deserves organics

The most viable option to achieve this goal is to use all certified systems and scales of production, not to kick certain growing practices out of the industry. The organic industry should embrace and promote diversity rather than stifle it. Organic production should not be limited to annual crops grown in temperate climates with high rainfall and killing freezes in the winter. The NOSB should be ensuring that organic rules do not arbitrarily discriminate against production in urban, desert, or tropical areas, nor should they exclude other systems that use containers and greenhouses. We should trust growers to make their own determination to know when growing in the soil or in containers make the most sense for the protection of the consumer and the ecology we all share.

Crops Subcommittee of National Organic Standards Board Sends Forward Formal Recommendation to Ban Hydroponics, Aquaponics and Aeroponics While Proposing Limits on Other Forms of Container Production Systems

The USDA recently published on their website the proposals written by the Crops Subcommittee of the National Organic Standards Board. The full membership of the NOSB will take up these proposals during the November 1Crops portion of the meeting with a potential vote coming that day or on November 2. The public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposals in writing, via a web conference on October 24, or in person on October 31.

What would be prohibited
The proposals would make aeroponics, aquaponics and hydroponics prohibited practices under Section 205.105 of the USDA Organic Regulations.

Aeroponics would be defined as “a variation of hydroponic plant production in which plant roots are suspended in air and misted with nutrient solution.”

Aquaponics would be defined as “a recirculating hydroponic plant production system in which plants are grown in nutrients originating from aquatic animal waste water, which may include the use of bacteria to improve availability of these nutrients to the plants. The plants improve the water quality by using the nutrients, and the water is then recirculated back to the aquatic animals.”

Hydroponics would be defined as “any container production system that does not meet the standard of a limit of 20% of the plants’ nitrogen requirement being supplied by liquid feeding, and a limit of 50% of the plants’ nitrogen requirement being added to the container after the crop has been planted.”

The proposals would allow for some types of container production systems. In general, all systems that can meet the nitrogen formulas laid out by the Crops Subcommittee would be eligible for certification. The Crop Subcommittee in their own words state that systems that do not “meet the standard of a limit of 20% of the plants’ nitrogen requirement being supplied by liquid feeding, and a limit of 50% of the plants’ nitrogen requirement being added to the container after the crop has been planted is defined as hydroponic and should not be allowed to be certified organic. For perennials, the nitrogen feeding limit is calculated on an annual basis.”

This proposed language implies that perennials would need to be transplanted each year to a new container. In addition, it also has implications for growers using the larger volume containers for staked vegetable plants that are grown to the Canadian Organic Standard regarding how they manage multiple crops after their first production cycle.

Transplants, ornamentals, herbs, sprouts, fodder, and aquatic plants are proposed to be exempted from these requirements.

The Subcommittee votes on the proposals were to make aeroponics a prohibited practice by an 8 to 1 vote, to make aquaponics a prohibited practice by a 7 to 2 vote, to make hydroponics a prohibited practice by a 6 to 3 vote and to create the nitrogen formulas by a 6 to 3 vote.

Additional Discussion and Alternative Framework Proposed by Minority of Crops Subcommittee
The web conference call conducted by the Crops Subcommittee and attended by the full membership of the NOSB on August 14, 2017 indicated that a two-thirds majority of the entire board might not support the same restrictions being proposed by the majority of the Crops Subcommittee to revoke certifications for many current organic operations.

The minority view of the Crops Subcommittee wishes to delay votes on the topic for at least one more meeting to more fully explore other options and approaches. In general, the minority view believes that organics is about more than just the soil. They state “Members of the organic community were drawn to organic foods and production for various reasons, including but not limited to: Environmental impacts of agriculture, resource conservation, avoidance of highly toxic synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, believed health benefits, local agriculture, etc. Some of these aspects were included in the law and regulations, while others were left out. Most members of the organic community are motivated by these concerns and more, each to varying degrees. Each of these concerns have tradeoffs which need to be balanced.”

More specifically, the minority view looks to build on the 2010 Recommendation that focused on the need to nurture the proper biology with their accompanying ecologies. The minority proposal focuses on how to develop a production standard that can verify the presence of a complex biology. Their initial suggestion, for which they request feedback from the industry, is to require the presence of at least four trophic levels present in the system.

“The minority view is based upon the beliefs that organic production should enforce responsible stewardship practices, address sustainability and conservation of resources (e.g. land, water, on-farm inputs, energy, biodiversity), and allow for novel developments in organic food production systems that assist in providing greater access of organic food to consumers.”

