Organic/Government Collaboration

Through the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service), organic farms now have access to grant money through Organic EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program). Since NRCS staff aren't used to dealing with organic farms and since organic farms face different issues and regulations than conventional farms, members of the two communities met yesterday to develop a working relationship. As the official note-taker, I was in the ultimate fly-on-the-wall position.

This meeting was a great example of what I'd like to see happening in regards to renewable energy in New York. A gap - or should I say, an opportunity for improved communication and collaboration was identified... and people got together to take advantage of it! Organic representatives, including a NOFA-NY Certified Organic LLC certifier and a Cornell researcher, presented the organic certification process (which is much different from the conventional-farm paperwork NRCS staff are used to) and illustrated how many activities on organic farms can realize or contribute to multiple goals. The latter point will be particularly important for NRCS staff as they try to determine which projects can receive EQIP funding. Then NRCS representatives took their turns: they walked their field staff through the Organic EQIP application and approval process and conducted a role play with an organic farmer to highlight Organic EQIP's differences from the established EQIP process. (I should note that organic farms may apply through the original EQIP program; Organic EQIP is designed to create a smaller applicant pool and offer more benefit to organic farms.)

Though the program was well-organized and executed, there were signs that the NRCS staff wanted more training and information. Since the Organic EQIP program is new, some regulations and requirements aren't as exact or as stringent as perhaps they should be, and answers to some very good questions weren't available. Often the questions posed by NRCS staff went beyond the scope of the training or the ability of senior staff or organic representatives to address them. Still, it seemed to me that the meeting succeeded in orienting the participants to the new program and that all of them are now better equipped to assist farmers with the Organic EQIP process.

In addition to these observations, I came away with some questions of my own. I was stunned by the amount and specificity of the information required from a farm to become certified organic and to maintain certification. Fay Benson, my Organic Dairy Initiative supervisor and a host of the NRCS meeting, assured me that the paperwork required is far above and beyond that required for conventional farms. I'm used to thinking of farmers as independent; why would an increasing number of farmers voluntarily submit to this kind of oversight? I can speculate: perhaps it's the money they can make as organic, a desire to please consumers, or motivation to farm in a particular manner. How much of the consumer food dollar goes to the organic certifiers and the certification process? Perhaps it's this kind of regulation that some consumers are looking for. Consumers have been increasingly separated from the food production process since World War II and it seems that many have lost trust as well as touch when it comes to food producers. I'm not sure that farmers deserve the brunt of this sentiment (food processors have certainly affected the system at all points), but if consumers are reassured by stringent organic regulations I can certainly understand the appeal. There's much musing, discussing, and studying to be done here!

Problem / Solution

Between foreign policy and environmental concerns and energy availability and cost, "green" energy is on everyone's radar these days, and farmers are no exception. To help get the word out about energy conservation strategies and technologies that work for small farms, the Small Farms Program is organizing a series of field days to highlight small farms with successful alternative energy strategies. In practice, the organizers are my supervisor, Violet Stone, and me!

Two weeks ago, I would have outlined Basic Field Day Organizing Strategy thusly:
1. Identify hosts & choose dates
2. Invite speakers
3. Publicize the heck out of the events!

Not so fast! I'm quickly learning that the renewable energy scene in New York is quite a muddle. Individual organizations and people are approaching the issue from every possible angle, but there isn't much communication going on between all the different efforts. No one seems to know what the big picture is. For New York, this state of affairs means that often people are reinventing the wheel instead of improving upon previous efforts. For me, it's difficult to find needed information.

Problem: lack of communication makes finding information difficult. Solution: network! Perhaps nobody knows the big picture, but many people know about energy initiatives in their areas. The most successful strategy I've tried so far was to send an email to all the county Small Farms Educators asking about farms they know of that are using renewable energy. We only need to schedule 3-4 field days, but I'm also creating a database of all the responses. I've gotten leads not only on small farms, but also on renewable energy technology companies and energy education/training programs. I'm sure that I won't learn about all the renewable energy initiatives in the state, but the database will be a good start. It'll be accessible for the Small Farms Energy Work Team to use and grow after I leave, too!

Gearing Up

Welcome! I'm a student in Cornell's Agricultural Science major, getting ready to graduate in December. This summer, I'm working for - and blogging about - the Small Farms Program and the Organic Dairy Initiative. As an intern, I have the opportunity to learn these programs inside and out by:

• organizing renewable energy field days and organic dairy field days;
• profiling the renewable energy strategies of farms;
• assisting with a field trial to test the incorporation of brassicas into pasture;
• profiling small dairies;
• assisting with editing the Small Farms Quarterly;
• updating relevant websites

The list may change, of course; one of the qualifications for the job is "willingness to learn quickly and work in a flexible environment."

I started work on May 18, but between my sister's graduation and Memorial Day weekend this week (the third consecutive week) is my first full one. Stay tuned for further adventures!