Blog posts by grower
Node UUID: bdf4ab35-8191-41c9-b4e5-7c208bb5cca9
Written by Zea Sonnabend
on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
on advocacy, grower, handler, materials and inputs, NOSB, standards
The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) met April 9-11 in Portland, Oregon. NOP Deputy Administrator Miles McEvoy reported on the many activities of the National Organic Program (NOP) in the six months since the last meeting. Recent activities include work on the previous NOSB nanotechnology recommendations, international agreements, and aquaculture standards. Proposed rules in progress include origin of livestock, final rule on sodium nitrate, and apiculture standards. Guidance documents still to come this year include grower groups, inspector qualifications, responding to results from...
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Node UUID: bc062c53-ccbe-44d2-b8f9-f515df14b4e8
Written by Brise Tencer
on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
on advocacy, food safety, grower, handler, standards
Update 04/30/13:
The FDA has extended the comment period on the proposed food safety regulations until September 16. This change was made as a result of numerous requests for more time to review the proposals, which are complex. The additional time offers CCOF members an opportunity to provide more feedback about the proposals, areas for concerns, or suggested changes. We encourage you to continue sending us your feedback to policy@ccof.org.
Original Post 03/13/13:
I wanted to take this opportunity to update CCOF members on the FDA proposed rules for implementation of the Food Safety...
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Node UUID: d9716956-0d9d-4269-8c98-e389ed86c212
Written by Guest Blogger
on Friday, April 19, 2013
on grower, help and tips
This article appeared in the spring 2013 issue of Certified Organic and was written by Jay Silverstein, partner at Moss Adams.
Whether retirement is near or far, thinking about who will take the reins and lead your farm into the future isn’t easy, but it’s especially relevant these days. According to the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, approximately 70 percent of U.S. farmland will go on the market in the next 20 years as the nation’s farmers age. Without a succession plan, many family-run farms are likely to go out of business, be bought by larger farms, or get turned over...
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Node UUID: 985b26d9-4af2-49be-94d7-66c0caa2626c
Written by Guest Blogger
on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
on funding, grower, livestock
This post was written by Anita Brown, public affairs director, USDA NRCS California.
Many organic farmers have dreams of a conservation project they would love to tackle: a multipurpose hedgerow; an efficient, water-saving irrigation system and schedule; a comprehensive plan to build soil organic matter; a hoop house to extend the growing season for local customers. However, the day-to-day demands of farming can leave those dreams stuck on a back burner. For those who haven’t heard, there is a relatively new resource to help you get cooking on those projects, and over 200 California organic...
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Node UUID: 5095ca57-bc41-4a9a-82f1-5c8a156b4208
Written by Guest Blogger
on Thursday, March 7, 2013
on advocacy, farming: materials and inputs, grower, NOP, NOSB, policy, standards
This post was written by Zea Sonnabend, CCOF inspector and policy specialist.
CCOF is committed to ending the use of antibiotics in organic fruit production. We believe that a longer time period is necessary for oxytetracycline than the current 2014 expiration date because of the continuing research in varying locations and seasons that would ensure success, the need for registration of new materials, and enough time for grower education and outreach. We would like to see an extension in the range of 2017 to 2020 for phase out; however, we support the majority position to extend the...
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Node UUID: 5b2d2501-7eef-47aa-a749-31829204b3ac
Written by Guest Blogger
on Thursday, February 7, 2013
on funding, grower, livestock
This post was written by Val Dolcini, State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency in California.
There’s a new USDA loan program that might be the perfect fit for beginning farmers and ranchers seeking access to capital. On January 15, the USDA Farm Service Agency rolled out a new Microloan program designed to help farmers and ranchers with credit needs of $35,000 or less. This new credit tool simplifies and streamlines the process for farmers obtaining loans under $35,000; it cuts the paperwork burden in half and is built to fit the needs of smaller-scale farmers and ranchers. ...
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Node UUID: dfe7aa1d-3129-47ba-bf51-bb4a8fabacd6
Written by Cathy Calfo
on Monday, January 21, 2013
on grower, handler, livestock, retail
CCOF’s annual membership meeting will take place at the top of a series of anniversary events – Celebrating Forty Years of Growing Organic Agriculture. The meeting will be held 9:00–10:00 a.m. this Wednesday, January 23, in the Kiln Room at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California. This meeting is an opportunity for CCOF members to meet with each other, CCOF staff, and board members to let us know what’s on your mind (there will be an open microphone!), so please join us!
As part of the celebration, you can take a walk down memory lane: either by joining the anniversary...
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Node UUID: cf61ac3b-01e2-4e90-a164-e4b2fb9aeedb
Written by Brise Tencer
on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
on grower, inputs, materials, pests and pesticides, regulatory, SOP
Understandably, organic growers are concerned about the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), a pest that is a carrier of a devastating disease of citrus trees, huanglongbing (HLB). ACP findings are particularly concerning for organic producers because of how few choices there are for organic control methods. In cases of CDFA eradication efforts, there are no currently accepted organic treatments, but organic producers do have tools for management and prevention.
We encourage citrus growers to read up on the issue and be proactive with preventive management. In general, organic common sense principles...
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Node UUID: 6f6d3cc7-0063-4ade-9fec-399d5a842fad
Written by Guest Blogger
on Friday, January 4, 2013
on farming: materials and inputs, grower, help and tips, inputs, water
This article was written by Jane Sooby.
Widespread leakage of nitrogen from agricultural production has become a huge problem worldwide. Recent news articles have reported that numerous small towns in California’s central valley, the country’s most productive agricultural region, must use bottled water because their municipal water supplies are contaminated with dangerous levels of nitrates. A report issued by UC Davis in early 2012 documented that in California’s Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Valley, “roughly 254,000 people are currently at risk for nitrate contamination of their drinking...
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