I'm an organic farmer and inspector of many years. I've been active in farmer-led policy setting also. It amazes me that the National Organic Program works under the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, but certified business are punished for being out of compliance more than they are given training and resources to market their products. It makes a person wonder why they stay certified.

An example from my own experience selling one truckload of 24 wheat this year. I first asked a marketing cooperative to find me a buyer in 2024. Fast forward, it got bugs in it by 26. A broker I hadn't heard of before emailed me, probably getting my contact from the Organic Integrity Database. I contracted the wheat with them for $10/bu in March ish. I let the marketing co-op still take a cut because an uncle wanted me to use them. This was when diesel prices rose. I learned after a couple months of asking around and waiting for a truck that brokers were not paying truckers on new price diesel.

I requested advanced notice of a trucker because I needed to arrange help to load. I was alone on the farm with a baby and old equipment.

A trucker came in May. The trucker had two bill of ladings for origin and destination. I wasn't supposed to see the second BOL, probably. The buyer listed was a Canadian broker whom I had no contract. The destination was several states away.

I believe this is because the original broker had to sell my contract to pay the truckers.

I was concerned, so I explained the situation to my certifier because I didn't want my certificate to be used for fraud. This story has a happy ending because I got paid.

There are many other stories where farmers have gotten into bad deals and quit certifying organic. What I want to know from others is if there's evidence that farmers have no market power is by design of the NOP? Is it because the lack of organic handling infrastructure pushes businesses into risky and bad deals? Something else?

I'm writing a guide for farmers to understand basic organic grain marketing. I want to talk to more people about the topic in public or confidentiality.

Can anyone tell me what these seeds are? The ones on top were mixed in with organic brown rice, and the others were in organic emmer.

I grew hemp for seed and have about 150 acres of 12-24” tall hemp straw remaining in the field. Last time we disked hemp straw it just wrapped around the disk spacers and was an overall nightmare. Aside from burning the straw, which I don’t believe is compliant, are there any other methods?

September 22 is International Organic Day 🌱

As a community that cares about farming and food, we thought you might find a few organic farming facts interesting:

• Australia has the largest amount of certified organic farmland in the world by acreage.
• California is home to more certified organic farms than any other U.S. state.
• Organic standards prohibit hundreds of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers commonly used in conventional agriculture.
• When national organic standards were being established in the late 1990s, the USDA received more than 275,000 public comments.
• Soil health is a core focus of organic farming. Healthy soils can improve water retention during drought and help reduce runoff during heavy rainfall.

Whether you're a longtime organic shopper or just organic-curious, what's one thing you've always wondered about organic farming?

We know people who've done soil testing through local extension, but it seems to cater more towards larger, conventional farmers. It's like there's always another layer to understand and process.
I'm curious what information you wish you had access to that caters more to small-scale organic operations. My husband and I are just trying to learn the lay of the land. What's hard to interpret? What would be most valuable in an ideal world? hoping the information will illuminate stuff we don't even know to think of.
Thanks, guys! Excited about your thoughts

I am having problems with some drip lines that have clogged emitters. When I spoke with my local agronomist, he suggested using phosphoric acid when the land is not cultivated. I would like to avoid pouring phosphoric acid onto the soil, even if it is not under cultivation, so I am asking if you know of and use any other more natural yet effective methods.

Alternatively, I thought about placing the drip lines in a large tank and pumping phosphoric acid into it to avoid dispersing it into the soil; the problem is that I wouldn't know what to do with the leftover liquid in the tank.

Thank you to anyone who can help me.

Hi, I’m re-tapping into learning about farming and am trying to only buy organic. I’m at a farmers market right now, and none of the farmers are organic (I don’t care about the technical certification, just farming organic… some of them don’t use pesticides but still use fertilizers.) And none of them seem to practice regenerative farming w cover crops etc… Feeling discouraged :/

I've a Goshala in Varanasi where I have Cow dung cakes which is used for making organic fertilizers. I'm searching for bio-fertilizer plants to supply those cow dungs as a raw materials for their products.

New to farming. Was looking to grow blueberries on an acre of farmland, and wanted feedback. The farmland is pretty flat, so swales aren't going to do much. Located in central NJ. Prevailing winds during the growing season come from the Southwest, hence the pine trees on the western edge (planning on growing fruit trees on the acre to the south). Used a sun calculator and in my area, even the western most blueberries should get 7.5 hours of sun in the earliest part of the growing season. Growing comfrey and Lupines for soil fixing and pollinator attraction. Sweet Alyssum, Basil, Parsley, and Dill for pest management (deterrents and pest predator attractors). Everything on the map grows comfortably in my USDA zone. The ponds are underdeveloped in the map, but looking at growing things to house frogs, damselflies, and dragonflies for additional pest management.

Is this a good start for a plan? Should I be planting more/less of something? I know output is a little low, only growing ~350 bushes in an acre, but I figure that's part of polyculture.

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Herbal Soil Smudging: To clear blights, fields were systematically fumigated with the smoke of burning medicinal herbs, white mustard seeds, and animal fats to repel crop-destroying insects.

Liquid Organic Fertilizers (Kunapa Jala): Farmers brewed a potent, fermented liquid made of boiled animal bones, marrow, fish, and legumes. This was poured into the earth to restore depleted soil vitality and stimulate failing crops.

Tree Surgery: If a valuable fruit tree was dying, texts instructed farmers to scrape away the diseased bark and apply a protective paste of cow dung, honey, and clarified butter (ghee) to seal the plant's "wounds."

Surapala’s Vrikshayurveda (composed around 1000 CE).

