H.R. 9968: Opening Programs to Organic Farms Act

This bill would require the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report on what makes it harder for certified organic farms and farms that may want to convert to organic production to take part in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs.

What the bill requires

Within 180 days after the bill becomes law, USDA would have to send a report to the House and Senate agriculture committees and also post it publicly on the department’s website.

The report would need to look at barriers in a wide range of USDA programs, including programs related to:

• conservation
• farm credit
• disaster assistance
• risk management and crop insurance
• export promotion
• market development
• technical assistance
• rural development
• data collection
• federal procurement
• organic certification cost-share assistance

What the report must include

The report would need to include:

• Data on participation, if available, such as how often organic farms apply for, are approved for, or are denied USDA program benefits, along with funding levels, geographic patterns, farm sizes, production types, and reasons for denial or nonparticipation.
• Specific barriers that may affect organic farms, such as eligibility rules, payment formulas, ranking systems, application paperwork, recordkeeping requirements, crop insurance price settings, disaster payment methods, conservation standards, certification paperwork, supply-chain infrastructure, staff understanding of organic farming, and access to organic-specific data.
• Training and assistance needs for USDA staff, including employees at the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Risk Management Agency, Rural Development, Foreign Agricultural Service, and other offices.
• Administrative actions the Secretary plans to take to reduce the barriers identified.
• Recommendations for changes to law if needed to remove those barriers.

Ongoing follow-up

For the three years after the initial report is submitted, USDA would also have to provide annual updates to Congress and publish them online. These updates would describe:

• progress made in reducing barriers
• administrative actions completed or still in progress
• remaining obstacles for organic farms and farms transitioning to organic production
• any new recommendations for statutory changes

Overall effect

The bill does not directly change USDA program rules by itself. Instead, it would require USDA to examine how its programs work for organic farms, identify obstacles, and report publicly on possible fixes and follow-up actions.

Relevant Companies

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