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Pennsylvania Certified Organic Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2014 Team Raw Milk, page 3 Lessons from an Organic Orchard, page 5 Organic Grain Marketing Opportunities, page 8
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Page 1: Om spring14 final

Pennsylvania Certified OrganicQuarterly NewsletterSpring 2014

Team Raw Milk, page 3Lessons from an Organic Orchard, page 5Organic Grain Marketing Opportunities, page 8

Page 2: Om spring14 final

Organically Speaking

lowship. Join our Homemade and Home-grown Marketplace to sell your crafts orfarm products. If you belong to an organ-ization that would like to provide volun-teers or organize an event, your group maypartner with FarmFest and raise funds foryour cause. No matter what you do, if youare involved in or interested in organicfood and farming, FarmFest is about you.Be a part of it! See page 2 for details aboutFarmFest.

Finally, the more we hear from you,the more we are able to serve your needs.We love your creative ideas on how wecan do our jobs better.

At your service,

Leslie ZuckExecutive [email protected]: 814-404-6567

And a welcome spring it is! PCOknows this has been an insufferable

winter for many farmers in our region andwe appreciate all those extra bales of hayyou brought to your animals in sub-zerotemps, the buckets you carried throughknee-deep snow, the hours you spentshoveling snow off your greenhouses.What do you do when the snow is so deepthe stock can walk right over the fence?Or the drinking water freezes in thebucket a half hour after you put it out? Oryou’re out of hay and the barn door’sfrozen shut? Or that cover crop youplanted in the fall is frozen solid? Or youpray for spring and it just snows again?Well, you get up in the morning and do itall over again until one morning it’s April.Thank you to all our extraordinary farm-ers for toughing it out so the ordinarypeople of the world can eat healthy food.

Hurray for Organic Farmers! See page

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014

Welcome to Spring 2014

11 for wonderful stories about PCO’saward-winning organic farmers andorganizations. You will be inspired andamazed! We love the awards part of ourAnnual Meeting.

Please welcome our new OutreachSpecialist, Rebecca Robertson. Rebecca ishere to help with your educational needsand will be out and about at PCO events,especially Pennsylvania Organic Farm-Fest. Rebecca can be reached [email protected] or 814470-0308.

PCO’s new 3-year Strategic Plan,found on page 21, focuses on outreachand governance. As a member, how canyou help us achieve our organization’sstrategic goals? Let me count the ways.Interested in governance? Join our Advi-sory Board. Contact me or go to theboard page on our website for details. Iseducation and outreach your thing? Volunteer yourself or your organizationfor Pennsylvania Organic FarmFest, thepremiere organic summer conference and fair in our region. Bring your familyand friends for a day of education and fel-

Organically Speaking

1st row L to R: Sabine Carey, Materials Specialist; Sandie Elder, Office Manager; Lia Sandoval, Administrative Assistant; Kyla Smith, Certifica-tion Program Director; Diana Underwood, Director of Operations; Heather Donald, Assistant Certification Specialist; Lee Rinehart, Educationand Outreach Director. 2nd row L to R: Joshua Brock, Technology Coordinator; Liz Amos, Staff Inspector; Johanna Mirenda, Policy Director;April Fix, Public Relations Coordinator; Rebecca Robertson, Outreach Specialist; Marissa Pyle, Certification Specialist/Compliance Manager;Adam Seitz, Certification Specialist; Robert Yang, Director of Quality and Certification Program Development. 3rd row L to R: Penny Zuck, Cer-tification Specialist; Amanda Birk, Staff Inspector; Leslie Zuck, Executive Director; Matthew Kelterborn, Certification Specialist

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columns15 Produce Perspectives

17 President’s Message

18 Dear Aggy

19 Recipe Corner

22 Organic Updates Leadership Team Certification Legislative Standards & Policy Materials Inspection Insights

28 Organic Marketplace

29 Calendar

31 PCO New Members

33 PCO Order Form

Organic MattersSpring 2014

OFFICERS

PRESIDENTPhil ColesCornell University

VICE PRESIDENTDebra DeisSeedway, LLC

TREASURERTony MarzolinoMarz Farm

SECRETARYKathy SoderUSDA–Agriculture Research Service

MANAGING BOARD CHAIRJames TrankleWells Fargo Commercial BankingFood & Agribusiness

