Were there topics covered in the conference that you can bring back home to your work at Georgia Organics?
Lydia (on consumer marketing and certification enforcement for integrity):
I was able to draw comparisons with what people were talking about to our own work because these big companies have the same concerns as small, certified organic farmers have about consumer education and marketing here in Georgia. For them, there was more emphasis on the product side while for Georgia Organics, we’re more focused on how to help farmers educate their consumers at the farmers’ market. There was this similar thread of discussion, like the inundation of consumer-facing labels and the kind of confusion that exists (in the market). Organics is one of only a few labels that has third-party enforcement and is legally defined by US law.
Another thing that can and does affect organic farmers in Georgia is a new USDA organic regulation, the Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule, referred to as SOE. This was the first major change and update to organic regulations since the Organic Food Productions Act in 1990. This SOE rule creates stricter regulations for farmers importing ingredients or products, and there’s a lot more checkpoints for fraud than there were previously. The pros of this rule include strengthening the integrity of the organic label since there will be fewer products that are non-certified coming in and being labeled fraudulently as organic. The rule began to be enforced in March 2024 and within two months, 20 non-compliances were filed to certifiers. A lot of action and movement has already happened with this enforcement, and it increases the understanding of supply chain nuances because now companies have the regulatory excuse backed by the USDA to investigate where suppliers and vendors are getting their products and ingredients.
One of the panelists at the conference noted that organic certifiers within different US regions were already in conversation with each other because of TOPP and the inherent nature of partnership in that program. Because these certifiers are already working with each other, they are better able to effectively implement the SOE rule. The timing on this is fortuitous since TOPP is happening in conjunction with the start of this rule’s enforcement.
A consequence of the SOE rule is that this increased regulation will fall harder on smaller farms. One solution to this foreseeable problem is to have inspectors and certification specialists go through retraining to know how to implement this rule through a risk-based approach that’s appropriate for the farm operation. A risk-based approach would mean that a farm that moves $20,000 a year in organic product is assessed with a proportionate amount of risk and therefore scrutiny versus a farm that moves $2 million worth of organic product in a year. I’ve been hearing this conversation with farmers in Georgia and there’s a large concern that too many small-scale farmers are being put under the microscope for fraud, when it’s the larger multinational corporations that should be put under more scrutiny.
Lauren (on market opportunities specifically for larger organic farmers):
The grain, oil seeds, and pulses breakout session was super interesting. The three presenters talked about corn, sunflower seeds (for sunflower oil), and peas, as in pea protein. The conversation addressed national and international trade issues, but I could 100% tie it back to some of our larger organic farmers doing work here in Georgia, especially in the Ssoutheastern part of the state.
First, I learned that most organic sunflower seed oil comes from Ukraine. As the war goes on, there’s a continued strain on the US market.
I also learned that organic corn supplies in the US are pretty stable. In fact, the US may be self-reliant on organic corn in the near future, whereas the pea protein market is being flooded by China who is buying uncertified product from South America and then certifying it in China before shipping it into the US. This ties into the USDA’s integrity process on imports and exports and a need for further funding going towards enforcement.
This ties into possibilities for the future of larger scale organic farming in Georgia because ultimately, the larger an organic farm gets, the more they’ll have to reach markets where national and international competition is taking place.
Right now, and since its formation in 2019, the farmer-owned cooperative, Georgia Organic Peanut Association (GOPA), has continued to develop crop rotations that serve their larger format farmers, striking a balance between maintaining principles outlined and necessary for organic certification and the necessary efficiency and culture of larger scale row cropping in Georgia. One challenge has been to identify a range of additional crops to grow within their rotation while they’re not growing organic peanuts. I don’t know… what if Georgia peanut farmers grew organic sunflower seeds as a seed source for organic oil while they weren’t growing peanuts?
The other question that came to mind was is there a way to organize ourselves so that Georgia farmers grow organic peas as part of feed for organic livestock? What if we’re able to address the certified organic animal feed issue in Georgia (the one where anyone who wants certified organic animal feed has to import it across state lines) by working with a company that makes animal feed with inputs coming directly from within Georgia? Could pea protein be the answer? It’s something that while sitting there, listening to the speakers, I thought about.
Michael (on avian flu and food safety and market trends):
I found the conversations on organic research and food safety to be particularly interesting and relevant for Georgia farmers, and not just organic farmers. Highly pathogenic avian influenza is a huge deal, and I know it is the biggest fear for hundreds of poultry farmers in Georgia, and a huge concern for our friends at the Georgia Department of Agriculture. It is terrifying to think about what would happen to farmers and the state economy if that virus ever touched down in Georgia (knock on wood). Hearing how other states and what other poultry operations dealt with wasn’t necessarily encouraging, but I do believe it is better to be forewarned and forearmed when facing something so potentially devastating.
The other topic that I’ve brought back for Georgia Organics staff, board, and farmers, is that consumer patterns show that organic consumption and purchasing is not slowing down any time soon. The evidence and market data show that consumer consumption of organic produce, crops, and products continues to grow, and the USDA’s Certified Organic seal is the most trusted label of all in the consumer food products space. That’s important intel for all growers, whether they are already certified organic, or thinking about organic certification.
