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The farming season is picking up, and we know you're busy!
Click on the headlines below to skip to specific articles,
or scroll through at your leisure to see what's happening in organic agriculture this month.
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 'Saving Real Organic'
Winter Conference Video:
A Discussion with Dave Chapman, Roger Noonan & Michael Phillips
Organic farming has grown tremendously over the last 20 years, and with it, so has organic fraud. Recent struggles with the USDA over the National Organic Program's (NOP) integrity have led to farmer rallies across the country to protect organic.
To address these issues, NOFA-NH's Winter Conference hosted a panel discussion with organic farmers and activists Dave Chapman (Long Wind Farm, VT), Roger Noonan (Middle Branch Farm, NH), and Michael Phillips (Lost Nation Orchard, NH) focused on reclaiming the organic movement and the creation of the Real Organic Project.
We are excited to share their conversation with you in a 35-minute knowledge packed video, including a question and answer session with the audience. This video is useful both to viewers who may already know a lot about the issues facing the organic movement, as well as those interested in learning more about the organic food system, and the difficulties small organic farmers face today.
Huge Thanks to videographer, Chadley Kolb, for producing this informative video!
Subscribe to our new YouTube channel if you dig it.
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Thank You, Mondanock Food Co-op and Shoppers!
Big Thanks to
Monadnock Food Co-op and it's shoppers who raised $400 for NOFA-NH's Farm Share Program in one day! Last month, the Co-op hosted a 1-day Round It Up Campaign, allowing shoppers to round up their change at the register after making a purchase to help fund the program. Funds from the campaign will go directly to helping families in the Monadnock Region through subsidized farm shares from program partner, Picadilly Farm.
What's the Farm Share Program? NOFA-NH launched our Farm Share Program (aka CSA Program) in 2017 to provide subsidized Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares for New Hampshire individuals with limited income, especially benefitting children, families and seniors. The program connects low-income individuals and families with certified organic NOFA-NH member farms to provide subsidized CSA shares consisting of a season's worth of local, fresh farm products - 15 to 30 weeks of vegetables, fruit, dairy, eggs, meat, and/or bread - that would otherwise be unaffordable for the recipients.
To learn more about NOFA-NH's Farm Share Program, and how you can help, please click here.
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Thank You, NH Gives Donors
!
NOFA-NH extends a resounding Thank You to all our NH Gives donors! Your contributions make a big difference in helping to
promote organic and sustainable farming practices, small family farms, and healthy communities.
Your support is priceless!
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Federal GMO Labeling Comment Period Ends July 3rd
Nearly two years after Congress and President Obama passed a GMO disclosure law in 2016, the USDA has released its
proposed regulations for the mandatory labeling of products containing genetically modified ingredients, commonly known as GMOs.
Food companies will have 3 options for labeling: a one-sentence declaration, an icon like the USDA Organic label, or a digital marker such as a QR code that leads shoppers to a website for more information.
NOFA-NH stands in solidarity with our sister chapters and many other GMO labeling advocates in stating that the proposed labels, such as QR codes and smiling sun icons bearing the letters BE, are not transparent enough, and
could even be misleading.
NOFA-NH encourages our readers to seize this public comment period as an important moment for our collective voice to be heard, and urges you to spread the word.
Please note that unique and personalized comments will have the greatest impact and that the USDA is not accepting email or web-based petitions as valid forms of commenting.
The rule is intended to be finalized on July 29th, a deadline set by Congress when it passed the disclosure law in 2016.
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2018 Farm Bill Update
The Senate Agriculture Committee passed their 1,000+ page version of the Farm Bill in a near sweeping vote with only one vote against on Wednesday, June 13.
Vermont Biz highlights the many positive portions of the Senate Farm Bill, also known as the Agriculture Improvement Act, as laid out by Senator Leahy (D-VT). The article covers many topics of the bill, including the organic and local food movement with wins in organic research, the Organic Certification Cost Share Program, protecting the organic label, the Organic Data Initiatives Program, the Local Food Program, Specialty Crop Block Grants, and maple syrup research and marketing.
