| Editor’s
NOTE:
Certified organic farmers do an odd thing – they
pay people to visit their farms with a critical eye
to assure they are adhering to every aspect of the USDA’s
national organic standard.
The farmers should already be trying to produce, harvest
and market their organic crops, livestock and related
products by these rules. The on-farm review of fields,
facilities and records by an approved inspector sent
by the farmer’s accredited organic certifier is
the critical point in confirming that the farmer and
the farm meet the organic standards – and can
prove it to anyone who needs to know.
The visits are pivotal for applying farmers to become
certified, and for certified farmers to keep that certification.
For the good of organics, we want to help build the
foundation for effective inspection visits. We’ve
asked Jim Riddle to provide an inspector’s inside
view to help farmers understand an inspector’s
role, responsibilities and limitations.
In the months ahead, Riddle will elaborate on many
items to help farmers understand regulations that apply
to them, and how to document their compliance.
Jim Riddle has been on hundreds of farms in the inspector
role, and he’s been inspected himself during his
time as a farmer. His leadership in bringing professional
training to inspectors helped to earn greater acceptance
of organic farming in the U.S. He serves as vice-chair
of the National Organic Standards Board, which advises
the USDA on organic agriculture policies and regulations.
He has been an organic farmer, gardener, inspector,
educator, policy analyst, author, and consumer.
Jim Riddle serves as vice-chair of the USDA’s
National Organic Standards Board and organic policy
advisor for NewFarm.org. He was the founding chair of
the Independent Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA). |
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December 23,
2004: What is an adequate crop rotation? Prior to inspection,
I compare the stated crop rotation in the applicant’s Organic
Farm Plan with the field history records. This gives me an indication
if the farmer is following the crop rotation plan. But while this
is a first step, it is not enough to simply change around the crops
you plant; the crop rotation must also accomplish several key goals.
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| For
your information... |
| The National Organic
Program defines crop rotation as “the practice of
alternating the annual crops grown on a specific field
in a planned pattern or sequence so that crops of the
same species or family are not grown repeatedly without
interruption on the same field." |
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According to the National Organic Program (NOP) §205.205, the
producer “must implement a crop rotation including, but not
limited to sod, cover crops, green manure crops, and cash crops”
that “maintain or improve soil organic matter content, provide
pest management, manage deficient or excess plant nutrients, and,
provide erosion control.” That’s a pretty tall order!
To evaluate whether a crop rotation complies with NOP requirements
I ask the following questions: Are there fields where the same crops
are being planted two or three years in a row? Are soil building
crops being planted? Is a legume used as a plow-down or rye as a
winter cover crop? How many years does the crop rotation continue
before the cycle is repeated? Are there any pest problems? How is
the farm’s weed control? These answers help me determine how
well the rotation is working.
There is no one universal crop rotation system for all organic
farmers. Your specific rotation will depend on what crops you want
to grow and can market, your type of tillage, planting, cultivation
and harvest equipment, climate and the lay of your land.
Due to variations in soil type, topography and micro-climate, you
may not even use the same crop rotation on all your fields. You
may find that including feed and forage crops, either for your own
livestock or for sale, greatly expands your crop rotation options.
While plans will vary from farm to farm there some basic considerations
all growers should take before they head to the fields. Here’s
a checklist to help you design your crop rotation plan:
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Alternate deep-rooted (alfalfa, sweet clover,
oil radish) with fibrous, shallow-rooted crops (grains, corn). |
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Alternate moisture demanding crops (corn) with crops that
use less moisture (barley). |
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Alternate allelopathic crops (sunflowers, rye, barley, and
other small grains) with poor competitors (vegetables) to help
control weeds. |
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Alternate crops that add organic matter (rye, vetch) with
crops that don’t (soybeans). |
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Plant nitrogen fixers (legumes such as peas, soybeans, alfalfa,
clovers) followed by high nitrogen users (corn, winter wheat,
vegetables). |
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Plant cover crops to avoid bare soil (during the winter try
rye/vetch, for summer – buckwheat, oil radish). |
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Alternate warm season and cool season crops. By changing tillage
dates, you kill early germinating weeds one year and late germinating
and perennial weeds the next. |
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Plant alternate families of crops, e.g. tomatoes, peppers,
potatoes, and eggplant are all in the nightshade family. By
planting crops in the different families, you break up disease
and pest cycles, and use different nutrients. |
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Make sure you have adequate equipment and labor for managing
all of the crops in your rotation. |
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Consider including livestock feeds in your rotation (pasture,
hay, forages, and grains). |
All farmers set out to accomplish the same goals, improving soil
quality, breaking weed and pest cycles, growing marketable plants,
but to do this requires specialized plans unique to each farm. In
part two of the series we will look at planning crop rotations for
transitioning fields and the best way to introduce new crops into
a rotation. 
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