Organic group urges changes to Farm Bill
19.oct.06
Meatingplace.com
Pete Hisey
The Organic Trade Association has sent USDA a plan to encourage more
production of raw organic ingredients necessary to continue the
segment's rapid growth. At $15 billion a year, the group says, consumer
demand has put producers under enormous strain and raw materials are
becoming harder and harder to source.
The proposed 2007 Farm Bill, OTA says, does not adequately represent
the growth of the segment, which it says only accounts for a small
fraction of USDA funding.
OTA's four major goals are to provide technical assistance to convert
standard farmland to organic-certified land; develop appropriate risk
management tools for organic producers; fund more organic agriculture
and economic research; and maintain and enhance the National Organic
Program to ensure maintenance of the credibility of the organic market.
"A key deterrent to transition (to organic-certified farmland) is a
lack of solid production and market data that informs farmers,
processors, wholesalers and retailers about the supply of key organic
commodities and gross or regional pricing data for these commodities,"
OTA said in its proposal.
To read the full plan, go to
http://www.ota.com/DraftFarmBillOutline.html
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