On protecting the organic label, Vermont Biz reported:
"This Farm Bill includes improvements to ensuring the integrity of the USDA organic seal by adding a documentation and traceability enhancement measure to help prevent fraudulent organic imports. In juxtaposition with the House Farm Bill, the Senate maintains rigorous standards for what products can be labeled as organic. The Farm Bill also establishes the Organic Agricultural Product Imports Interagency Working Group which will allow USDA and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to work together to inspect organic imports and prevent the import of fraudulent organic products."
Prior to the Senate Agriculture Committee's vote on Wednesday, the National Organic Coalition (NOC) released a comprehensive score card on the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill, highlighting concerns about the protection of the National Organic Standards Board's (NOSB) role and structure. Particularly, NOC explained that the bill included "an unnecessary statutory change to the NOSB process for reviewing and approving materials for use in organic." The statutory change would allow fewer NOSB member votes than historically required to make changes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, which governs substances that may not be used in organic and livestock production. NOFA-NH will continue to report on how this portion of the bill was handled.
The New Food Economy
also published some good news on the Senate's bill, including: improvements to the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, the Food for Peace Program, structuring improvements to the USDA, and the potential legalization of hemp as an agricultural product.
The full Senate is expected to vote on the Bill before the July 4th recess. The current version of the Farm Bill, which is typically renewed every 5 years, is set to expire on Sept. 30th.
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The USDA's Land Contract Guarantee Program
Transfers Farm Real Estate to the Next Generation
Beginning farmers and ranchers often experience two primary barriers to starting their business - access to land and capital. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) has a program that can help.
The Land Contract (LC) Guarantee Program makes and guarantees loans to eligible farmers looking to purchase and operate small family farms. This is a good resource for farmers who may be looking to retire and want to transition their land to beginners. Conversely, the program can help new farmers who would like to get into the business but lack the resources to purchase a farm or ranch.
"This program helps by
reducing the financial risk for retiring farmers who sell their farmland to a
beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer by providing a federal guarantee in case the buyer runs into trouble making payments," explains the
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC).
The LC Guarantee Program
Fact Sheet provides more details in a brief and digestible format.
Learn more about the USDA's FSA Guaranteed Farm Loans programs
here.
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Navigating a Changing Local Food Landscape
A recent USDA Agricultural Marketing Service webinar titled, "The Changing Landscape of Acquiring Local Food and What It Means for You," provides a wealth of resources on the local food movement along with some compelling data on consumers' opinions about purchasing food.
The webinar covered AMS's 4 directories on local food and several reports on local food systems, data collected on farmers markets and farmers' markets improvements, what farmers' markets can learn from the CSA model (including successful case studies), and U.S. consumer demand for local food.
One of the major findings is how the news media influences consumer choices. A 2016 Food and Health Survey from the International Food Information Council Foundation found that "nearly half of Americans have read an article or book, or watched a documentary about the food system in the past year...and about half of them have changed their food purchases as a result."
Some additional stats from the webinar include:
- "One-third of consumers claim they consciously purchase locally grown or locally produced foods at least once a week."
- "60 percent of consumers say they purchase local food because the products are fresher. 44 percent say they taste better. Roughly one-third believe that local products are healthier."
- Findings from FMI U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends in 2016 further revealed that "29 percent of all surveyed shoppers prefer shopping in food stores that they believe support the local economy. 21 percent prefer shopping in grocery stores that procure meat from sources that treat animals humanely. 14 percent look for organic certification."
- A Watershed Communications 2016 food and beverage survey found that of the 400 millennials interviewed "every single respondent indicated that he or she frequently purchased foods and beverages based on the brand's reputation for authenticity."
- The factors that were most frequently attributed to brand authenticity were noted as: clean ingredients (real, all natural, fresh, organic), quality product/great tasting, true to mission, culturally accurate, transparent.
To access all the resources of this webinar,
click here. This webinar is by Carlos Coleman and Debra Troop of the Local Food Research and Development Marketing Services Division of the USDA AMS.
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NH Food Alliance Webinar on Agricultural Commissions
NH Food Alliance hosted a webinar with John Carroll from Durham and John Porter from Boscawen focused on what agricultural commissions are, how one can be formed in your town, and what these commissions can do to preserve farming and rural character locally.
The webinar also includes what each of the speakers is working on in his respective town's agricultural commission.
View the webinar here
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Early Bird Registration for NOFA's Summer Conference Ends on June 27th
Conference Details:
August 10 - 12, 2018 at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA.
There is also a 15% discount for groups of 5 or more;
Farm Workers and Apprentices have a special opportunity to apply for free conference registration through a
scholarship application;
and s
cholarship opportunities are available for volunteers.
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NOFA-NH Signs NGO Letter Opposing
NOFA-NH signed on to a letter urging members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, and the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources to oppose industrial finfish aquaculture (or ocean CAFOs).
The below excerpt details just some of the reasons for opposition.
"Industrial ocean fish farms have no place in our waters. They cram thousands of fish into enormous floating net pens and cages, exposing wild fish stocks to pests and disease and risking massive farmed fish spills that further threaten wild fish. These operations use assorted pharmaceuticals and toxic chemicals to treat disease and control investigations, which end up in our waters and can negatively impact nearby marine life. The chemicals can also contaminate the farmed fish, raising public health concerns for consumers.
"These industrial farms are built on the factory farm model, which aims to produce the largest quantity of seafood at the lowest possible cost. This forces all seafood prices downward, lowering the amount consumers may be willing to pay for responsibly and sustainably harvested fish, which directly harms our fishing communities."
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NOFA-NH
Signs Letter Upholding Organic
in Senate Farm Bill
In late May, NOFA-NH signed on to a letter urging the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry to "fully support organic agriculture in the Farm Bill and to oppose any changes that would undermine the organic standards and the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)."
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NOFA-NH
Signs Letter Supporting Equity & Access
in 2018 Farm Bill
Last month, NOFA-NH signed on to a letter urging the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry to "write a full, fair Farm Bill that protects and grows support for the conservation, rural development and nutrition programs that are essential to our communities, including full funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program."
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NOFA-NH
Signs Letter
Addressing America's Dairy Crisis
In April, NOFA-NH signed on to a letter urging the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry, the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture addressing America's dairy crisis. The follow excerpt details some of the issues.
"Small, family-run dairy farms play a vital role in the rural economy while providing a safe, affordable food to consumers. If the current cycle of low prices and contracted dairy markets continues, we will see virtually all of these farms go out of business, with serious impacts on the economic and social health of rural America.
"Therefore, the undersigned 53 member and allied organizations of the National Family Farm Coalition call for immediate action by both Congress and USDA to address this crisis in rural America. These actions include:
- Setting an immediate floor price of $20/cwt for milk used to manufacture dairy products;
- Establishing a milk product purchasing initiative by utilizing U.S. Department of Agriculture's authority under 7 USCS Section 612c, commonly referred to as Section 32 surplus removal;
- Placing an immediate moratorium on Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding and direct and guaranteed loans for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs);
- Holding hearings on the milk pricing formula and the dairy crisis;
- Implementing a supply management program as outlined in the proposed Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2011 to stabilize milk production."
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Meet Our Members!
Introducing Paul & Joan Richardson of Grand View Farm
NOFA-NH's knowledgeable and passionate members make our organization great. Each month, we'll make our community a little closer by introducing you to one of our invaluable members.
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Joan Richardson (planting) with her daughter-in-law Christine.
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Mark and Jason, Joan & Paul Richardson's sons.
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Name and Occupation:
Paul and Joan Richardson, Owners
The previous owners of Grand View Farm were my husband's grandparents. This farm goes back 100+ years! They did dairy and vegetables, and other things. Of course, as they got older they weren't able to do it anymore. What's happened since is the grandchildren and great grandchildren have now resurrected the farm,
and it's become very active again.
My brother-in-law, David
Richardson, has 300 chickens, that are organically fed, and
he sells the eggs
to our farm stand,
bakeries, other farm stands and restaurants. He also does broilers which are organically fed and sells those to those interested. He does this along with his daughter, Liz Kelley
. David does the animal part of things and my husband and I do the vegetable part of things with help from many other family members.
It's not a new farm by any means, but a long history of the family having a business at Grand View Farm, and it's very dear to our hearts. The success of Grand View Farm has only been possible through the great help and support of all my family members.
How long have you been a member of NOFA-NH?
For 6 years, since 2012!
Why did you become a member of NOFA-NH?
