Congress would double the USDA’s annual funding to oversee the booming organic agriculture sector and would provide an additional $5 million to prevent fraudulent organic imports under a bill filed by six U.S. representatives. An industry trade group said the bill would help the National Organic Program (NOP) keep pace with ever-increasing production and rapidly rising consumer demand for organics.
Sales of organic food hit $43 billion last year — roughly 5 percent of the food market — chiefly produce and dairy. Organic livestock feed is in high demand. The Washington Post has reported that millions of pounds of corn and soybeans were imported as organic feed despite evidence they were grown conventionally. An inspector general’s report concluded that the USDA lacks sufficient control over imports to be sure if they are organic or not.
Rep. John Faso of New York, the lead sponsor of the bill, said additional funding and enforcement powers would enable the USDA to ensure the integrity of organic goods. At present, the NOP is funded at about $9 million a year. The Faso bill would boost that to $15 million next year, with annual increases through 2023, when the total would reach $24 million. The six-year average would be $19 million, or double current funding. The bill would also approve $5 million the USDA would use to improve digital coordination with other enforcement agencies at U.S. ports — a step recommended by the inspector general. “This is commonsense legislation that puts American farmers and consumers first,” said Faso.
“We’re operating in a global marketplace,” said the Organic Trade Association. “It is essential that we modernize and get up to speed to prevent organic fraud and to ensure that every stakeholder in the organic chain is playing by the rules.”
Meanwhile, the Washington Post said that the USDA, finding no violation of organic standards, has closed an investigation into Aurora Organic Dairy, a 15,000-cow dairy in Colorado. The USDA “did not say whether the investigation disproved the potential violations the Post uncovered last year, saying only that Aurora is currently operating in compliance with organic rules.” The newspaper said that on repeated visits to the dairy in 2016, most of the cows were not grazing in pastures, although organic rules call for year-round access to the outdoors, except during inclement weather.