Whats involved in being organically certified?
Becoming Certified Organic production offers many advantages for small farmers including ecologically friendly production methods, strong consumer demand for organic products, and higher prices. Regardless of if you use organic practices, if you have farm sales of more than $5,000/year you cannot legally sell your products as organic unless your farm has been officially certified. You can find the list of all certifying agencies by going to the USDA’s National Organic Program website. You can use any agency listed. The two located in New York are NOFA-NY and Natural Food Certifiers. Fees and Costs Certifying agencies generally charge a fixed fee to cover the initial certification costs and then an annual fee to cover the continued documentation and verification costs. Costs vary so you may want to investigate your certification options. The NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets offers grants to new farmers to help cover the initial certification costs. They set aside a certain amount
