Program helps organic farmers create conservation buffers

Farmers who want to establish conservation buffers and other practices on or near farms that produce organic crops could benefit from a program announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Brad Pfaff, deputy administrator of farm programs for the USDA Farm Service Agency, said the recently announced financial assistance will "help tailor existing conservation practices to the needs of organic farmers," helping to improve soil and water quality while also providing more wildlife habitat.

The financial assistance is available from the USDA Conservation Reserve Program, a voluntary, federally funded program that contracts with agricultural producers so that environmentally sensitive land is not farmed or ranched, but instead used for conservation benefits. CRP participants establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees (known as "covers") to control soil erosion, improve water quality and develop wildlife habitat. In return, FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance.

CRP contracts last between 10 and 15 years.

For conservation buffers, FSA said, funds are available for establishing shrubs and trees, or supporting pollinating species, and can be planted in blocks or strips. Interested organic producers can offer eligible land for enrollment in this initiative at any time, the agency said.

Since 1985, CRP has sequestered an annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases, equal to taking 9 million cars off the road; prevented 9 billion tons of soil from erosion, enough to fill 600 million dump trucks; and reduced nitrogen and phosphorous runoff by 95 and 85 percent, respectively, USDA said. The program has allowed for the restoration of 2.7 million acres of wetland and protects more than 170,000 stream miles with forests and grasses.

Other FSA programs that assist organic farmers include:

• The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, which provides financial assistance for 55 percent to 100 percent of the average market price for organic crop losses between 50 percent and 65 percent of expected production due to a natural disaster.
• Marketing assistance loans that provide interim financing to help producers meet cash flow needs without having to sell crops during harvest when market prices are low, and deficiency payments to producers who forgo the loan in return for a payment on the eligible commodity.
• A variety of loans for operating expenses, ownership or guarantees with outside lenders, including streamlined microloans that have a lower amount of paperwork.
• Farm Storage Facility Loans that provide low-interest financing to build or upgrade storage facilities for organic commodities, including cold storage, grain bins, bulk tanks, and drying and handling equipment.
• Services such as mapping farm and field boundaries and reporting organic acreage that can be provided to a farm's organic certifier or crop insurance agent.

Additional information about the programs may be found at www.fsa.usda.gov/organic.