Press Release

Report Removes Guesswork from Small Farm Organic Certification

Small farmers, as well as farmers’ market managers, can find the USDA organic standards complicated and confusing.

A report from Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture makes it easier to tell whether a farm meets the official standards.

Small Scale Organics: A Guidebook for the Non-certified Organic Grower can help farmers, market managers, produce buyers, extension agents, and others figure out exactly what federal law requires in order to sell farm products as “organic.”

Any organic grower who sells more than $5,000 of organic products each year is required to become certified in order to use the “organic” label. 

Growers with annual sales under $5,000 can choose whether or not to become certified.  Either way, though, to sell products as “organic,” they still must follow the rules in the USDA standards.

Small Scale Organics provides a quick assessment tool for such farms, covering the main issues and factors that determine whether a small farm or market garden meets the federal requirements, and may therefore legally sell produce or other products as “organic.”

These key factors include land requirements, fertilizers and pesticides, manure and composting practices, growing methods, seed selection, and prevention of contamination and commingling.

The report includes clear, plain guidelines, along with a template of an “organic system plan” – a document that all certified organic farms are required to file.

Small Scale Organics does not substitute for the rigorous inspection and review process of organic certification. Still, it should give a clearer idea whether a given farm can legally sell its produce as “organic.”

Small Scale Organics is available free from the Kerr Center website, www.kerrcenter.com.

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