Spring 2026 Pre-NOSB Meeting

Resource Page

Meeting Resources:

Social Gathering

For those of you staying for the NOSB Meeting, we hope you will consider joining us at the happy hour at the Embassy Suites (NOSB Meeting location) on Tuesday, May 12 from 5:30 to 7 pm. This will provide an opportunity to gather as an organic community and network with one another.

NOSB Update (Presented by Steve Ela)

  1. Agenda for NOSB Update

  2. NOSB Proposals and Discussion Documents for the Spring 2026 NOSB Meeting

  3. NOC Spring 2026 Comments to the NOSB

  4. Blog Post - NOC Supports Limits on Non-synthetics High Nitrogen Fertilizers in Organic

Farmer Panel

Noreen Thomas, Doubting Thomas Farm

Organic Farmer & Educator
Moorhead, Minnesota

A resident of Moorhead, Minnesota, Noreen Thomas is a volunteer educator, producer, and former Bush Fellow whose work in the community is based on the belief that knowledge shared with others can collectively aid in resolving our world's hunger problems.

Since 1997, Noreen and her husband, Lee, have been certified-organic producers, farming 1,200 acres of grains, feed and beans for domestic as well as foreign markets. Noreen, who holds a bachelor's of science in Food and Nutrition from North Dakota State University, shows her ongoing commitment to agricultural education through the countless volunteer hours she spends working with children and youth on projects throughout Missouri, Minnesota and Montana. She has taught children the Junior Master Gardener program, worked with youth and adults to plan, plant, tend and harvest organic vegetables for local buyers and written agricultural curriculum. 

More recently, Noreen has joined forces with her daughter-in-law, Melany in raising and malting oat and barley. These grains are highly sought for local craft brewers.

Noah Wendt, A&W Farms

Organic Farmer & Owner
Cambridge, Iowa

Noah grew up near Manchester, IA, a small town in Northeast Iowa. Noah graduated from Iowa State University in 2000 with a major in Ag Business and a minor in International Ag. After graduating ISU he worked in the industry for Cargill until late 2001. Noah learned several fundamental business skills throughout his experience working with Cargill. However, his heart was still in production agriculture. After leaving Cargill he moved on to work for some farmers in Central Iowa and participated in the wheat run throughout Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota for four years.

In 2006 Noah started farming together with Caleb Akin, forming A&W Farms. From 2006 to 2015 A&W Farms was able to build a successful farming operation as first-generation farmers. In 2015 they decided to begin the aggressive transition from conventional to organic production. Since 2015 Noah and Caleb have transitioned over half of their 3000 acres to organic production. Their passion for caring for the land and providing a safe food supply continues to be the driving force in their organic production. 

Organic crops include corn, soybeans, sunflowers, oats, wheat, hemp, and field peas. To maximize organic crop rotations, A&W Farms has been using weed control strategies including unique crop rotations, relay cropping, no-till roller crimping, rotary hoeing, and weed burning/zapping.

Tom Lundahl, Meristem Farm & Nursery

Co-Owner
Papillion, Nebraska

Tom is the co-owner of Meristem Farm & Nursery, a certified organic farm and nursery located on a 110-year-old farmstead at the south edge of metropolitan Omaha, near Papio Creek and the historic downtown of Papillion, Nebraska. Tom grew up on a farm in northeast Nebraska and has lived on this farmstead for over three decades. He has been known in the area for his vegetables and plants sold at farmers markets and for his prior landscaping business, Lund and Field Gardens.

His focus now is on the propagation of plants that are native to the prairies, savannas, and wetlands of this region. He has a special interest in Aronia melanocarpa, a shrub whose berries are exceptionally high in antioxidants. The farm's primary business is the production of Aronia Berry plants. The farm also sells Aronia berries, both frozen and fresh. (Fresh berries are available only in late August and September.)

Other products include succulents and certified organic produce, bedding plants (in season), fruit trees, and native perennials. Meristem Farm & Nursery also offers eggs from their free-range hens and ducks.

Sandro Lopes, NaTerra Farms

Organic Farmer & Founder
David City, Nebraska

Sandro Lopes is the founder of NaTerra Farms in David City, Nebraska, where he practices regenerative agriculture rooted in Indigenous knowledge from his Brazilian heritage. Drawing on traditions passed down from his Tupí ancestors in the Amazon, Sandro integrates agroforestry, composting, and diverse crop systems to create a farm that prioritizes soil health, biodiversity, and ecological balance. His work reflects a commitment to farming in harmony with nature, using techniques that both sustain the land and produce food for his family and community.