Justifications Given for Crops Subcommittee Proposal
The Crops Subcommittee states that the job of the NOSB is to be the “gatekeepers of the organic label.” In other words, it is their job to decide who can use the label and who should not be allowed to use the USDA Organic label.

The further state that the integrity of the USDA organic seal is “built upon the primacy of soil stewardship.” Other organic principles such as supporting and enhancing biodiversity, minimizing the negative effects of farming and producing safe, nutrition and tasty food are secondary to soil.

The Crops Subcommittee suggests that plants grown hydroponically are inferior to organic soil grown product since plants produced in containers have fewer metabolites because they have not been stressed as much as plants grown in the ground; there are differences in flavor and nutrition based upon different biology in the root zone; there are dangerous concentration of nitrates in the leaves of leafy greens grown using hydroponic production; hydroponics systems use too much energy; and a lack of “resilience.”

The Crops Subcommittee states that since Aquaponic Systems are hydroponic, they would not be eligible for certification. In addition, aquaponics would need to prove that they do not cause widespread food borne illness before being allowed for reconsideration for potential certification.

The Crops Subcommittee uses proposed Canadian standards and general organic guidelines from the British Soil Association as the justification for the limitations on post planting fertility additions and the use of liquid fertilizers.

The Crops Subcommittee also imply that any nutrients supplied through the irrigation system are the equivalent of non-organic nitrogen fertilizers.

Sprouts are exempted based on the idea that they only need water to grow. Seedlings and transplants are said to be “future crops” so they should be exempted since they will ultimately spend the majority of their time growing in the soil. Mushrooms are exempt since they are fungi and “don’t have a direct link to soil.” The Crops Subcommittee suggest that mushrooms may eventually need additional rulemaking.

No justification was given for the exemptions for herbs and ornamentals. There was a discussion of the wild harvested plant standard when discussing aquatic plants, but doubt remained over whether aquatic plants should wait until USDA publishes a final standard on aquaculture. So while the proposal states they should be exempt, the justification for the proposed standard contains contradictory information.

Short Rebuttal of Assertions of Crops Subcommittee
Nearly all the studies cited by the Crops Subcommittee look at non-organic hydroponic production systems. The Crops Subcommittee did not cite a single study showing any differences in nutrition or composition of organic foods harvested from organic hydroponic systems versus organic soil systems. The Crops Subcommittee did not cite a single study to support their assertion that organic hydroponic leafy greens contain different amounts of nitrates than field grown organic leafy greens. Based upon the definition of “resilience” for a production system, any crop grown in the field and subject to a complete loss from an ice storm and a flock of birds outside in the same ice storm suffering losses would also be non-resilient, so it is unclear what the standard for resilience would be.

In addition, the Crops Subcommittee continued to ignore the biological analysis included in the Hydroponic and Aquaponic Task Force report that showed even higher levels of biological activity and diversity in the organic hydroponic systems sampled relative to the levels typically found in healthy organic soils by the laboratory that conducted the analysis.

The Crops Subcommittee did not acknowledge (or know) that not all sprouts are grown only in water (so are sprouts requiring some outside nutrition now need to be classified as herbs to be exempt?). In addition, no additional guidance was given for how much time a plant for transplanting/seedling can be in a container (half their life, until fruit is harvested, a certain number of days?). In addition, no definitions were given to determine the difference between an herb, a microgreen and a leafy vegetable to know exactly what is exempt and what is not.

In fact, the justification given are so flawed that even the minority position of the Crops Subcommittee states, “It would be difficult for the NOP to implement [the proposed regulation] without additional justification.”

Next Steps
Your membership is critical to the efforts to secure a bright and sustainable future for a growing organic industry. Please consider joining the Coalition for Sustainable Organics. While we have made noteworthy progress in strengthening the legitimacy of container production systems with members of the National Organic Standards Board and with members of the organic establishment, much more work needs to be done to secure your right to continue to select the most appropriate site-specific solutions and production methods for your operations. Even if our efforts have helped win your crop an exemption under the current proposal, the justifications used by the Crops Subcommittee are so weak that your exemption could be under jeopardy again if the NOSB needs to make its recommendation logically consistent.    

There are several ways for you to communicate with the members of the NOSB. These include written comments and oral comments. You can send your written comments through Regulations.gov through October 11. You can sign up to give testimony via webinar on October 24 or to sign up to give testimony in person on October 31 in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Crops Subcommittee appears to view organic production as a system of input substitution rather than a systems approach. Rather than thinking about how their farm is part of a larger system of cycling nutrients, they look to a checklist of potential nutrient sources such as compost, cover crops and items on an OMRI approved list. Rather than carefully thinking about how each of their production decisions impacts the biology in their system, they assume that the “magic” of the soil takes care of everything.

