By Kathleen Merrigan, former USDA deputy secretary and current director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University

Organic food once was viewed as a niche category for health nuts and hippies, but today it’s a routine choice for millions of Americans. For years following passage of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, which established national organic standards, consumers had to seek out organic products at food co-ops and farmers markets. Today over half of organic sales are in conventional grocery store chains, club stores and supercenters; Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Target and Safeway are the top five organic retailers.

Surveys show that 82% of Americans buy some organic food, and availability has improved. So why do overall organic sales add up to a mere 6% of all food sold in the U.S.? And since organic farming has many benefits, including conserving soil and water and reducing use of synthetic chemicals, can its share grow?

One issue is price. On average, organic food costs 20% more than conventionally produced food. Even hardcore organic shoppers like me sometimes bypass it due to cost.

Some budget-constrained shoppers may restrict their organic purchases to foods they are especially concerned about, such as fruits and vegetables. Organic produce carries far fewer pesticide residues than conventionally grown versions.

Price matters, but let’s dig deeper. Increasing organic food’s market share will require growing larger quantities and more diverse organic products. This will require more organic farmers than the U.S. currently has.

There are some 2 million farms in the U.S.. Of them, only 16,585 are organic – less than 1%. They occupy 5.5 million acres, which is a small fraction of overall U.S. agricultural land. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. farmland is dedicated to growing animal feed and biofuel feedstocks like corn and soybeans, rather than food for people.

In my view, converting more agricultural land to organic food production should be a national goal. Organic farmers produce healthy food, promote soil health and protect watersheds. Ruminant animals like dairy cows when raised organically must graze on pasture for at least 120 days each year, which reduces their methane emissions.

The list of climate and environmental benefits associated with organic is long. Organic farming consumes 45% less energy than conventional production, mainly because it doesn’t use nitrogen fertilizers. And it emits 40% less greenhouse gases because organic farmers practice crop rotation, use cover crops and composting, and eliminate fossil fuel-based inputs.

The vast majority of organic farms are small or midsized, both in terms of gross sales and acreage. Organic farmers are younger on average than conventional farmers.

Starting small makes sense for beginning farmers, and organic price premiums allow them to survive on smaller plots of land. But first they need to go through a tough three-year transition period to cleanse the land.

During this time they are ineligible to label products as organic, but must follow organic standards, including forgoing use of harmful chemicals and learning how to manage ecosystem processes. This typically results in short-term yield declines. Many farmers fail along the way.

The transition period is just one of many challenges for organic farmers. Greater federal government support could help. In a recent report, Arizona State University’s Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, which I direct, identified actions the Biden administration can take within existing budgets and laws to realize the untapped promise of organic agriculture.

Current USDA assistance for organic producers is paltry, especially given the billions of dollars that the agency spends annually in support of agriculture. Two-thirds of farm subsidy dollars go to the top 10% richest farms.

Our report recommends dedicating 6% of USDA spending to supporting the organic sector, a figure that reflects its market share. As an example, in 2020 the agency spent about $55 million on research directly pertinent to organic agriculture within its $3.6 billion Research, Education and Economics mission area. A 6% share of that budget would be $218 million for developing things like better ways of controlling pests by using natural predators instead of chemical pesticides.

Organic food’s higher price includes costs associated with practices like forgoing use of harmful pesticides and improving animal welfare. A growing number of food systems scholars and practitioners are calling for use of a methodology called True Cost Accounting, which they believe reveals the full costs and benefits of food production.

According to an analysis by the Rockefeller Foundation, American consumers spend $1.1 trillion yearly on food, but the true cost of that food is $3.2 trillion when all impacts like water pollution and farmworker health are factored in. Looked at through a True Cost Accounting lens, I see organic as a good deal.

Link to story on The Conversation web site

Visit this page to view CDFA’s 2019-2020 Organics Report

By Dana Yount

When liquid manure sits in storage lagoons on dairies or other livestock operations for too long, methane can form and contribute to climate change. To address concerns about methane emissions, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) developed the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), which supports farmers in reducing their methane emissions with both financial and technical assistance.

The objective of CDFA’s AMMP is to encourage dairy and livestock producers to adopt climate smart practices to reduce methane emissions in animal agriculture systems. The program incentivizes the development of manure management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as protect water and air quality.

