Simplifying the paperwork: Recordkeeping strategies for organic farmers
Resource Page
Information about other Seeds of Success Events
Farmer Presenters
Mark Green
Katie and Mark Green started their training in organic farming on the North Fork of Long Island before moving home to Western Washington. They opened Wild Hare Organic Farm in 2015 in the Puyallup River valley while conserving 20 acres as permanent farmland. They are honored to play their part in preserving their slice of the valley from one generation to the next, and they aim to protect the family-farm tradition, promote the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model and produce uncommonly delicious and nutritious food. Wild Hare is open year-round with a CSA membership of 200-350, depending on the season, and those members almost entirely pick up on farm every week. They have been certified organic from the start and are committed to promoting the benefits of organic practices and certification.
Kat Becker
Kat Becker owns and operates Cattail Organics, a diversified and profitable organic vegetable farm with maple syrup production and a young apple orchard. Cattail Organics serves a diverse set of markets including a 100 member three season CSA, local restaurants and grocery stores, schools, a food hub and small aggregators, and local/statewide food pantries. Kat has been farming on her own operations since 2006 and has maintained organic transitions and organic records since that time. She has also served on the board of a MOSA 2011-2014, and is currently on Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture's Organic Advisory Council giving her a unique perspective on certification. Kat has a strong background in managing complex systems with leaner planning and record keeping systems and using SOPs to simplify and reduce time spent on organic records.
John Bigham Jr.
Swiss Meadow Organics
John Bigham is an organic dairy farmer in Abbotsford, Wisconsin and is a member of Organic Valley. John has loved dairy farming his whole life, and always wanted to be an Organic Valley farmer. He got his first jersey cow at age 13 and grew the herd from there. After a few years he needed a new facility to accolade his expanding herd of cows. John had always loved Wisconsin and started looking for a farm there. In early 2019, John connected with an Organic Valley farmer in Wisconsin looking to retire. Later that year, He uprooted his life in his home state of Ohio and moved to Wisconsin at the age of 21 and hasn’t looked back since. John is passionate about organic dairy and the integrity of the organic label, as well as being as efficient as possible, both in labor and record keeping, as he is the only labor unit on his farm. John utilizes various software and mobile apps to make organic record keeping as efficient as possible. John milks 35 cows in a tie stall barn and manages 200 organic acres of pasture and hay ground.
Webinars
Trail of Records Video Series - from the NW Transition to Organic Partnership Program
Record Keeping For Diversified Produce Growers - NW TOPP Mentor Record Keeping Series - Mark Green
Exploring the Value and Process of Organic Certification (NOFA-VT) - around minute 38, the webinar focuses specifically on record keeping
Organic Recordkeeping 101 for Growers (CCOF Foundation)
Record Keeping Systems for Organic Certification- video & factsheet (Organic Agronomy Training Service)
Online Courses
The Farmer Spreadsheet Academy (Dan Brisebois)
Software
Dairy Comp - dairy herd management tool
Field Margin - farm management software
Software Tools for Small Farms - Young Agrarians
COG Pro - recordkeeping for organic certification
ThriveMetrics - inventory management
Tools & Resources
Transition to Organic Partnership Program Resource Page (Transition to Organic Partnership Program)
Under topic, select ‘Record Keeping for Organic Certification’
USDA AMS Recordkeeping Guides, Templates, and Other Resources (USDA AMS)
Recordkeeping for Farms- toolkit (Oregon Tilth)
The Trail of Records - Record Keeping for Organic Crop Certification (Oregon Tilth)
Record Keeping Templates, Forms, & Resources (Vermont Organic Farmers)
Organic Record Keeping Overview (NOFA-NH)
Farm Record Keeping Toolkit (Carolina Farm Stewardship Association)
Organic Record Keeping Template (Organic Association of Kentucky)
Organic Certification Record Keeping (North Carolina State Extension Organic)
Tips from attendees:
Auto-dictate field notes.
Take photos of harvest whiteboard and save in Google Drive folder.
Tag photos so they are easy to search and find in the future.
Blog Posts
Mastering Recordkeeping for Organic Operations (Oregon Tilth)
