$50M Funding For Farmers To Go Organic!
by Spence Cooper on 15/05/09 at 9:14 am
A Good Move By The Goverment to Help Farms to go Organic
This is really great news. Delen Goldberg with the Post-Standard reports the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Conservation Services has created a $50 million funding pool to help farmers transition into growing organic products.
“Organic agriculture is a growing and profitable industry,” said Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, the chairman of the state Senate’s Agriculture Committee. “This fund will give farmers the funding they need and technical assistance.”
Eligible farmers include:
• Farmers who are beginning or are in the process of transitioning to organic production.
• Existing certified organic farmers who want to transition additional acres or animals.
• Existing certified organic farmers who need to adopt additional conservation measures.
• Producers who sell less than $5,000 in agricultural products and are thus exempt from formal certification.
The program is open to farmers in every county in the state. Registration for the program ends May 29.
“This is a substantial pool of money and any farmer in New York who is interested should get in line for funding as soon as possible,” Aubertine said. “Organic farming may not be for every farmer, but it has proven to be a profitable opportunity for many of our farmers as more and more consumers look for organic products.”
Most Americans don’t realize the vast difference in farming techniques between organic farming and the kind of techniques huge farming operations use in agribusinesses that are dominated by a few huge corporations that reign over “contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales”. To maximize profits where incredible volumes of food are produced, these huge corporations use an assortment of deadly pesticides and toxic chemicals to speed up and increase harvest in the food production process.
In contrast, organic farming relies on natural farming methods used for centuries like crop rotation, green manure, compost, and biological pest control. The market for organic products has exploded and reached $46 billion in 2007. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements regulates organic agricultural methods and their standards are enforced by several nations.
“Organic agriculture,” writes the IFOAM, “is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved….”
In order to become a certified organic grower farmers are required to use farming methods that exclude pesticides and antibiotics for three years. Farmers making a transition to organic farming need supplemental funds to finance the additional manpower spent on alternatives to pesticides and antibiotics, weeding, and certified organic feed and seed. This federal money to aid New York farmers will provide the much needed incentive for farmers to switch to organic farming, and will in turn provide consumers with more local organic growers.
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