February 2025: Protect Organic Programs

Contact your elected representative in Congress

Let’s make sure organic stays strong—for our farmers, our families, and our future!

Some of your favorite organic brands come from small, community-based farms that have made the commitment to organic certification. And families like yours count on that label to bring home good, wholesome food grown with the integrity that organic certification provides.

Key protections for USDA Organic are now at risk!

We need Congress to step up and protect these essential programs:

• Cost Share – Organic certification is expensive, often costing farmers thousands of dollars. This program helps small organic farms cover part of those costs, keeping organic food accessible and ensuring these farms can survive and thrive.
• Organic Certification Trade and Tracking Program – This is the backbone of the Strengthening Organic Enforcement Rule, which helps prevent fraud and ensures that when you buy organic, it truly is organic. Without this, fraud could run rampant in the global market.
• Organic Data Initiative – Organic farming has its own unique challenges, and good data is crucial. Without this program, farmers and regulators will have to rely on conventional agriculture data, which just doesn’t make sense for organic standards.

Sample script:

I am a constituent and I am concerned about recent federal funding cuts that put the future of organic farming at risk. These cuts make it harder for farmers to stay certified, weaken the USDA’s ability to enforce organic standards, and open the door to fraud—hurting farmers, families, and communities like ours. The impact is broad and sweeping and its negatives effects will affect thousands.

Without funding for the organic certification cost-share program, farmers will face higher costs just to maintain their organic status. On top of that, the Organic Data Initiative helps farmers make smart decisions about what to plant and how to invest—but without it, they’re left guessing. And without the Organic Trade and Tracking Program, it will be even harder to prevent fraud in the organic market.

I’m asking you to fully restore funding for these critical programs and for the USDA National Organic Program itself.

These funding gaps have real consequences for our nation’s farmers, agricultural economy and food sovereignty.

[Share why organic matters to YOU—whether you’re a farmer, a consumer, or part of the organic community.]

Thank you for your time.

Additional Resources

National Organic Coalition: What defunding means

USDA Organic Market Development Grant

USDA Transition to the Organic Partnership Program

Cornucopia Institute Strengthening Organic Enforcement Rule

National Sustainable Ag Coalition Unlawful Federal Funding Freeze Causing Harm on Farms and Communities Nationwide