These practices fall under four main categories: pasture-based management, solid separation, conversion from flush to scrape, and alternative manure treatments and storage. For example, running manure through a solids separator helps to reduce potential surface and groundwater pollution as there is less nitrogen and other elements in the separated liquids. In the most recent round of grants from the program, livestock and dairy operations could apply for up to $750,000 to implement these kinds of methane reduction practices.

In addition, producers can receive technical assistance from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) Climate-Smart Agriculture educators. This team was established with the support of UC ANR, the Strategic Growth Council, and CDFA, and has educators based in ten counties around the state. The effort is led by Doug Parker, director of the California Institute for Water Resources, in collaboration with several UC ANR county based Advisors.

Read the full story here

Learn more about CDFA’s Climate Smart Programs here

From a USDA News Release

California agricultural operations have been significantly impacted by the wildfires and ongoing, severe drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has technical and financial assistance available to help farmers and livestock producers recover. Impacted producers should contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure and livestock losses and damages.

“Production agriculture is vital to the California economy, and USDA stands ready to assist in the recovery from these wildfires and extreme drought conditions,” said Gloria Montaño Greene as Deputy Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC). “I assure you that USDA employees are working diligently to deliver FPAC’s extensive portfolio of disaster assistance programs and services to all impacted agricultural producers.”

USDA Disaster Assistance for Wildfire and Drought Recovery

Producers who experience livestock deaths due to wildfires may be eligible for the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP).

Meanwhile, for both wildfire and drought recovery,  the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) provides eligible producers with compensation for feed losses as well as water hauling expenses associated with transportation of water to livestock. For ELAP, producers will need to file a notice of loss within 30 days and honeybee losses within 15 days.

Livestock producers may also be eligible for the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) for 2021 grazing losses due to drought. LFP benefits may be available for loss of grazing acres due to wildfires on federally managed lands on which a producer is prohibited, by a federal agency, from grazing normally permitted livestock. FSA maintains a list of counties eligible for LFP and makes updates each Thursday.

Additionally, eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers may be eligible for cost-share assistance through the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes or vines lost during the drought. This complements Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) or crop insurance coverage, which covers the crop but not the plants or trees in all cases. For TAP, a program application must be filed within 90 days.

“Once you are able to safely evaluate the wildfire or drought impact on your operation, be sure to contact your local FSA office to timely report all crop, livestock and farm infrastructure damages and losses,” said Jacque Johnson, Acting State Executive Director for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in California. “To expedite FSA disaster assistance, you will likely need to provide documents, such as farm records, herd inventory, receipts and pictures of damages or losses”

FSA also offers a variety of direct and guaranteed farm loans, including operating and emergency farm loans, to producers unable to secure commercial financing. Producers in counties with a primary or contiguous disaster designation may be eligible for low-interest emergency loans to help them recover from production and physical losses. Loans can help producers replace essential property, purchase inputs like livestock, equipment, feed and seed, cover family living expenses or refinance farm-related debts and other needs.

Risk Management

Producers who have risk protection through Federal Crop Insurance or FSA’s NAP should report crop damage to their crop insurance agent or FSA office. If they have crop insurance, producers should report crop damage to their agent within 72 hours of damage discovery and follow up in writing within 15 days. For NAP covered crops, a Notice of Loss (CCC-576) must be filed within 15 days of the loss becoming apparent, except for hand-harvested crops, which should be reported within 72 hours.

“Crop insurance and other USDA risk management options are there to help producers manage risk because we never know what nature has in store for the future,” said Jeff Yasui, Director of RMA’s Regional Office that covers California. “The Approved Insurance Providers, loss adjusters and agents are experienced and well trained in handling these types of events.”

Conservation

Outside of the primary nesting season, emergency and non-emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres may be authorized to provide relief to livestock producers in areas affected by a severe drought or similar natural disasters. Producers interested in haying or grazing of CRP acres should contact their county FSA office to determine eligibility. 

The Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners and forest stewards with financial and technical assistance to restore fencing, damaged farmland or forests.  

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is always available to provide technical assistance in the recovery process by assisting producers to plan and implement conservation practices on farms, ranches and working forests impacted by natural disasters. 

Long-term damage from wildfires and drought includes forage production loss in pastures and fields and increased wind erosion on crop fields not protected with soil health practices. Visit your local USDA Service Center to learn more about these impacts, potential recovery tactics, and how to take steps to make your land more resilient to drought in the future. 

