Tell Congress to Protect Funding for Organic Ag Research

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After months of your letters, phone calls and hard work, organic farmers and activists won a much-needed boost to the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative

Call Your Members of Congress Today - Tell Them to Protect Funding for Organic Ag Research! 

After months of your letters, phone calls and hard work, organic farmers and activists won a much-needed boost to the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI - USDA's premier organic ag research program) in the 2008 Farm Bill (the Food, Conservation and Energy Act), but now both the Senate and the President want to take some of that money away! http://ofrf.org/action/ofan/080903_alert.html#background  

OREI received a fivefold increase in mandatory funding, from $15 million over 5 years in the 2002 Farm Bill to $78 million over five years in this Farm Bill. However, the Senate budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2009 would cut $2 million from OREI while the Administration proposes a whopping cut of $8 million. 

One or more of your Members of Congress sit on the Appropriations Committee. Please contact them right away and tell them to keep funding for OREI at the level mandated in the Farm Bill - $18 million for 2009.

Letters should either be faxed to the DC office or mailed to the district office. Calls should be directed to the aide that works on appropriations.

Let us know if you make a call or send a letter! Contact Tracy Lerman, Policy Organizer, at (831) 426-6606 x 108 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Talking Points

* The Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative is USDA's premier competitive grants program that funds highly critical research important to the improvement of organic farming systems, including conservation benefits as recognized in the 2008 Farm Bill. * The 2008 Farm Bill funding increase for OREI (from $15 million to $78 million) is a hard-won and much needed boost to organic ag research. * Funding for the USDA competitive grants program for organic agriculture has historically been woefully inadequate to meet research demands; between 2004-2006, the USDA was only able to fund 29 out of 210, or less than 15% of fundable proposals submitted. * While the organic share of the retail food market is currently about 4%, federal support for organic ag research still lags well behind as a share of total resources- total USDA spending for organic ag research and education was just over 1% of all USDA R&E spending in FY2007. * The increase in the 2008 Farm Bill still falls short of a fair share for organic research and education, but it is a strong down payment towards achieving that goal, and any erosion of the Farm Bill funding amount would be a significant step backwards. * Organic ag research is crucial in giving farmers the tools and information they need to address production challenges, improve farming systems, and ultimately meet the growing consumer demand for organic products. * Please ensure that the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative remains funded at $18 million in the FY09 Budget. 

Background The 2008 Farm Bill (the Food, Conservation and Energy Act), passed in May of this year, provided an unprecedented and much-needed five-fold increase in mandatory funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), from $15 million to $78 million over five years. Federal funding for organic ag research has historically been woefully inadequate. USDA-REE (the arm of USDA responsible for Research, Education, and Extension) spent just over 1% of its budget on organic agriculture research in 2007 while organic's share of the retail market is currently about 4%. This gap in funding is detrimental to an industry that is heavily reliant on research and information for improving farming systems and addressing production challenges.

The 2008 Farm Bill's increased funding levels for OREI are only a first step towards closing the spending gap for organic ag research. However, the Fiscal Year 2009 budget proposals from the Senate and the Bush Administration's revised budget proposal are already threatening to reallocate some of the OREI funding to other programs. The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed a $2 million cut to OREI, and the President proposes cutting OREI by a whopping $8 million (to fund, among other things, a computer overhaul at USDA). This effort to reallocate funds from mandatory programs is referred to as a Change in Mandatory Programs, or CHIMP. 

The 2009 Appropriations process will probably not be completed until early 2009, but it is crucial that this effort to CHIMP funds from organic agriculture research be nipped in the bud as soon as possible. Please contact your representatives in Congress today, and thanks again for your advocacy!

Additional Resources Letter from OFRF to USDA  https://ofrf.org/policy/federal_legislation/fy09_approps_president_letter.pdf  - letter for OFRF to USDA and OMB urging against the proposed Bush administration cuts of $8 million from OREI 

The Senate's FY2009 Appropriations Bill https://ofrf.org/policy/federal_legislation/fy_09_senate_approps_bill.pdf  - The Senate's FY09 Appropriations Bill - see Section 721(i) (pages 73-74) for the language cutting $2 million from OREI.

The President's proposed FY2009 Budget Amendments https://ofrf.org/policy/federal_legislation/fy_09_senate_approps_bill.pdf  - The President's proposed FY09 Budget Amendments - see page 16-17 for the language cutting $8 million from OREI.

OFRF's final Farm Bill analysis https://ofrf.org/policy/federal_legislation/farm_bill/080520_update.pdf  - OFRF's final Farm Bill analysis, providing information about the outcomes in the 2008 Farm Bill.