ADVISORY BOARD

Andrew BatdorfHollow Brook Dairy

Julie HurstBlue Rooster Farm

David JohnsonProvident Farms

Bryan LuceReliance Capital Partners

Brian MagaroIndependent Organic Inspector

Cadie PrussEwe Win Farm

Ken RiceOrganic Unlimited

Charlie WhitePenn State University

STAFF

Leslie ZuckExecutive Director

ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM

Diana UnderwoodDirector of Operations

Sandie ElderOffice Manager

Lia SandovalAdministrative Assistant

CERTIFICATION TEAM

Kyla SmithCertification Program Director

Heather DonaldAssistant Certification Specialist

Matthew KelterbornCertification Specialist

Marissa PyleCompliance Manager/Certification Specialist

Adam SeitzCertification Specialist

Penny ZuckCertification Specialist

EDUCATION & OUTREACH TEAM

Lee RinehartDirector of Education and Outreach

April FixPublic Relations Coordinator

Rebecca RobertsonOutreach Specialist

INSPECTIONS TEAM

Liz AmosStaff Inspector

Amanda BirkStaff Inspector

POLICY TEAM

Johanna MirendaPolicy Director

Sabine CareyMaterials Specialist

QUALITY TEAM

Robert YangDirector of Quality & CertificationProgram Development

Joshua BrockTechnology Coordinator

OUR MISSION: To Assure the Integrity of Organic Agri-cultural Products through education, inspection and certi-fication of growers, processors and handlers. PCOprovides services to operations based in the Pennsylvaniaregion, which includes: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey,New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia,West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

features story3 Team Raw Milk:

A Case Study of Collaboration & Cooperation in Pursuit of anElusive BugOrganic farmer, extension veterinarian, food safety directorjoin forces to solve rare campy-lobacter case

5 Lessons Learned In The Organic OrchardEver wondered if your orchard couldbe managed organically?

8 Organic Grain Marketing Opportunities Abound Ag professionals and industry representatives come together toaid interested farmers in organictransition process

Cover: Organic basil seedlings at Common GroundOrganic Farm in Spring Mills, PA. Photo: Leslie Zuck

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 1

2 FarmFest 2014 — Be A Part of It!

9 PCO Annual MeetingHonest Tea’s Seth Goldman tellsstory of courage, innovation at PCOAnnual Meeting

10 PCO Members Contribute to Livestock Living Conditions Policy-Making

Mail: 106 School Street, Suite 201Spring Mills, PA 16875

Phone: 814-422-0251

Fax: 814-422-0255

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.paorganic.org

facebook.com/PAorganic

twitter.com/PAorganic

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www.paorganic.org2 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

Farmers Market & Food CourtThe Homemade & Homegrown MarketFeatures an organic food court and craftartisans.

Kids’ ActivitiesHands-on demonstrations and fun activi-ties including a farm animal petting zoo,art projects, children’s parade, haystackjumping, kids’ concert and more.

Educational WorkshopsFree workshops for farmers, gardeners andcommunity members featuring expertpresenters.

5K Run & 1-mile Fun Run/WalkParticipants start their Saturday with arun on our Grange Fairgrounds 5K or 1-mile course.

Live MusicFestival goers celebrate and dance at threelive music stages including the Kids’Stage, the Homegrown & HomemadeMarket stage and the Main Stage.

VolunteerWe couldn’t make FarmFest happenwithout our volunteers. Contact us to jointhis year’s crew!

Camp with UsFestival goers and vendors are invited tocamp onsite. Camp in one of the infa-mous Grange Fair canvas army tents, orbring your own tent or RV camper.

FarmFest 2014 — Be A Part of It!FarmFest is a fun, free, community-building event that fosters knowledge oforganic agriculture and sustainable living through educational opportunities,local foods, lively entertainment and interactive family activities.

Also Consider…• Contribute to the Silent AuctionIncrease your company or organization’svisibility when you donate items or serv-ices to the Silent Auction, coordinated byour partners at the PA Farmers Union.Contact Hannah Smith at [email protected] or at (717) 576-0794.

• Make an In-Kind ContributionFarmFest welcomes contributions ofadvertising, organic foods, festival equip-ment, expertise, etc. in exchange for equalvalue of sponsorship.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Rebecca Robertson

email: [email protected]

phone: (814) 422-0251 x 213

Pennsylvania Certified Organic106 School St, Suite # 201

Spring Mills, PA 16875

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

EVERY sponsor receives a base package of:

• An indoor 10’x10’ exhibit space

• Recognition in PCO’s weekly e-news

• Listing with link on the FarmFest website

• Access to the hospitality tent

Sun Sponsor ($1,500) — base package, plusyour company’s brand associated with amajor FarmFest area. Contact us for currentavailability, including Exhibit Hall, Food Court,Keynote Speakers, Media Package and more.Includes 1/4 page Organic Matters ad and aPCO Business Membership.