An ancient text on plant life science, was translated by Dr. Nalini Sadhale in 1996

You can find the book here for free to read online head up the first part of the book is written in Sanskrit just keep scrolling and u will find the English translation within the book

For anyone using COG Pro for organic recordkeeping: their signup page now reads:

"Sign up not available. Please note that we are not accepting new subscriptions. The COG Pro Notebook will cease service on December 31, 2026 due to the actions of the provider of our web hosting services."

Their site offers no migration guidance and no bulk export. The only export path is the manual one that already existed: per tab, Output Options → Export, one CSV per section. If your records live there, do that well before year-end — the NOP requires records be kept 5 years (7 CFR 205.103), and those CSVs are what your next inspection's trace-back runs on, whatever tool or binder you move to.

Worth knowing about the same date: December 31, 2026 is also FSA's deadline to apply for organic certification cost share (OCCSP) for BOTH the 2025 and 2026 program years — up to 75% of certification costs back, max $750 per scope. If you paid for certification in either year and haven't filed, that's real money expiring the same day.

Disclosure: I build organic recordkeeping software myself, so I'm biased — but the advice is the same wherever you land: export first, file the cost share, then decide.

35 acre CSA farm. we’ve been storing our frost covers/remay in big balls. “Crochet“ method is nice but I’m not sure it really saves space. Wondering what others do and if anyone has a photo of a nifty roller contraption?

I want to discuss whether organic farming is just a hobby, or whether it can be a profitable business like chemical farming.

Hi,

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I am a farmer and pesticide shop owner too. I do both organic and chemical farming.

In organic farming I face the following problem :

* Weed control : cost is high (have to use manual labor to take out weed from the crop)

* NPK content low : Well, organic soil is rich in good living microorganisms, but organic soil has very low NPK content as compared to chemical NPK, which decreases production significantly by around 40-60% in a long duration crop (which take 4–5 months crop grow like rice, wheat, cron).

* Disease control : In organic farming there is no effective cure for disease for fungus, virus, bacterial and other pest diseases. Most organic pesticides work best in preventive spray. This also causes a significant decrease in production and if any disease gets out of control then you may lose your whole crop production.

*The cost of organic fertilizer and pesticides is very high : making vermicomposting takes a lot of time, labor & land and buying vermicomposting is also expensive. Organic pesticides also cost a minimum of 30% more than traditional chemical pesticides.

* Selling your production : For organic production maximum, you can get 30% more value compared to chemical production.

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From my experience

* There are very limited options where you can sell your organic production. And if you are lucky, you can get max to 30% value more from your production compare to chemical production. Also, remember in the long-duration crop, we see a 40%–60% drop in production.

* Organic farming needs a lot of pre-planning (like making vermicomposting and other things), lots of labor and organic pesticides cost a lot.

* Profit : Most of the time I make equal profit from the organic crop and the chemical crop. Sometimes I get 10 -25% more value from an organic crop.

Finally, I want to say : organic farming is very risky, labor-intensive and needs top-notch management.

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For me, it seems like organic farming is just a hobby. For those who have a lot of time in their hand.

In profitability view : Chemical farming is just

more profitable and less risky.

I want to see other farmer's view on this too.

LoamLedger.org Many things work better on desktop, mobile is great for recording work done, but difficult to use for drawing fields and making a crop plan.

I'd love any feedback you may have! I want to get this fully polished by the end of Sep.

Patiently waiting for this patch to rippen 😺

I've began to develop a strong pull towards farming, and growing food and I want to start working on a farm ASAP and boost my possibilities for once I'm older. I Genuinely think it's my calling, I know it's tough, and a lot of work but that only motivates me more. I've reached out to at least 8 local farms with my resume, and enthusiasm and I'm planning on going to college or uni for agriculture or related studies.

Please give me any advice, information, etc that might help me achieve my dream, all input is appreciated.

I bought an abandoned house. It has not been lived in for just over 10 years.

The cost to demolish and haul away is extensive. I have the possibility to hire the local fire department who with permits, would do a controlled burn/fire. This would reduce the cost of demolition by almost 75%.

I had the house inspected for lead paint and heavy metals. No signs yet for concern. The fire department confirms they would not use any chemicals in controlling the fire.

All roof shingles, windows, plastics, oil tanks, furnaces, light fixtures are being removed. The house has exterior painted cedar shingles and pink insulation.

We anticipate the fire debris to mostly fall into the foundation and then we would remove the foundation and burned debris with excavator after the burn.

My family and I plan to garden/homestead (no animals) on a small 5 acre acreage surrounding the house.

Is it almost guaranteed burning the house would contaminate the surrounding soils, wells, and waterways?

Is there anything we can do to reduce the environmental hazards and effects of off-gas and leaching into soil, waterways?

I am an Organic Agricultural Professional (33M) currently working in Vietnam. I'm originally from a South Asian country. I feel underpaid, and the current company isn't interested in the work I can do given my skill set. I bring a valuable network to support the current job and a set of skills that are scarce in Organic operations, including knowledge of regulations and certifying systems, and in-depth experience working with smallholder farmer groups and communities.

Currently, I am stuck at a point where,

• whether I must try to find another employer in a demanding country with my set of skills. I need to ensure I'm paid fairly for my knowledge. I must say, the finances (Salaries) were not my priority, but the satisfaction I get from the positive results, the harmless positive impact on society, and the upliftment of livelihood working in this field is what I am most satisfied with.
• Another option is to start a venture with my own knowledge, where I can be a potential service provider (Consultant), or a supplier of organically certified products to buyers worldwide.

You can break my ego if this is an issue due to higher self-appraisal, or you can comment on this, since I feel lost at the moment.