Six months to sow ideas for voluntary organic checkoff
Rebuffed by the Trump administration, the Organic Trade Association turned to the public on Monday for ideas on how to design a voluntary checkoff program to raise research-and-promotion money for the sector and where to put the money. "The need for more investment in organic is widely agreed upon," said OTA chief executive Laura Batcha.
OTA lays groundwork for voluntary organic checkoff
Four months after the Trump administration killed a proposal for a mandatory checkoff program for organics, the industry’s largest trade group said it would move forward with a voluntary checkoff to promote organic food and products.
Organic turns inward in the face of setbacks at USDA
On Thursday, Laura Batcha, chief executive of the Organic Trade Association, announced an OTA pilot project to prevent fraud in the organics supply chain. The group, she said, is also exploring a voluntary program to fund promotion and research for organics.
USDA kills the proposed organic checkoff program
The Agricultural Marketing Service of the Department of Agriculture issued a preliminary notice Friday morning terminating the proposed organic checkoff program. The program, which was controversial among organic industry stakeholders, would have funded research and marketing for organic products. No paywall
Organic food industry sues USDA over slowdown of livestock welfare rules
In a challenge to the Trump administration's drive to erase Obama-era regulations, the organic food industry accused USDA of unlawfully delaying animal welfare rules that give livestock on organic farms more elbow room than allowed at conventional operations. Livestock groups and their allies in Congress have alternated between ridiculing the organic livestock rule and trying to scrap it.
USDA extends comment period for organic checkoff 30 days
In line with the Trump administration's regulatory freeze, the USDA is extending the comment period by 30 days on the proposed organic checkoff, to April 19. The Organic Trade Association, the sponsor of the proposal, said it hoped the USDA will perform a timely review of comments and call a vote on the checkoff.
In an advance for organic checkoff, USDA asks for public comments
After a year and a half of internal review, the USDA will ask for public comment on an industry proposal to create a checkoff program for organic products. It is a significant advance for what would be the first research-and-promotion program to apply to a mode of production rather than a commodity. The Organic Trade Association (OTA), the sponsor of the checkoff, says it would raise more than $30 million a year to help U.S. producers meet the burgeoning demand for organic goods.
Organic checkoff goes on the back burner
The industry proposal for a checkoff program to support organic food and products is moving so slowly at USDA that the Obama administration will probably leave office before producers vote on it. The Organic Trade Association submitted its proposal in May 2015 and as recently as this summer hoped for a referendum this year to establish the producer-funded research and promotion program.
Taking names in the organic-checkoff debate
The campaign against a checkoff program for the organic industry says more farmers oppose the proposal than favor it, and it cites its 57-page petition as proof. Not so, responded the Organic Trade Association, which says half of the signatures on the petition are duplicates or come from people who are not farmers.
Coalition of organic farmers opposes checkoff plan
The "No Organic Checkoff" coalition has amassed a petition of 755 signatories, representing 6,000 farmers, to oppose the proposed organic checkoff tax, reports New America's Food & Power. The Organic Trade Association (OTA) pitched the checkoff in May 2015 to the USDA, saying a commission would use the funds to promote organic products. But petitioners fear that the checkoff will go the way of others before it, funneling money toward industry giants and away from small producers.