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Just a few weeks into the new administration, very meaningful cuts to all parts of the federal government have been initiated.
This begs the question: What is happening to organic?
CONGRESSIONAL CUTS TO ORGANIC
At the end of December and just before President Trump took office, Congress passed a last-minute spending package to prevent a government shutdown and extended the Farm Bill for another year. Yet, funding for vital organic programs was cut.
Though the cost is minuscule in relation to the overall Farm Bill, just over $10 million per year, the damage to our industry will be severe. As per the National Organic Coalition, the organic programs left unfunded include the following:
“Congress’s failure to fund these essential programs is a short-sighted decision that jeopardizes the future of organic agriculture in the United States,” said Abby Youngblood, executive director of the National Organic Coalition.
Mark Kastel, executive director of industry watchdog OrganicEye, is equally alarmed.
“The cost share program not getting funded and the increased expense of certification, due to the implementation of SOE, will be devastating. The SOE rule was meant to close loopholes and address fraud, but its complexity has created a burdensome amount of paperwork and forced numerous certifiers to raise their prices. Many small organic farmers may decide it is no longer worth it to remain certified, which would be tragic.”
FEDERAL PROGRAM UNCERTAINTY
In early February, with President Trump ordering federal agencies to halt spending across the board, a pause was placed on the $85 million Organic Market Development Grant program and the $100 million Transition to the Organic Partnership Program (TOPP), both of which have caused countless farms, brands and initiatives to halt or abandon their work altogether.
“TOPP’s funding, networking, community outreach and mentorship to further develop the domestic organic market and supply chain were just about to really germinate, and we had been seeing so many early success stories,” said Jen Rose Silverman, a New Mexico-based organic farming consultant. “This is a real blow to the momentum.”
The USDA had previously announced that it was investing up to $2.8 billion in 70 selected projects under the first pool of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding opportunity, and many of these programs were subsequently awarded to organic farmers, brands and researchers.
According to Kate Mendenhall, executive director of the Organic Farmers Association, there has been no information on whether these funds are frozen or going forward, with recipients having yet to receive December payments.
She also said that it is similar to organic farmers who had contracts with the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. However, just last week, on February 20th, the USDA announced that Secretary Rollins was releasing approximately $20 million in contracts for these three programs.
“We have been hearing many stories from our members, and the stress level is incredibly high,” said Kate Mendenhall. “With all of these government contracts they had with various programs, the farmers do not know if they will receive payment, and this uncertainty has caused massive disruptions to their lives and businesses. Yet, TOPP was meant to drive the domestic supply chain of organic, something in complete alignment with President Trump’s America First agenda.”
LABOR ISSUES
Labor is also a significant worry, not just because of the crackdown on undocumented immigrants, many of whom play a vital role in the agricultural system.
“Some of our organic farms have contracts with staffing companies that utilize the H-2A program with workers from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras,” continued Kate Mendenhall. “However, much of that work was being partially funded through USAID, and farms that thought they had secured labor lined up, critical for the harvesting season, are not sure what is now happening.”
But this labor predicament is not just limited to farms.
A staffing reduction at the USDA — through cutbacks, encouraged early retirement and mandatory return-to-office policies — will raise the question of whether the government has adequate resources to effectively manage the National Organic Program.
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