Soil Sponsor ($1,000) — base package, plusyour company’s brand associated with anevent/area/band of your choice. Contact usfor current availability, including bands, Land-scaping Plants, Art Show, Natural HealthSymposium and more. Includes 1/4 pageOrganic Matters ad and a PCO BusinessMembership.

Water Sponsor ($500–$999) — base pack-age, plus festival banner sponsored in yourname and 1/8 page Organic Matters ad.Seed Sponsor ($250) — includes base pack-age.

VENDORS & EXHIBITORS

Food Court VendorsTempt hungry festival goes with your made toeat on-site food items at a 10’x20’ space at theoutdoor Organic Food Court.Food Court Space: $100 deposit, plus 10% ofsales

Craft & Farm VendorsFarmers: market your business, sell your farmproducts and advertise your CSA and farmersmarket hours. Artists: display, sell and demon-strate your artisan crafts. Reserve your spaceat the Homemade & Homegrown Market!Outdoor Market Space: $40Indoor Market Space: $50

Commercial VendorsSell your wares and get your name in front ofyour target audience with a 10’x10’ booth inour Exhibit Hall or outdoors.Outdoor Commercial Space: $75Indoor Commercial Space: $100

Non-Profit OrganizationsGet the word out about your organization,reach out to potential members, increase yourmailing list and sell your organizational mer-chandise at a 10’x10’ booth.Non-profit Exhibitor Space: 25% discount oncommercial vendor spaces

August 112pm–10:30pmAugust 29am–10:30pm

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Edwin Shank has been producing cer-tified organic raw milk on his 5th-genera-tion family farm since he started learningabout it five years ago at PennsylvaniaAssociation for Sustainable Agriculture(PASA)’s Farming for the Future confer-ence. For Edwin.success in raw milk pro-duction comes from collaboration. He’slearned through the years the great valueof shared knowledge and experience.

Edwin’s recent presentation at the2014 PASA conference in State Collegewas a testimony to that collaboration.During the presentation Edwin shared thestage with Dr. Lydia Johnson, Director ofPennsylvania Department of Agriculture(PDA)’s Bureau of Food Safety, and Dr.Ernest Hovingh, DVM, PhD., a veteri-narian with Penn State CooperativeExtension, to tell The Family Cow’s storyand offer insight to prospective raw milkproducers.

Edwin Shank’s PCO-certified TheFamily Cow, LLC, is a PDA-permittedraw milk dairy. His on-farm store repre-sents products from approximately 30small, sustainable family farms and busi-nesses, although the Shank family’s pas-sion is raw milk. The operation, inaddition to the store, encompasses 280certified organic acres, 150 Jersey cows,and 150 young stock.

Edwin began his raw milk venture in2009 by supplying five families with rawmilk and now, just five years later, sells toover 3,500 families. His raw milk andfarm products are in huge demand, withhis delivery program growing by 100 fam-ilies per month and supplying about120,000 servings of raw milk monthly.

The Shanks have their milk tested forthe presence of pathogenic bacteriacampylobacter, listeria, and e coli every

Team Raw Milk: A Case Study of Collaboration &Cooperation in Pursuit of an Elusive BugOrganic farmer, extension veterinarian, food safety director join forces tosolve rare campylobacter case

Lee Rinehart, Director of Education and Outreach & Marissa Pyle,

Certification Specialist

continued on page 4

grow. There was no systemin place to monitor this tem-perature loss internally at thetime.

“How can we go on?” theShanks asked. “How can webe sure this won’t happenagain?”

As they began their inter-nal investigation they foundsome issues: they did notmonitor systematically, andthey did not perform pre-consumptive testing.

The Shanks endeavoredto establish a monitoringsystem with data collection,alarm alerts and actionthresholds. In fact theShanks had just begun to usea “ProAct” Monitoring Sys-tems at the time of the inci-dent. The system includes

60 control points, and if thresholds arecrossed, alerts and emails are sent to man-agers of The Family Cow as well as theProAct representative so they can swiftlyrespond to the issue.

