Newsletter

This Wolf & Associates newsletter reflects on staying motivated to grow organic agriculture despite economic and political uncertainty, then covers industry news like rising EU organic imports, new USDA organic standards board members, and a court ruling requiring USDA to fix GMO labeling loopholes. It also notes research on organic farmers’ lower pesticide exposure, a tribute to the late author Wendell Berry, and a list of upcoming conferences the firm will attend.

This newsletter covers a new UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement affecting organic exports, plus China’s fast-growing organic farmland and sales. It rounds up US regulatory updates, including USDA’s rulemaking priorities, new HTS filing requirements, the newly available Common OSP templates, and open funding through the Organic Certification Cost Share Program and Specialty Crop Multi-State Program. Also featured are a Deloitte true-cost analysis favoring organic agriculture and growing consumer awareness of regenerative practices. It closes with industry news, including Rodale Institute’s 10 Million Acre Solution campaign and a tribute to researcher Dr. Kathleen Delate.

This newsletter covers the gap between organic recordkeeping and true organic integrity, tying it to NOSB discussions on the Organic System Plan (OSP) and the new Common OSP initiative. It also rounds up global organic market trends, Farm Bill provisions on organic inspections, Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) data, EU gene-edited plant rules, and a Purdue study comparing organic versus conventional profitability, plus research on organic food and cancer risk.

This newsletter details Wolf & Associates’ collaboration with Quick Organics on the Common OSP, an unfunded initiative aimed at bringing more consistency to organic certification and the Organic System Plan process. It also covers global and domestic organic industry news, including a new UK-Japan organic livestock equivalency agreement, an organic dairy farmers’ lawsuit over USDA milk marketing orders, and USDA specialty crop grant funding. Rounding out the issue are updates on OMRI’s standards revisions, research on small family farms’ role in organic acreage, food co-op organic sales data, and consumer survey findings on organic purchasing across generations.

From the Farm Bill to Global Trade Changes: Here’s what’s shaping the Organic landscape.

Biofach is often called the world’s largest organic trade fair, but its real value lies beyond scale. It is one of the few places where all features of the global organic system are fully visible at once: retail goods, ingredients, services, multilingualism, regulation, deeply interconnected participants.

One thing that became clear immediately is how the U.S. market looks from the outside. The United States represents more than 40 percent of global organic demand, yet it is easy to lose sight of how dependent that demand is on imports…

This week we were booked to be at the Fall National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting; historically these have been touchstone events for our community to come together, deliberate, and move the organic program forward. Instead, the meeting was canceled. The loss goes far beyond a date on the calendar; it represents a pause in the dialogue that has sustained and grown organic integrity and enterprise for decades.

Read more about Global standards shifting, U.S. policy in flux, and consumer demand rising.

We’re celebrating some key milestones this month—it’s our 30th anniversary and the 40th anniversary of the Organic Trade Association! The NOSB will be meeting soon—get comments to them by October 8. Taking A Count considers what we’ve lost at USDA. New research gets down and dirty about soil microorganisms, and organic meat, dairy and rice get some time in the research spotlight. Chocolate users, take note of what may be coming as cocoa growing conditions deteriorate. We’ve added services and OTA has a new campaign to promote organic.

We take a look at the impacts of the budget bill, and Bill and John weigh in with deep thoughts at this crucial juncture. Check it out for news about compostable packaging, consumers and sustainability, a new toolkit for farmers is in the works, and more.

It’s a busy month if you have Canadian business partners—proposed changes in the Canadian Organic Standards are up for review and open to public comment, and Canadian importers face some new requirements. June also brings the return of Dr. Jennifer Tucker to the National Organic Program, and new reports about New Zealand, the state of organic seeds, and how no-till fits with regenerative agriculture. Meet our team member Joe Dickson, too.