“USDA can be a very valuable partner to help landowners with their recovery and resiliency efforts,” said Carlos Suarez, NRCS State Conservationist in California. “Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop approaches that focus on effective recovery of the land.”  

Assistance for Communities 

Additional NRCS programs include the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program, which provides assistance to local government sponsors with the cost of addressing watershed impairments or hazards such as damaged upland sites stripped of vegetation by wildfire, debris removal and streambank stabilization.  

Eligible sponsors include cities, counties, towns, or any federally recognized Native American tribe or tribal organization. Sponsors must submit a formal request (via mail or email) to the state conservationist for assistance within 60 days of the natural disaster occurrence or 60 days from the date when access to the sites become available. For more information, please contact your local NRCS office. 

 “EWP provides immediate assistance to communities to mitigate potential hazards to life and property resulting from the fires and particularly the severe erosion and flooding that can occur after the fire,” Suarez said. “We can work with a local sponsor to help a damaged watershed so that lives and property are protected while preventing further devastation in the community.”  

In addition to EWP, Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) is another valuable service that NRCS can provide following a wildfire. NRCS technical assistance can help fire victims with planning cost-effective post fire restoration practices.  

More Information

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool can help producers and landowners determine program or loan options. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent. For FSA and NRCS programs, they should contact their local USDA Service Center.

Note — The 6th annual meeting of the Soil Health Institute was held last week.

Story by Lee Allen

Organizers called it “Enriching Soil, Enhancing Life,” because soil is a living, life-giving natural resource — one that needs to be respected in order for it to keep working properly.

“As world population and food production demands rise, keeping soil healthy and productive is of paramount importance,” according to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“By farming, in accordance with soil health principles and systems that include no-till, cover cropping and diverse rotations, more and more farmers are actually increasing their soil’s organic matter and improving microbial activity. As a result, farmers are sequestering more carbon, increasing water infiltration, improving wildlife and pollinator habitat—all while harvesting better profits and often better yields,” they report.

The Soil Health Institute, charged with safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of soils, and members of the agriculture industry held their 6th annual meeting (last) week by offering a variety of plenary sessions.

“We’re at a critical juncture in the fight against climate change,” according to the Institute’s CEO, Dr. Wayne Honeycutt, who said recent science behind soil health could empower implementation of practices that would not only benefit farmers livelihoods, but significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient runoff.”

Pretty much everyone agreed that health soils were the foundation for rejuvenating the land to mitigate the effects of climate change and help agriculture meet both environmental and production goals at scale.

Read more here

By Spencer Chase

The nation’s largest beef industry group says it wants to demonstrate the sector’s ability to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas production in less than 20 years.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association rolled out sustainability goals Thursday at the Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, where the group’s leaders underscored the importance of producer involvement in achieving the goals.

“We’ve got to be bold and audacious,” Marty Smith, the organization’s past president, said as he unveiled the goals Thursday. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it and let’s hit it hard.”

The nation’s largest beef industry group says it wants to demonstrate the sector’s ability to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas production in less than 20 years.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association rolled out sustainability goals Thursday at the Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, where the group’s leaders underscored the importance of producer involvement in achieving the goals.

“We’ve got to be bold and audacious,” Marty Smith, the organization’s past president, said as he unveiled the goals Thursday. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it and let’s hit it hard.”

The projection is also limited in its consideration post-harvest; Sawyer said his estimates did not include “packaging and further distribution.”

“I needed a place to draw a line,” he said. “It was more convenient to be able to translate that on a carcass basis rather than trying to attribute that to the multiple number of SKUs that are derived from a carcass.”

The metrics used to determine climate neutrality are still being determined.

The organization also has goals to improve its communication of efforts already underway in the industry, including a goal to “enhance trust in cattle producers as responsible stewards of their animals and resources by expanding educational opportunities in animal care and handling programs to further improve animal well-being.” There’s also the economic goal to “create and enhance opportunities that result in a qualifiable increase in producer profitability” by 2025 and an effort to “continuously improve the industry’s workforce safety and well-being.”

“As producers, we have talked about sustainability for years now, and we have been all over the board,” NCBA CEO Colin Woodall said Thursday. “We’ve talked about it from the eye of being skeptical and just being a fad; we know it’s not a fad, it’s not going away. It’s here to stay. 