You can help set the record straight and ultimately strengthen the organic industry if you take the time to help educate the members of the NOSB on the importance of systems approaches, even if your product is currently exempted from the proposal. You can do this by explaining your organic systems plan, what environmental and other factors influenced your decision to use containers for certain crops, where your supplies come from (residues of plant and animal sources with some mined products), how you use biology to make nutrients available for your crops, what you do to optimize the biology in your system (your lab results which guide your choices of substrates, irrigation schedules, organic teas, inoculants, etc.), how you recycle materials (from irrigation water to composting green waste to reusing containers), and how you listen to the priorities of your customers (reducing residues on your product, using non-GMO seeds and being resource efficient). This can hopefully guide the thoughts of the NOSB members back into a more useful discussion regarding the future of various organic production systems.

Originally published in Issue 10

So, you have been dreaming about starting an urban farm or are about to launch your new career with an indoor farm. You have gotten funding from friends and family (and Kickstarter) but have you really dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s as far as what challenges you will be taking on as you get your business up and running?

The truth is that many urban farming operations enter the business from one perspective. They may be started by a grower who knows a ton about growing but little about the business and legal end of things. Or, the operation may be started by someone with a business perspective who wants to see a farming operation thrive, but has little knowledge of the daily ins and outs of running a farm.

Many urban farms fail. It’s good to be as prepared as possible when starting out so you don’t repeat the same mistakes as others.

Here are some important things to think about before getting started. Any one of these roadblocks could delay your project for several months so it’s best to look at these things ahead of time rather than letting them derail your progress.

Zoning, code issues

Since urban agriculture (as it’s known today) is a relatively new field, many municipalities are unfamiliar with it and do not have any sort of code on the books for how to permit your project. If you can’t obtain a permit, then you can’t obtain a business license.

Your options will be to move your project to another location where it is permitted, permit under a different classification such as a food processing facility (if you can convince the planning department), work without a permit (there are work arounds depending on the location of the facility) or wait until legislation is updated. Many city planning departments will not be familiar with indoor agriculture projects so it is very valuable to do your homework first.

It is good to have at least basic drawings to show them how the facility will be laid out and will operate. It is also good to be familiar with cities that have urban farming legislation on the books so that you can show that to local planning departments as needed.

Business model

What is your business model? How will you make money? Will you sell your product wholesale? To restaurants? Direct to consumers? To supermarkets? At farmers markets?

Each of these particular customers may require certifications before they will purchase your product. These might be as simple to obtain as county ag permits or as complex and expensive as organic certification or regular tests for pathogens. It is important to know what your customers will ask of you beforehand so that you are prepared.

Water

Water is a key ingredient in your facility whether hydroponic or soil-based. Important questions to consider are: Can you use the existing municipal water? Will you need to invest in expensive filtering equipment to remove excessive salts or metals? Are there restrictions on water use (such as in California)? Are there disposal issues to be educated about regarding disposal of nutrient-rich water?

Growing medium

Hydroponic farming can be done with different growing media. Do you have a guaranteed supply of that medium, especially for operations where the medium is only used for a short period of time and replaced? If you are looking for organic certification, does the medium meet the requirements for certification? If not, what alternatives are there? If you are using soil, what tests do you need to do and what adjustments will you need to make to the soil?

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Electricity, energy

If you are running an indoor farm, energy costs can be one of the most expensive budget items. Using lights and dehumidifiers can really be expensive.

Do you know what your power rates are? Do you know when power is most expensive? Do you know how much light your plants need ? Is the electricity in your area reliable or should you have a back up generator on hand? Do you know how much power your facility needs and how much does the property you are looking at offers? Is the existing electrical system up to code? How much will an upgrade cost?

Floors

If you are running an indoor facility, floor design is of key importance. You need to simultaneously design your floor for multiple factors such as being able to be cleaned easily, drainage, traction and bacterial control.

Input sourcing

Just like when you are baking bread, if you run out of flour, you have a big problem. The same is true with your farm. You will have numerous inputs and if any one of them runs out, your production will be slowed or might even stop. Make sure you have a reliable source for all your inputs and a reliable backup source just in case.

Controllers

So much of indoor farming and even aspects of outdoor farming are based on monitoring data and adjusting as necessary. What controllers will you use for your operation? How will you use the data that are being produced to your advantage?

Are you the type of person that feels more comfortable seeing everything in person and making adjustments on site or are you comfortable with making adjustments to your growing operation remotely? These questions are very important to think about before you get started so that production data can be easily understood and analyzed and the appropriate adjustments can be made to your operation when needed.

