Farm Bill

I'm glad to see that the farm bill has provisions for organic farmers. According to Jean Caspers-Simmet's article on AgriNews, "The bill contains $22 million in mandatory funding for offsetting the costs of obtaining or maintaining organic certification. Farmers can be reimbursed for up to 75 percent of the cost not to exceed $750 per year." Caspers-Simmet spoke with Ellen Huntoon, US Senator Tom Harkin's staffer on the Senate Agricultural Committee who indicated that $78 million over 5 years is intended for production and marketing practices. I hope this can give the organic farmers some of what they need to take their message to their consumers.

Maps -- I LOVE maps

I just found this fantastic bunch of maps on the Organic Farming Research Foundation website. They have maps that show:

• The distribution of certified organic operations around the U.S.
• U.S. number of organic acres farmed per state, in thousands of acres.
• U.S. percent of farmed acres per state that are certified organic.