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Organic Certification Organic certification allows farms to label represent and sell their products as organic. It is the certification that a farm has complied with the USDA organic regulations. These regulations give the standards to be met by a farm before it can label its products as organic. They also enable farms to use the USDA organic seal on its products. These regulations recognize four categories of products that can be labeled as organic. These are crops processed foods livestock and wild crops. With the first growth of the market for organic agricultural products in America organic certification enables the farm to tap in to the entrepreneurial opportunities present in this market. Certification helps farmers receive premium prices for their products support local economies and access the local regional and international market of organic products which is fast growing. Farms whose annual organic products sales are more than $5 be relied on in both the crops and the livestock operation. Care should be taken to avoid contamination of the water sources by the two operations which may cost the farm the certificate. There is also the issue of boundaries and the need to create a buffer zone to prevent contamination by non organic substances from the neighboring farm. This is much more important due to the fact that both farms share a stream and the water may transmit non organic substances from the neighboring farm which is not organic. References Greene C. & United States. (2009). Emerging issues in the U.S. organic industry. Washington DC: USDA Economic Research Service. Rainey R. Pittman H. Mirus S. McGraw K. & Popp J. (2011). Organic certification process. university of Arkansas United States Department of Agriculture and County Governments Cooperating Coleman P. (2012). Guide for Organic Crop Producers. USDA National Organic Program www.ams.usda.gov/nop [...]
Order Description:
Your assignment is to draft a report outlining the organic certification process, identifying potential issues regarding the planned layout of Organian Farms with regard to organic certification and determining how compliance with the new Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations (Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption and Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food) could affect the farm’s expansion plans.
Subject Area: Health Care
Document Type: Dissertation