Perspective

When looking at your urban farming business, I have found it very valuable to analyze production and costs on a square foot basis. I have a background in real estate and using a square foot methodology has proven very valuable and easy to understand.

Full Cycle Planning

Many operations do intense planning for how to grow their product but don’t think about the best way to harvest and package until it is upon them. Unfortunately, harvesting and packaging can be very labor intensive and if not well planned beforehand, can turn a profitable venture into one that loses money. Talk with your buyers (especially supermarkets) about specific packaging needs they may have from the start and from there, plan a system that reduces labor costs whenever possible.

These are just some of the items that need to be thought about when launching an urban farming operation. There are many more that will undoubtedly arise based on your particular situation. If you are prepared with the ones listed above, it will significantly reduce headaches, time delays and money lost in your urban farming venture.

David Ceaser has over 20 years experience working with plants and agriculture in numerous capacities and countries.  He has studied agroecology, horticulture and business along with several years working in real estate development.  He currently does consulting work and operates a small outdoor urban farm specializing in herbs and salad greens.  To contact David, please e-mail farmer@gsvfarm.com

By Penny McBride

Once again Congress is preparing to take on the US Farm Bill, which is a billion dollar web of agriculture subsidies, welfare payments and environmental support.

One of the goals of the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) is to build political consensus around food and agriculture policy that has the potential to impact our members. This year’s 2017 Summit, taking place in Washington DC September 22 and 23, will address segments of the Farm Bill and help AVF Members negotiate these often confusing waters.

Typically the Farm Bill is renewed every 5 years; the last farm bill that expired at the end of 2012 was not renewed until the end of 2014. The next round is scheduled to be on the table in 2018. The hope is that this will be a true bi-partisan bill.

Directly related to the Farm Bill is the Urban Agriculture Act, being introduced by Senator Stabenow of Michigan. This contains ideas and provisions intended to be incorporated into the 2018 Farm Bill. Known as Marker Legislation, because it provides an opportunity to highlight priories and ideas that get written into a future bill, the Urban Agriculture Act is particularly important to follow because of its ability to impact the upcoming Farm Bill. For the first time ever, this Farm Bill could address the unique needs of urban farmers by investing new resources and increasing flexibility through existing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Here is a summary of the potential areas of impact:

Creating New Economic Opportunities

• Agriculture Cooperatives: Expands USDA authority to support farm cooperatives in urban areas, helping urban farmers who want to form and operate an agriculture cooperative get products to market. Reduces individual financial risk and burdensome paperwork by allowing USDA loans to be managed by agriculture cooperatives.

• Rooftops, Vertical Farms & Indoor Production: Makes it easier for urban farms to apply for USDA farm programs and assists producers with information on operating rooftop and vertical farms. Supports access to land and production sites in urban communities through innovative conservation grants.

• Cutting-Edge Research: Invests $10 million for cutting-edge research to explore market opportunities for urban agriculture and develop new technologies for lowering energy and water needs. Includes national data collection and a new urban agriculture section in the Local and Regional Foods market report.

Providing New Financial Tools & Support

• Loans: Expands existing USDA farm loan programs so urban farmers can cover new farm related activities that improve their business. Now urban farmers can use farm loans to finance food production, marketing, and value-added processing.

• Risk Management Tools: Provides a new affordable risk management tool for urban farmers to protect against crop losses, taking into account the risks, food prices and contracts unique to urban farms.

• New Urban Ag Office: Creates a new urban agriculture office at USDA to coordinate urban agriculture policies across the Department and provide urban farmers with technical assistance.

• Mentorship and Education: Connects urban farmers with rural farmers to provide education and mentorship support.

Increasing Access to Healthy Foods

• Healthy Food: Creates a new pilot program that provides incentives to urban farmers who use sustainable growing practices and commit to supplying healthy food to their neighbors, connecting urban farms with families who need greater access to healthy, local foods.

Creating a Healthier Environment

• Urban Composting: Creates a pilot program to provide urban farmers access to compost while reducing food waste that would otherwise go into landfills.

A new AVF partner is the lobby firm VH Strategies. VH Strategies is a bipartisan government affairs and consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. with offices in The Hague and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. VH Strategies has initiated the Urban Agriculture Coalition, an alliance of individuals, institutions, and companies working to promote change in food and farm policy at the federal, state, and local level.

VH Strategies will be one of many amazing speakers at the upcoming AVF Summit along with agricultural scientist and director of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy. Speakers will be addressing important topics at this pivotal moment in time.

We hope you will join us in DC for a great event!

By Penny McBride, agritecture.com