Protecting it Actual: How OFRF groundtruths our coverage priorities, and why that issues

By Gordon Merrick, OFRF Senior Coverage & Applications Supervisor

In at the moment’s political setting, outlined by complexity, shifting political winds, and persistently competing pursuits, readability and consistency matter greater than ever. That’s why it’s all the extra essential that OFRF stays grounded by all the time adhering to at least one easy precept: our work should be rooted in the actual wants of the natural farming and analysis group. Whether or not we’re advocating for analysis funding within the halls of Congress, submitting feedback to the USDA, or analyzing the impacts of federal packages and choices, we’re guided by what we hear instantly from farmers, researchers, and companions throughout the US.

OFRF Coverage Priorities

OFRF’s coverage work facilities round three core objectives:

1. Put money into Natural Analysis that helps all farmers in constructing ecologically resilient, economically viable farming operations
2. Develop entry to technical help and monetary instruments that empower producers to implement research-backed, systems-based practices
3. Develop natural as an financial engine, particularly in rural communities, by making certain federal coverage acknowledges and helps natural manufacturing techniques as a public good

These priorities aren’t summary, they’re rooted in subject expertise, producer suggestions, and a clear-eyed evaluation of what it takes to make natural agriculture succeed on the bottom and in communities throughout the US.

Our dedication to our group’s wants

OFRF doesn’t set our coverage agenda from an ivory tower or an echo chamber. We’ve dedicated to revisiting and updating our priorities yearly in direct response to suggestions from the communities we serve. We take critically our duty to symbolize the varied views inside the natural sector. Which means staying related to the farmers navigating certification, the researchers looking for funding that may facilitate their work, and the companies and communities that rely upon natural manufacturing.

That’s why we introduced these priorities to our latest Natural Stewardship Council assembly. Producers like Anna Jones-Crabtree of Vilicus Farms reminded us that whereas natural techniques supply super advantages, too many federal packages nonetheless fail to acknowledge or accommodate how natural works. This on-the-ground story mirrors nationwide analysis findings: present USDA packages will not be designed with natural and agroecological techniques in thoughts. This ends in misplaced help, unfair pricing assumptions, and insurance policies that deal with natural like an outlier, fairly than a confirmed system that feeds individuals and restores land (for reference, about 15% of our produce is natural by quantity, however organically managed land represents lower than 1% of all farmland).

The true experiences and tales shared on this dialogue weren’t one-offs. They’re a part of the intentional work we do at OFRF in each dialog, farm go to, and analysis partnership. We goal to replace our priorities yearly in collaboration with farmers, researchers, and motion leaders. By way of OFRF’s work with grass-tops organizations and instantly with farms throughout the nation, we work to construct areas for individuals to inform us their tales about what’s altering on the bottom. Whether or not it’s making certain USDA’s technical and monetary help packages are relevant to natural farms or combating for parity in analysis investments, OFRF’s priorities are formed by what individuals inform us they want, not what sounds good in D.C.

What you are able to do

There’s a purpose this work feels extra pressing proper now. As a number of farmers famous in our latest conversations, natural is at an inflection level. Market premiums are narrowing. Different labels and claims are muddying client understanding. And greater than 15,000 USDA employees are leaving the company, threatening institutional reminiscence and slowing urgently wanted reforms.

OFRF doesn’t have all of the solutions; however we do have a transparent mission: to domesticate natural analysis, training, and federal insurance policies that carry extra farmers and acreage into natural manufacturing.

In case you are a farmer with natural acreage, a researcher finding out natural agriculture subjects, or simply somebody who has a narrative to share on the significance of natural agriculture, we’re right here to hear. If you wish to make sense of the present coverage panorama, we’re right here to assist: our new, free, self-paced Speaking with Legislators e-mail course is designed to help you in telling your story loudly and clearly. Farmers are doing the work. Our job is to verify coverage catches up. 

We’re right here to verify your voice will not be solely heard, however acted on.

Eat properly and breathe deeply,

Gordon

P.S. You may make amends for latest editions of Gordon’s Coverage Nook right here.