USDA Restores Organic Certification Cost Share Program

Today, USDA’s Farm Service Agency announced that they will increase 2023 reimbursement rates for certified organic farmers who apply for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP). Producers will be eligible for a reimbursement of up to $750 per year up to 75% of the annual cost of organic certification. If the operation has more than one scope (e.g., two or more of the four scopes – crops, livestock, handling, wild crops), they can receive a $750 reimbursement for each scope in 2023.

The National Organic Coalition has advocated forcefully for a full restoration of the organic certification cost share program, which was cut in 2020 during the height of the covid pandemic and at a time when producers were facing a loss of markets and increased costs to comply with new sanitation and staffing procedures to keep workers safe. Today’s announcement by FSA restores reimbursement levels to the levels authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill.