Interested in becoming USDA Organic Certified? California Certified Organic Farmers can help.
As an exclusive benefit for Farmer Veteran Coalition members, CCOF will waive the $325 new application fee that is collected upon submitting an organic certification application.
Organic certification verifies that your farm or handling facility complies with the USDA organic regulations and allows you to sell, label, and represent your products as organic. The USDA organic regulations recognize four categories of organic products: crops, livestock, processed products, and wild crops.
While CCOF will waive the new application fee, there are still additional ongoing certification costs associated with becoming USDA organic certified, to include an annual fee and the cost of an annual inspection. However, small farms and processors are routinely certified for $450 to $1,500, according to the CCOF website.
To assist our members with these additional costs, United Natural Foods, Inc., has awarded FVC with a $6,000 grant. These funds will be administered on a first come, first serve basis to cover out-of-pocket expenses to become organic certified.
Becoming USDA organic certified may not make sense for all of our farmer veterans, however, benefits include: receiving premium prices for your products; access to local, regional and international markets; protecting natural resources, supporting local economies, and access to additional funding and technical assistance programs.
Though CCOF is a California-based certifying agent, they can certify FVC members nationwide.
Before initiating the organic certification process with CCOF, please contact the FVC at (530) 756-1395, or support@farmvetco.org. For more information about organic certification fees, please visit www.ccof.org/certification/fees, and for an individual estimate email ccof@ccof.org.
