CCOF Blog

We know that labor is often the biggest expense on the farm. We are looking to better understand issues producers are facing with labor. We are offering a $25 stipend to organic producers who participate in our survey. The online survey should take no more than 30 minutes to complete and can be found at https://forms.office.com/r/fV3jYLMaK5.

Please contact Jessica Gonzalez at jgonzalez@ccof.org if you have any questions or concerns.
 

Farmers and ranchers across California are encouraged to apply to Zero Foodprint’s Restore Grant Program. The grant facilitates regenerative farming projects by providing grantees up to $25,000 for practices that sequester carbon, such as compost, cover cropping, prescribed grazing, and other regenerative practices.

Zero Foodprint believes that by regenerating soil, local food systems can play a part in reversing the global climate crisis. By creating an economic connection from consumers and businesses back to farmers and ranchers, we can restore soil health and sequester carbon.…

Thanks to the generous support of our donors who believe in the environmental and social benefits organic farmers provide, we’ve added another eight inspiring farmers to our Organic Transition program, bringing our current roster up to twenty farmers. These small-scale farmers in California receive three years of $10,000 grant funding per year, technical assistance, mentorship…

Watsonville farm-working families continue to advocate for organic agriculture to protect the health of their children. At a city council meeting last month, community members advocated for all farms near schools to transition to organic and to stop spraying pesticide. 

Several farm-working parents spoke about the health effects of pesticide exposure on their children. This concern is not surprising given that Latino children are 91 percent more likely to attend schools with high pesticide exposure.  Organic agriculture protects the health of rural communities by prohibiting the…

New grant funds are available to expand livestock processing capacity through the USDA Local Meat Capacity Grant (Local MCap) program and Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grant (IAG) program. Applications are due on July 19, 2023.

The Local Meat Capacity Grant (Local MCap) program will award up to $75 million to independently owned and operated small-scale processors. Two categories of grants are available: 1) Processing Expansion Projects with awards of $100,000 to $5 million for facility upgrades and 2) Simplified Equipment-Only Projects with awards of $10,000 to…

Organic cow, goat, and sheep dairy operations that have been hard-hit by unprecedented climate and supply chain challenges can now apply for hardship relief funding under the USDA’s new Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP). 

Producers can apply for funding from May 24 to July 24, 2023, through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) by contacting your local USDA Service Center. Funding will be provided on a rolling basis as applications are received. 

The following documentation is required to apply:

We’re hearing from many of CCOF’s long-term members this year as we celebrate our 50th anniversary. Phil LaRocca is one of our longest-term members; he has also served twice as the CCOF, Inc. Board of Directors chair!

LaRocca has a bevy of stories to share from his history as a seasoned organic farmer and fierce advocate for organic’s integrity and success. He recently shared his story with us—…

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California is making federal funding available to assist California’s agricultural producers transition to organic production. Through the new Organic Transition Initiative (OTI), NRCS California is accepting applications until June 15, 2023, from interested landowners for…

CCOF announces an exciting opportunity for our members – AMS will issue up to $75 million in competitive grants (between $100,000 and $3,000,000) to fund projects designed to expand and improve markets for domestically produced organic products. 

Apply on https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html?keywords=organic%20market now through 11:59 p.m. ET July…

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that the Organic Certification Cost Share program will offer reimbursements at original levels of 75% of eligible expenses up to a maximum of $750 per scope. Scopes are crops, wild crops, livestock, and processing/handling. 

In addition, certified organic operations in California are eligible for reimbursement of their…

Organic inspectors are essential to ensuring organic integrity, and CCOF has a history of providing apprenticeships to new, prospective organic inspectors. Thanks to a grant from the National Organic Program (NOP) Human Capital Capacity Building Initiative, we were able to formalize our inspector apprenticeship in the CCOF Organic Inspector Mentorship Pilot Program. 

A member of CCOF Certification Services, LLC’s inspection operations department collaborated with an education specialist from the CCOF Foundation to develop training materials and facilitate the apprenticeship program…

As an Associate Community Member and Registered Trainer Organization of GLOBALG.A.P., CCOF is teamworking with GLOBALG.A.P. on offering various courses GLOBALG.A.P. courses this spring and summer. These include, among others: a full review of the GLOBALG.A.P. IFA GFS v6 standard, as well as a full review of the GFSI Recognized GLOBALG.A.P. Post-Harvest Facility Food Safety Certification: Produce Handling Assurance (PHA v1.2). A few courses will be offered that specifically look at the differences between commonly utilized GAP standards explicitly focused on food safety and the GLOBALG.A.P…

In the coming months the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service will be releasing an RFP focusing on Pinpointed Organic Market Development as part of their Organic Transition Initiative. This program will develop new and expanded markets for targeted domestic organic products by providing more resources and market certainty for producers and processors transitioning to organic or initiating new organic production and processing capacity. 

There will be approximately $75 million for grants and $25 million for commodity procurement. The goals of this project are:

Last week, CCOF and Food and Farm Resilience Coalition members met with state legislators to garner additional support for the Climate-resilient Farms, Sustainable Healthy Food Access, and Farmworker Protection Bond Act of 2024, AB 408. This bill, which is authored by Assemblymember Lori Wilson, would place a $3.4 billion bond measure on the…

Increasingly, food safety certifications and plans are required to sell fresh fruits and vegetables, and the costs in time, labor, capital upgrades, and certifications are significant. While the USDA currently offers financial assistance for small growers (with less than $250,000 in annual sales), the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) has a survey out to determine what barriers keep fruit and vegetable farms and packers from beginning or expanding food safety practices. This information will likely be used to argue for more funding from the USDA for financial support to growers and packers to…