I summed it up simply with my son: We were interested in being part of a community focused on growing healthy and locally sourced food. We could see that joining NOFA-NH, and becoming part of that family would help.
How has NOFA-NH impacted your business?
By attending the excellent workshops and conferences over the years we have been able to really fine tune our practices, and implemented what we've learned on Grand View Farm, which has helped us a lot! And through NOFA-NH's Bulk Order program, we've been able to tap into the recommendations on soil amendments, pest and weed control, and cover crops. That has helped with the daily operations on the farm.
What's your number one priority for NOFA-NH this year?
NOFA seems to be doing so many good things with outreach and programs, and I haven't even tapped into the advertising that you can get through NOFA! I do think the Action Alerts are extremely important to learning what's happening on the legislative side of things. And I think in order for farmers to plan for the future, it's really important to know what's going on so we can talk to our representatives and have them act accordingly. Things are really changing quickly, and that seems like the most important issue right now - to keep us all apprised on what's happening.
What advice do you have for anyone thinking about becoming a NOFA-NH member?
We would recommend businesses take part in all the educational services provided, and the meetings where speakers shed light on the challenges farmers encounter each season. These workshops make our operations go much more efficiently.
Does your business have any upcoming events you'd like to share with the community?
What we have been doing recently is having some junior high school students come down to the fields and do some hands on planting for us. They love it, and they love being involved. We're teaching them all about the food process: where it comes from and how it gets on their dinner plates. It has been really fun to give these kids some education on that.
Another big event we do each year is "all you can carry pumpkins" on Columbus Day weekend. We have so many people come to the farm stands for the "all you can carry weekend" - which costs about 5 or 6 bucks for the year. The whole community shows up, the kids load up with pumpkins, and away they go!
About this column:
NOFA-NH members with farms and farm related businesses are eligible to be featured in this column. Featured members are chosen by random lottery.
Click here
to become a member or renew your membership.
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Visit Our Online Store
Our new online store is stocked with NOFA-NH bumper stickers and metal membership signs (great for your farmers market table, store, farm or farm stand), as well as NOFA books on organic farming.
Thanks for stopping by!
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Your Support Matters! Help NOFA-NH Thrive
NOFA-NH uses every cent of your donations on programs like providing CSA shares from local farms to underserved families, educating consumers and organic producers, and maintaining our website as an educational clearinghouse to support our network of growers, gardeners & more.
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Welcome New & Returning Members!
Thank you to our NOFA-NH Members who became new members and renewed their membership in May and June 2018.
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Renew Your Membership, Join Today, or Give the Gift of NOFA-NH Membership!
We've streamlined to just two membership levels:
- Student/Senior Membership: $30 (Available to full-time students currently enrolled in school and persons over 65 years old)
- Standard Membership: $45 (Available to everyone)
Check out a list of member benefits on the membership page of our website. A year's Membership to NOFA-NH makes a great gift any time of year! Call our office to purchase the gift of organic for your loved ones: 603-224-5022.
Current memberships
will continue for one year from the date you joined.
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Classifieds
Wanted To Buy: 1-3 Acres 20 Miles of Antrim // Bear Tree Zendo, a local Zen group, needs a small piece of land (one to three acres) within twenty miles of Antrim to build a small local meditation hall (zendo). Woods, field, old pasture, going back to trees, etc. Quiet essential. Continued use arrangement, hay or sugaring possible. Call 603-748-5006 and leave a message.
About This Section:
NOFA-NH Members may post 1 FREE Classified per month on our
Classifieds page
and in this e-newsletter. Not yet members may post a Classified in the e-news and on our website for $45 per Classified per month. To inquire about this program and to share your Classified with our community, please contact [email protected].
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Farm Succession Planning Meeting
Tuesday, June 19
Conway, NH
Estimating Forage Biomass in Pastures
Tuesday, June 19
Goffstown, NH
New Hampshire Tree Fruit Meeting
Wednesday, June 20
Effingham, NH
Equipment Field Day with Hands On Demonstrations
Thursday, June 21
Dover, NH
NH Gleans Information Session
Monday, June 25
Newmarket, NH
Early Bird Deadline for NOFA Summer Conference
Wednesday, June 27
Online
Erosion Control Field Day
Wednesday, June 27
Rochester, NH
NH's Regional Food Systems Webinar
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