Oregon to Certify Organic Farms

Use to be, in Oregon, if you wanted to grow organic produce under the National Organic Program you would have a few options. You either relied on the help of private organizations or look to other states close by to certify your application. This is all about to change, according Jim Cramer, of Oregon’s state Department of Agriculture, as the state can now do its own certifications.

This makes Oregon the 16th state approved to do certifications for the National Organic Program. Organic farm sales in Oregon have increased “from about $10 million in 2002 to almost $90 million in 2007.” Still, despite the increase in production and value that is already in existence, Cramer doesn’t think the state will be flooded with applications because other states have been doing certifications in Oregon for a number of years.

Now that Oregon can do their own certifications, Cramer expects other states to stop doing them for organic producers in Oregon. The state will charge “about $75 an hour to audit books and look over fields to make sure certain pesticides and fertilizers have been used for three years.”

To read the OPB online story on the Oregon certification development click here.

Posted: 10/20/09