Sept. 14, 2010

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

“Each year Nebraska’s organic industry grows. We are pleased to be able to facilitate these monies to assist our producers in obtaining their organic certification,” said NDA Director Greg Ibach. “Nebraska producers will be able to utilize $85,000 from this program this year.”

Authorized by the 2007 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. The actual cost-share amount will be based on a percentage of the total the applicant paid for NOP certification.

Applicants must have been certified or renewed their certification between October 1, 2009, and September 30, 2010, 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 October 15, 2010.

To find out more about the program, call NDA at (402) 471-4876 or 800-422-6692. Further information about this program and an application form are available on the NDA website.

For more information about organic production in Nebraska, see the Organics section of CropWatch.

News Release
Nebraska Department of Agriculture