TAKE ACTION on Certification Cost Share by Monday, August 24
Background
On August 10, USDA announced changes in the reimbursement rate for organic certification cost share funds. Prior to this administrative change, organic farmers could receive reimbursement up to 75% of all eligible certification costs, with maximum payments of $750. USDA reduced this maximum reimbursement rate to 50%, with a $500 maximum payment.
Congressional Letter
Congress has drafted a bi-partisan letter (see below), led by Reps. Plaskett, Davis, Brindisi, and Newhouse urging USDA to reinstate the maximum reimbursement rate for the organic certification cost share program, as well as extend all applicable program deadlines to ensure that farmers who are still dealing with COVID-19 impacts have ample time to access these funds.
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
If your Representative serves on the House Agriculture Committee or the House Organic Caucus, ask them to sign on to the letter to express support for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP). See below for a sample email. Click here to see a list of House Ag Committee Members and House Organic Caucus Members, organized by state. The deadline to sign onto the letter is COB on Monday, August 24!
Let us know if you need the name and email of the ag staffer for your Representative’s office. If your Rep is one of the leads on this letter (Reps. Plaskett, Davis, Brindisi, and Newhouse) send a thank you email.
Email your Representative TODAY with this request
Dear Representative xxx,
I am writing as a constituent and to express my outrage that USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has chosen to reduce support for the organic certification cost share program in the midst of a pandemic. The organic certification cost share program provides organic farmers and handling operations with modest reimbursement of $750 for certification costs. This reimbursement has been reduced to $500.
The FSA has done a disservice to the organic community in this time of crisis by reducing funds and delaying the release of funds by many months while organic operations struggle to stay in business as they weather a pandemic and loss of markets.
Representatives Plaskett, Davis, Brindisi, and Newhouse have created a letter (below) urging USDA to reinstate the maximum reimbursement rate for the organic certification cost share program, as well as extend all applicable program deadlines to ensure that farmers who are still dealing with COVID-19 impacts have ample time to access these funds. I am writing to request that you sign on to this letter.
To sign onto the letter, you can contact Tiana Thomas in Rep. Plaskett’s office (Tiana.Thomas@mail.house.gov), Robert Dougherty in Rep. Brindisi’s office (Robert.Dougherty@mail.house.gov), Janie Costa in Rep. Rodney Davis’ office (Janie.Costa@mail.house.gov), or Travis Martinez in Rep. Newhouse’s office (Travis.Martinez@mail.house.gov). The letter will close at COB on Monday, August 24.
Sincerely,
Your name and organization (if applicable)
Your town and state (to demonstrate that you are a constituent)
Sign on letter
August XX, 2020
The Honorable Sonny Perdue
Secretary of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20250
Dear Secretary Perdue,
We write to express strong concern with the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) recently announced changes to the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP). At a time when the agriculture industry is still recovering from major supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must utilize all available authorities and funding to provide assistance to our organic farmers, ranchers, and handlers.
On August 10, 2020, the FSA announced a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) OCCSP funding. While this announcement was welcome news for organic producers and handlers seeking assistance with certification fees, the NOFA included an unexpected amendment to the reimbursement rate and maximum assistance permitted under the program. Instead of reimbursing 75 percent of eligible costs up to $750 per scope, the FY20 NOFA reflected an administrative decision by FSA to reduce the reimbursement rate to 50 percent of eligible costs up to $500 per scope.
This change in the reimbursement rate was not anticipated by stakeholders, and we believe it directly contradicts the intent of the overwhelmingly bipartisan Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 which reauthorized and funded OCCSP. The 2018 Farm Bill provided $24 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation to OCCSP for FY19-23, accompanied by supporting language directing the Secretary to utilize all available carryover funding from FY14-18 when providing certification assistance to the organic sector. It was the intent of Congress that producers and handlers would be eligible to receive the maximum amount of assistance as permitted by law, and any changes to the reimbursement rate were not expected at the time of enactment.
These amendments to OCCSP come at a difficult time for the agriculture sector, particularly for those small-scale producers who benefit most from cost share assistance. The spread of COVID-19 dramatically impacted supply chains and the agricultural workforce, resulting in decreased productivity and tighter margins during an already stressed time in the agriculture economy. For organic producers who have struggled to receive assistance via other USDA programs, the OCCSP was seen as a reliable form of support.
USDA must consider and abide by the intent of Congress when implementing the 2018 Farm Bill. Therefore, we request that USDA provide the maximum amount of assistance through OCCSP as permitted by law. Additionally, farmers and ranchers across this country continue to adjust to the impacts of COVID-19. The capacity of these producers is strained as they focus their attention on rebuilding their operations and ensuring the health and safety of their workers. To ensure that these producers have time to participate in this program and access these funds, we also request that USDA extend any applicable program deadlines for the FY20 funding. We stand ready to work with you in support of our organic farmers and ranchers at this challenging time.
Respectfully,
Stacey E. Plaskett, Rodney Davis, Anthony Brindisi, Dan Newhouse
Additional Background Information:
The organic certification cost-share program helps organic farms stay in business and is especially important for small and mid-size farms. If the USDA wants organic farms and our regional economies to survive and thrive, they should be making it easier to get certification cost share and increase support during the pandemic. Instead they have just reduced funds for organic certification cost share.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced on August 10 that they will be reducing reimbursement rates for the organic certification cost share program, which provides reimbursements to organic farms and handling operations. The August 10 Federal Register notice stated that FSA is “revising the reimbursement amount to 50 percent of the certified organic operation’s eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $500 per scope.” The 2018 Farm Bill clearly set reimbursement rates at 75 percent of the certified organic operation’s eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $750 per scope.
This action by USDA is unwarranted and completely unacceptable. The 2018 Farm Bill provided new funding for the program and also directed USDA to use the program’s carryover balances from previous years to fund the program for fiscal years 2019 through 2023. Given these sources of funding, there should be plenty of funds available for the program’s operation in fiscal year 2020. Either USDA’s accounting for this program is flawed or the agency has decided to disregard the Congressional funding directives in the 2018 Farm Bill. In addition, the FSA has done a huge disservice to the organic community in this time of crisis by delaying the release of funds by many months while organic operations struggle to stay in business as they weather a pandemic and loss of markets. Organic, direct market, and diversified operations have largely been excluded from existing USDA pandemic relief programs, including the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, while the top 1 percent of recipients got more than 20 percent of the money, totaling $1.2 billion.
NOC is urging organic operations to apply for certification cost-share assistance as soon as they are able to do so with their state agency or local FSA office: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/occsp/index
Operations have until October 31, 2020 to apply for funding. FSA has stated that “if additional funding is authorized at a later time, FSA may provide additional assistance to certified operations that have applied” for the organic certification cost share program.
Read NOC’s press release here.