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More Money Available for Farmers Impacted by Pandemic

On September 17th, the United States Department (USDA) released details of a new version of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) for agricultural producers. It is open for applications between September 21st and December 11th. 

NOC and other allies have advocated for better targeted support for organic and diversified farmers. CFAP2 is an improvement over the first round of CFAP. CFAP2 expands the timeframe of losses covered. CFAP 1 was only for mid-January through mid-April, whereas CFAP2 expands the coverage timeframe, often until the end of the calendar year, for many crop categories, which has been a NOC request.

The program also provides assistance to diversified operations in a new way – farmers of specialty crops (full list here), specialty livestock (full list here), floriculture and nursery crops (full list here), goat milk (details here), and aquaculture (full list here) receive a payment based on their 2019 revenues for eligible products. This approach may be helpful to many organic operations. 

For cow milk dairy producers, the payment will be a calculation based on both actual milk production between April 1 and August 31, and estimated milk production until December, multiplied by a payment rate. 

While the program offers some improvements, it represents a missed opportunity to prioritize support to those most in need during a time of major pain in agriculture. The program still lacks specific set-asides for producers historically underserved by USDA aid, particularly farmers of color. Read NSAC’s comment here.  

Application Info:

To apply, farms will need to work with the Farm Service Agency to fill out the CFAP 2 application and eligibility paperwork. Application materials and process are laid out here: https://www.farmers.gov/cfap/apply 

  • To apply at your local FSA office, use the USDA’s Service Center Locator here
  • Farmers can use FSA’s call center for one-on-one support. Call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer assistance. Customers will select 1 for English and 2 to speak with a Spanish speaking employee. For other languages, customers select 1 and indicate their language to the Call Center staff.

More info: 

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CONFIRM SUBMISSION

Thank you for submitting your organic certification application! OCIA looks forward to working with you.

For applicants who are new or currently under suspension, please see the end of the page for some important notes.

An estimate for your 2024 certification and inspection fees was sent with the login information. Please promptly send payment to the address on the invoice. If you are a new applicant, OCIA will not review your file until payment is received.

If you are submitting hardcopies of any supporting documents, please mail them to the address on the invoice. Failure to submit required supporting documents may lead to delays in the review.

Once a complete file is received, OCIA will complete a pre-inspection review. During this process, OCIA will contact you if additional information is needed. Please respond to any communication from OCIA in a timely manner.

Please contact OCIA International if you have any questions.

New applicants: Please be reminded that as a new applicant, your operation currently cannot label or sell product as organic. If organic certification is granted, an organic certificate will be issued and product can then be sold as organic.

For farm operations, the inspector must see your crop in the field, so check-strips must be left in all fields requested for certification if any harvest occurs prior to inspection. For hay fields, any hay harvested prior to inspection cannot be certified as organic.

For suspended operations: Please be aware that no product can be sold as “organic” while suspended and previous product is no longer “organic.” For farm operations, any crops currently in storage are no longer organic and must be sold conventionally. Only crops harvested after reinstatement, if it is granted, may be sold as “organic.” Any crops harvested from fields prior to reinstatement must be sold conventionally.

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CONFIRMAR LA SOLICITUD

¡Gracias por enviar su solicitud de certificación orgánica! OCIA espera trabajar con usted. Para los solicitantes que son nuevos o están actualmente suspendidos, consulte el final de la página para conocer información importante.

Se le envió un estimado de los honorarios de certificación e inspección 2024 con la información de inicio de sesión. Envíe puntualmente el pago a la dirección que figura en la factura. Si usted es un nuevo solicitante, OCIA no revisará su expediente hasta que se reciba el pago.

Si envía copias impresas de cualquier documento de respaldo, envíelas por correo a la dirección que figura en la factura. Se podrá producir demoras en la revisión si no se envían los documentos de respaldo necesarios,.

Una vez que se recibe un expediente completo, OCIA llevará a cabo una revisión de preinspección. Durante este proceso, OCIA se comunicará con usted si necesita información adicional. Responda a cualquier comunicación de OCIA de manera oportuna.

Póngase en contacto con OCIA International si tiene alguna pregunta.

Para los solicitantes nuevos: recuerde que, como solicitante nuevo, su operación actualmente no puede etiquetar o vender productos como orgánicos. Si se otorga la certificación orgánica, se emitirá un certificado orgánico y el producto se podrá vender como orgánico.

Para las operaciones agrícolas, el inspector debe ver su cultivo en el campo, por lo que si se produce alguna cosecha antes de la inspección, se deben dejar franjas o surcos de verificación en todos los campos solicitados para la certificación. Para los campos de heno, cualquier heno cosechado antes de la inspección no puede certificarse como orgánico.

Para operaciones suspendidas: tenga en cuenta que ningún producto puede venderse como "orgánico" mientras está suspendido y que el producto anterior ya no es "orgánico". Para las operaciones agrícolas, cualquier cultivo actualmente almacenado ya no es orgánico y debe venderse de manera convencional. Solo los cultivos cosechados después del restablecimiento, si se otorga, pueden venderse como "orgánicos". Cualquier cultivo cosechado de los campos antes de la reinstalación debe venderse de manera convencional ".

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Thank you for submitting your organic certification application! OCIA looks forward to working with you.

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¡Gracias por enviar su solicitud de certificación orgánica! OCIA espera trabajar con usted.

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