The Obama administration on Tuesday said it will make available some $66.5 million in funding to help the nation’s organic and specialty crop farmers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture program will support both research to help specialty crop farmers improve production as well as meet requirements for certification as specialty crop growers.
Outdated farming methods and issues like pests, insects, and diseases have meant that the U.S. has fallen behind in organic and specialty crop production. The funding aims to help farmers of organic and specialty crops grow and increase production through research and studies.
The program targets one of the hottest sector of the food production chain. U.S. organic food sales reached $32.3 billion in 2013, according to the Organic Trade Association, up 11.5 percent from the year before and representing 4 percent of the annual U.S. food sales. Preliminary indications are that the same growth rates were seen in 2014 and will continue this year.
More than a tenth of the fruits and vegetables sold in the United States are now classified as organic, according to industry officials.
Specialty crops are defined as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, as well as horticulture and nursery croups, including floriculture.
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“Investments in projects to help organic producers and specialty crop growers are an important way USDA helps American farmers establish new business opportunities throughout the country,” said Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary of the USDA.
These investments “are basically meant to help organic producers and specialty crop growers to seek and obtain the best science based information and the tools they need to be successful,” said Sonny Ramaswamy, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), in a phone teleconference.
“NIFA’s and USDA’s belief is that today’s producers must have access to science based information so that they can make informed decisions in their operations as well,” Mr. Ramaswamy said.
The specialty crop push has already resulted in projects at institutions such as Utah State University, Iowa State University, and Purdue University, where researchers are focusing on issues such as organic wheat production, integrated crop and livestock production, and crop management issues for organic tomato producers.
“We’re really excited to increase investment and research to support the success of American organic producers,” said Brise Tencer, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation. The foundation was selected by the USDA to review the research to devise better farming and business strategies to help farmers and ranchers meet the requirements for organic certification, in the face of growing consumer demand for both domestic and imported organic products.
The research and funding will help to improve organic agricultural production as well as support the U.S. economy, officials said.
“The value of the best science, the most recent science is just tremendous,” said John Foster, member of the National Organic Standards Board. “I’ve been able to see first hand amongst our suppliers that they’ve been able to take that science, add it to their deep collective wisdom, and really start seeing some hopeful opportunities to overcome some of these pernicious problems that exist for all growers but particularly for organic growers.”
The NIFA also announced that it will set aside $25 million for research and extension activities to improve citrus health.
• Jonathan Soch can be reached at jsoch@washingtontimes.com.
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