Marin assists agriculture producers with organic certification shift

Marin County supervisors have approved a program designed to help organic agricultural producers follow new federal rules.

The two-year program will assist 20 clients in the Marin Organic Certified Agriculture program. The program certifies crop and livestock operations if they meet federal regulations for organic foods.

Under the plan, the clients will get financial assistance while they switch from the MOCA program to new organic certifiers in order to have inspections that follow new federal rules.

The new regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program have reduced MOCA’s inspection capacity, county staff told the Board of Supervisors. Scott Wise, the county’s assistant agriculture commissioner, said the National Organic Program now requires an organic inspector to have 2,000 hours of experience before being allowed to conduct solo inspections.

In the Marin area, Wise said, there are not many trained organic inspectors who are also willing to work full-time for the county.

“Unfortunately, now a new inspector would have to work for a full year per inspection type without being able to conduct a single inspection on their own,” Wise said.

With the supervisors’ approval on Nov. 19, the county will use $95,518 in emergency drought relief funds to financially support agriculture producers after they leave MOCA to find a new organic certifier.

Wise said that the funding will help agriculture producers pay potentially higher fees or hire a consultant while they find a certifier. He said it’s a “small, but useful” investment.

“Helping to keep these small- to medium-sized family farms and ranches viable is critical for our local foodshed,” he said.

Wise said the transition from one organic certifier to another will also require a significant number of new forms to file and records to prepare.

Marin Organic Certified Agriculture clients include Toluma Farms and Tomales Farmstead Dairy, Allstar Organics, Cowgirl Creamery, Draper Farms and Star Route Farms, according to a USDA database.

County Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, who represents rural communities in western Marin, said supervisors were happy to provide transition funding for MOCA-certified producers.

“Our agriculture department was unable to keep up with the expertise needed, and the increased cost of providing this certification,” he said. “We continue to support our organic growers and producers.”