Organic Food in the U.S. and Abroad

Paying the Price

There is a cost associated with becoming certified organic in the United States. For example, according to Pennsylvania Certified Organic's website, it would cost a basic uncertified farm $945 a year to become organic certified, not including costs for the sales assessment fee, inspection fee and various other costs including supplemental reviews, document fees, and administrative fees. The most important fees associated with this certification include:

The Basic Fee ($695) - "covers basic services for the upcoming certification season"

Sales Assessment Fee (variable) - a fee based on the farm's annual gross organic sales

Type of Operation Fee (variable, up to $250) - fee that covers the "time and expertise needed to deal with operations that are more complicated"



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Inspection Fee (variable) - based on an hourly rate


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On the other hand, according to Oregon Tilth's website, it would cost a new operation $674 a year to become certified not including fees for inspection, multi-site operations, or operations already certified.

Where does Organic stand on Manure? (well, everywhere I guess)

According to Oregon Tilth, raw animal manure must be composted unless it is applied to a crop that will not be used for human consumption. The site also says that the manure must be incorporated into the soil 120 days before the crop is harvested if the edible portion touches the soil (90 days if the edible part doesn't touch soil).

USDA NOP vs. EU Organic Standards

The U.S. has an equivalence arrangment with the EU: any operation that is certified as organic in the U.S. can be labeled as organic in the EU. Apart from this arrangement, however, a U.S. product cannot be exported to the EU if the crop was produced with antibiotics. In addition, EU agriculture products cannot be exported to the U.S. if they are aquatic animals or if the products were derived from animals treated with antibiotics.

Problems in the  U.S. Organic Industry

The organic livestock market has been having issues because many grain producers switched over to genetically engineered seeds which lessen the availability of organic feed which must be fed to their livestock in order to maintain certification.

In addition, organic food costs more to produce when compared to conventional operations. This is normally because conventional operations often use gowth hormones or medicines that are more likely to increase productivity. There is also an increased cost to maintain their organic certification each year as discussed above.

Organic producers are also in competition with farmers who market their products as "locally grown". These farmers do well because consumers are more likely to support farmers in their area rather than outside producers.