A passionate advocate for conservation and sustainable agriculture, Sandro is a Beginning Farmer Conservation Fellow with the Center for Rural Affairs, where he has developed innovative projects such as a mandala garden that blends Indigenous and regenerative practices. His broader vision is to use his farm as a living classroom—sharing knowledge, supporting other farmers, and fostering deeper connections between people, ecosystems, and food systems. Sandro is in the process of pursuing organic certification. 

Steve Boyda, E & V Peeks Family Farm

Organic Farmer & OFARM President
Marysville, Kansas

After retiring from a 27 year career in law enforcement Steve and his wife Kim came back to his family’s farm with a commitment to his grandparents to farm it organically. With little knowledge of farming, they began their adventure by certifying their first part of the farm in 2015 and the remaining ground in 2018.  They focus on soil health, crop rotation, cover crops and trying to incorporate their cattle herd into the rotations. Steve is a board member of Central Plains Organic Farmers Association (CPOFA) and President of Organic Farmers Agency for Relationship Marketing (OFARM).  

Their farm was purchased by Steve’s great grandfather in 1903 and is named E & V Peeks Family Farm after his grandparents. They have three adult children and four grandchildren.

Ed Reznicek, Reznicek Farm

Organic Farmer & KBFA Member
Nemaha County, Kansas

Ed Reznicek and his wife live in Nemaha county Kansas where they operate a diversified 400 acre beef cattle and certified organic grain farm. They raise organic corn, soybeans, cereal grains, alfalfa and other forages. Ed is a long time member of the Central Plains Organic Farmers (CPOF), an organic grain marketing cooperative serving members in Kansas, bordering and nearby states. Ed was one of the organizing members of CPOF and has worked in varying roles in the cooperative over that last 35 years, including that of General Secretary, Marketer and General Manager. Ed recently retired from his position as general manager but continues to do educational and support work related to organic production systems, cooperative marketing and development. He is a member of the Kansas Black Farmers Association (KBFA).

Farmer Resources from the Organic Farmers Association:

  1. Workgroup interest form: https://organicfarmersassociation.org/workgroups/

  2. OFA Farmer Helpline: https://organicfarmersassociation.org/farmerhelpline/

Resources on Black Farmers, Food Sovereignty, and Cooperative Power

  1. Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by Monica White: Freedom Farmers tells the story of Fannie Lou Hamer’s Freedom Farms Cooperative, a Mississippi Delta project that used land ownership, cooperative farming, and community-based food systems as tools for Black self-reliance, wellness, and political resistance. The book broadens the history of the Black freedom struggle by showing agriculture not only as a site of exploitation, but also as a powerful arena for resistance and a foundation for today’s food justice and food sovereignty movements.

  2. Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice by Jessica Gordon Nembhard: First published in 2014, Jessica Gordon Nembhard’s Collective Courage quickly became an important tool for understanding the history of cooperative economic enterprises in the African American community. This now-classic work recounts how African Americans benefited greatly from cooperative ownership and democratic economic participation throughout the nation’s history.

  3. Farming While Black by Leah Penniman: Farming While Black is a practical and visionary guide by Leah Penniman that supports African-heritage people in reclaiming land, restoring Afro-Indigenous farming practices, and building power in the food system. Rooted in the work of Soul Fire Farm, the book connects small-scale sustainable farming with racial justice, food sovereignty, and the struggle to end food apartheid.

Federal Organic Policy Update (Presented by Steve Etka)

  1. Agenda for Federal Organic Policy Update

  2. Farm Bill

  3. Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards Rule

  4. Appropriations

  5. NOC Comments to Secretary Rollins on USDA Reorganization Plans - August 2025

  6. USDA Terminates 49 Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (ILCMA) Projects

  7. Call to Action

    Ask USDA to Release Overdue Organic Certification Cost Share Payments

    Sign Up for NOC Action Alerts

Less Burden, Same Integrity: What’s Possible

  1. Key Takeaways: An organic community conversation on reducing the burden of organic certification on November 17, 2025

Q&A With Dr. Jenny Tucker, National Organic Program

  1. National List proposed rule - carbon dioxide, sodium nitrate, meloxicam, methionine; comments due May 22

    **Let the National Organic Coalition know if you need support in submitting comments on this proposed rule.

  2. NOP Memo: Response to National Organic Standards Board Recommendations (Rescheduled Fall 2025 Meeting – January 2026)

  3. Temporary Variance for U.S. Organic Laying Operations - Induced Molting

Thank you to the Pre-NOSB Meeting Co-Sponsors: