Press Release

New Report Aids On-Farm Organic Entrepreneurs

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Today’s small farms can find paths to profit in organic certification, as well as on-farm processing of raw commodities into value-added products – wheat into flour, tomatoes into salsa, and so on. 

In combination, each of these strategies can enhance the other’s value still further. However, both require planning and paperwork, and those obstacles keep many farmers from taking the plunge.

Now, a new free report helps farmers navigate the red tape, simplifying the creation of on-farm organic processing enterprises.

“Organic farmers need to jump through the same hoops any other business person would in starting a food business, and at least one more – organic certification,” says George Kuepper, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist at the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, in Poteau, Oklahoma, and a co-author of the report.

“Farm Made: A Guide to On-Farm Processing for Organic Producers is intended for the organic farmer, or prospective organic farmer, who is considering adding a processing enterprise,” he says.

The 40-page report begins with an overview of the general requirements for organic certification and for food processing facilities.

Following the overview, Farm Made discusses in detail four different on-farm organic processing enterprises: sorghum syrup, packaged fresh salad greens, canned fruit products (jams, jellies, and preserves), and table eggs.

For each enterprise, the report outlines the basic production and processing requirements, and follows with details unique to organic management.  Each section wraps up with an extensive list of resources for further information and supplies.

Two other experienced sustainable agriculture writers and researchers collaborated with Kuepper on the report.  Holly Born, of Midwest Organic Services Association in Viroqua, Wisconsin, and Anne Fanatico, with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Fayetteville, Arkansas, both poured their combined decades of expertise into the project. 

The result is jam-packed with valuable information for those who want to process organic ingredients into value-added organic products, right on the farm.
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Farm Made is published by the Kerr Center, and distributed by Kerr Center and ATTRA, with funding from the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

Farm Made is available free from the Kerr Center website, www.kerrcenter.com, along with many other resources on sustainable agriculture.

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