“We’ve talked about it from the perspective of seeing this as more rules, regulations, bureaucratic red tape being placed on us,” he added. “Now, I think we’re seeing it for what it truly is, and that’s an opportunity to showcase what we’re doing.”

Other ag sectors and companies have also rolled out sustainability efforts, notably the dairy industry’s goal to achieve net-zero production by 2050.

Link to story on Agri-Pulse web site.

Congratulations to CDFA Undersecretary Jenny Lester Moffitt, who has been confirmed as USDA’s new Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs!

We are all so proud of our friend and colleague, Jenny Lester Moffit, who has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as Undersecretary for USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs! Jenny joined the CDFA team seven years ago as Deputy Secretary and then became Undersecretary.  Her experience working with her father managing the family organic walnut farm and processing operation brought valuable insight to CDFA, as did her service on the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Jenny has an attention to detail combined with a collaborative problem-solving approach that makes her a joy to have as a partner on our executive team.  Most importantly, Jenny brought the heart of a farmer into the major policy discussions that so directly impact every farming and ranching family in California, and she has a passion to serve all who are part of California agriculture!

I am grateful to Jenny for her wise counsel these past seven years and for her friendship.  Thank you Jenny for all you have done for us at CDFA and for the people of California.  I am excited to watch the next chapter of your impressive career.  Wishing you and your family all the best! 

–CDFA Secretary Karen Ross

When Jenny transitioned from a Deputy Secretary to Undersecretary a few years ago, her collaborative style was the glue that helped us cement a very cohesive executive team.  There were only three of us for a period of time; Secretary Ross , Jenny and myself.  Over time we were able to bring additional executive team members on board to help us spread our responsibilities out in a more sustainable manner.  The collaborative spirit and highly effective communication she practiced established a standard of high functioning teamwork that will greatly benefit USDA.

–CDFA Deputy Secretary Kevin Masuhara

Jenny has a deep and intrinsic knowledge of how policy can impact agriculture in practice. She is also incredibly hardworking and has a knack for finding the positive. I’ve been so lucky to have her as a colleague and as resource on major pieces of legislation, such as the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund and the establishment of CDFA’s Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Grants Program. I am going to miss Jenny greatly and am sending her a huge congratulations as she embarks on the next adventure in her career.

–CDFA Deputy Secretary for Legislative Affairs Rachael O’Brien

Thank you for your support of CDFA Climate Smart Agriculture efforts, including the Healthy Soils Program, and ensuring that the programs are applicable and practical to all farmers and ranchers in the State of California. Wish you the best in your new position at USDA.

–CDFA Science Advisor to the Secretary Amrith Gunasekara

Jenny has been a delight to work with because of her vision and collaborative abilities. These attributes were on full display during the pandemic when the state desperately needed personal protective equipment (ppe) and isolation housing for COVID-impacted farmworkers. Jenny’s leadership and work with the counties to implement a distribution plan for PPE and the development of the Housing-For-the-Harvest program was invaluable and unparalleled.

–CDFA County-State Liaison Hyrum Eastman

California has been lucky to have Jenny working for us throughout the pandemic. She worked tirelessly both to ensure that farmers, ranchers, and farmworkers had the support they needed, and to connect farmers with food banks to ramp up their ability to support our hardest-hit communities. Her passionate devotion to protecting our food supply and ensuring access to healthy, farm-fresh food makes her a perfect fit to serve as Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at USDA.

–Special Assistant to the Executive Office Arima Kozina

By California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones

Due to outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) virus in Europe, Asia and the Dominican Republic, and the presence of Classical Swine Fever (CSF) virus in the same region,  there are serious concerns over the potential risk of introduction of ASF in the United States and countries in the Western Hemisphere. Early detection could be complicated because the symptoms of both viruses often resemble more common diseases of swine.

Therefore, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Animal Health Branch and the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory (CAHFS), working in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Services and Wildlife Services divisions, have enhanced surveillance for ASF and CSF over the past several years. The interagency cooperative surveillance plan targets higher-risk populations, sick pigs, and mortality in commercial and feral swine. CAHFS is testing diagnostic samples from high-risk animals and all suspect cases are being investigated.

ASF is a highly contagious and deadly disease affecting both domestic and feral pigs. It does not affect human health and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans. ASF has never been detected in the United States.

Resources: 

USDA:  Swine Disease Information

CDFA:  Swine Health Information