Organic Paperwork Is Not That Cumbersome

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Organic Paperwork Is Not That Cumbersome

• Jim Shrefler
• OSU / WWAREC
• Lane

Robert Stelle Sunrise Acres Blanchard
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Why Keep Farm Records?

• Drawbacks
• Wastes time you could spend on other activities
• Potential for self incrimination?
• More work and information to keep track of

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Why Keep Farm Records?

• Benefits
• Impress IRS and OTC auditors
• Enable financial evaluation of the farm
  operations
• Saves time when you want to know how something
  was done in the past
• Potential for legal defense
• Necessary for careful farm planning

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Farm Record Keeping in General

• Kinds of records
• Financial and tax related
• Land use, including weed and disease incidence
• Crop varieties and associated market response,
  productivity, pest problems etc.
• Fertilizer manure applications and soil test
  results
• Pesticide use, inventories, performance
  observations etc.

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Do Record Keeping Requirements Vary for Different
Kinds of Farms?

• Requirements may vary among farm types-
  Conventional- Hobby / personal use
• - Certified Organic - Organic, but not Certified

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Certified Organic Farming Requires .

• Commitment
• Planning
• Total Farm Management
• Time / Patience
• Effective Production Practices
• Achieving Certification

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Certified Organic Farming Requires .

• Commitment
• Planning
• Total Farm Management
• Time / Patience
• Effective Production Practices
• Achieving Certification

Doing these things successfully requires the
maintenance of suitable records!
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Lets Focus on Certified Organic Farming . For
What Will Records Be Needed?

• For Certification Purposes
• Transition status
• Initial Certification
• Recertification
• For Farm Profitability Purposes
• Keeping crops productive
• Being competitive at market
• Financial stability of farm

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Farm Certification

• Initial Certification
• 3 year process ( / -)
• Transition period
• Recertification The Yearly Maintenance of
  Certification

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Record Keeping

• Document that the operation is in compliance with
  the regulations
• Verify the information provided to the certifying
  agent
• Access to these records must be provided to
  authorized representatives of USDA, including the
  certifying agent.

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Types of Information Needed

• Materials applied during the previous 3 years,
  current year, two years projected
• Organic crops/products being grown
• Organic plan, - practices and substances used
• Monitoring practices to be performed to verify
  that the plan is effectively implemented
• Description of record-keeping system
• Description of the practices to prevent
  co-mingling of organic and non-organic products

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Lane Center Certifications

• Initial Certification in Dec. 2005
• Vegetable Project - Christmas trees
• Meadow Area Meadow for 10 years
• Yearly Maintenance of Certification
• Recertified for 2007, 2008
• Some close calls!

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Organic Paperwork Is Not That Cumbersome

• Jim Shrefler
• OSU / WWAREC
• Lane

Robert Stelle Sunrise Acres Blanchard
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Why Keep Farm Records?Producers Point of View

• Fill out re-certification form
• Answer questions during on-site inspection
• Make decisions about what to grow
• Decide when to plant (to schedule harvest)
• Make pricing decisions to maximize profits

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Examples of Organic Records

• Seed research and purchase
• Planting (Crop rotation)
• Fertilizer application
• Pest control application
• Harvest dates and quantities
• Sales quantities (not )

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Field Layouts
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Field Planting Record


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Certified Organic Farming Records Require .

• A Notebook and a Shoebox
• Notebook is for Journal
• Write down what you did each day
• Shoebox is for everything else..
• Nice if in labeled folders Seed invoices,
  Harvest records, etc

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Additional Records We Keep For Transplant Growing
Operation

• Varieties grown this year
• 95 tomatoes
• 51 peppers
• 28 cool crops
• 40 other vegetables
• 61 herbs

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Labeling Scheme Lot Numbers

• SA for Sunrise Acres
• Alpha character for transplant class (T for
  Tomato, L for Heirloom Tomato, P for Pepper, V
  for Other Vegetables, H for Herbs, C for Cool
  Season Vegetables)
• One digit for Year (eg. 8 for 2008)
• Two digits for item number on transplant list
• One digit for seeding
• Example LOT SAP8272
• Sunrise Acres, Pepper, grown in 2008, Carmen (27
  on list), 2nd seeding

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Hope to see you at the tour