Sept. 29, 2011

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) will receive funding from USDA to help the state’s organic producers and processors with certification costs.

“The organic industry in Nebraska is continually growing,” said NDA Director Greg Ibach. “Through this cost-share program, we can assist the state’s organic producers with the cost of obtaining their organic certification.”

Authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, the National Organic Program’s (NOP) Cost-Share Program is designed to assist producers and handlers of agriculture products in obtaining certification under the NOP guidelines.

Those guidelines require certification and compliance with national standards in order to sell, label, or represent agricultural products as organic. Producers and handlers can receive reimbursement for up to 75% of the costs of obtaining certification, with a maximum payment of $750 per certificate held. The actual cost-share amount will be based on a percentage of the total the applicant paid for NOP certification. NDA has access to a total of $110,000.

Applicants must have been certified or renewed their certification between October 1, 2010, and September 30, 2011, in order to be eligible for
cost-share reimbursement. The funds will be reimbursed in the order applications are received, until the monies are exhausted, or until the
eligibility period ends. All applications for reimbursement must be postmarked by November 12, 2011.

Applications and additional information are available online at www.agr.ne.gov. Producers and handlers with questions can call NDA at (402) 471-4876.

News Release, Nebraska Department of Agriculture