Along with the monitoring system theShanks implemented an on-farm labora-tory for pre-consumptive testing, wheretheir motto is to “trust but verify.” PDAstill gets required test samples, but as theseare post consumptive, “it’s like lookinginto a rearview mirror,” notes Edwin.

So all should be well for the future ofthe Shank’s farm. After the implementa-tion of a super hygienic production proto-col, state of art monitoring, an on-farmlaboratory, and a test-and-hold procedure,the Shanks were seeing extremely cleanlaboratory numbers and had accrued 15months and 2 million servings with noissues.

Then, in May & August 2013 theywere once again shut down by PDA for

Feature Story

Edwin Shank, of PCO-Certified The Family Cow, a grassfedraw milk dairy in Chambersburg, PA.

month even though the PDA requirestesting only twice a year. They also volun-tarily participate in extra pathogen testing.Edwin follows the four basic steps of saferaw milk production:

• Keep the green, green (e.g. keep thecows on green, fresh pasture)

• Keep the clean, clean (barn, cows, par-lor, etc.) — very clean cows, udders, etc.

• Keep the hot, hot (170 degree wash vat)

• Keep the cold, cold (cool milk to 40degrees within 5 minutes)

A Storm Hits…The Shanks thought they were doing

everything right, but in 2012, as theyentered their fourth year of raw milk pro-duction, eighty customers became sick-ened from campylobacter. Thetemperature of the water coming from theheater was showing 170 degrees, but onceit got to the equipment for sanitation ithad lost heat allowing the bacteria to

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 3

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Johnson notes that in order to investigateand possibly shut down a producer, theremust have been two or more people thattested positive for the pathogen. If thisoccurs, the dairy must immediately ceasesales of raw milk, investigate the cause,and refrain from selling raw milk forhuman consumption until two consecu-tive tests, 24 hours apart, show resultsnegative for the disease-causing organism.

Dr. Ernest Hovingh, an Extension vet-erinarian with Penn State, recently com-pleted a 2-year project working with 40raw milk dairy farms in Pennsylvania witha focus on tracing potential contamina-tion sources. “…milk from a cow’s teat isusually clean but bacteria is almost alwaysfound in bulk tanks, so there is someintroduction of bacteria from some-where.” With this in mind, Dr. Hovinghwent to Edwin’s farm to review his sys-tems and determine where and how bac-teria could have been introduced.

Campylobacter is usually found in cat-tle manure, but in Edwin’s case it washard to find a manure source as his farm isvery clean. So Dr. Hovingh started to ask,“could there be bacteria in the udder,

another case of campylobacter, despite thenew protocols that were in place. Milkwith positive campylobacter even tested10 times cleaner for coliform and standardplate count than pasteurization standards.

At this point, Edwin had no idea whatelse to do, as he thought he was doingeverything possible. That’s when Edwincalled a meeting of “Team Raw Milk” onthe farm, which included PDA expertsand veterinarians. “We cannot be fightingeach other. We agree that raw milk mustand can be made safely,” notes Edwin.“Collaboration is essential to thisprocess.”

Enter the ExpertsRaw milk is legal in Pennsylvania with

permit, and Dr. Lydia Johnson with thePennsylvania Department of Agricultureis tasked to regulate raw milk production.Dr. Johnson was part of the investigativeteam that went to Edwin’s farm duringthe 2013 campylobacter outbreak. Dr.

could a cow be shedding the bacteria?”This could explain the increase in campy-lobacter alongside negative test results forall other pathogens. So he dug a littledeeper. “Could it be an infected (mastitic)cow?” You can certainly have a high-cell-count cow without showing clinical mas-titis symptoms. The somatic cell count(SCC) at Edwin’s farm was a bit high, butstill within parameters.

The herd was sampled aseptically atDr. Hovingh’s recommendation, just tosee if this was where a problem could be.He found one campylobacter positivesample from one cow, and its SCC waselevated, although it never showed visiblesigns of clinical mastitis. They “finger-printed” the sample by Centers for Dis-ease Control showing that both the bulktank and human samples matched thiscow’s sample. So they culled the cow andno campylobacter has been detected in themilk since.

So the take-home message? Cleanlinessand collaboration. The Shanks had thefirst part down pat. It wasn’t until theygot the experts involved that they came

continued on page 19

Participants will learn to plan their grazing season with a grazingchart, biological monitoring, and holistic grazing management toimprove profit and mitigate risk. Take part in a hands-on exerciseusing Cliff’s grazing season goals to plan pasture use to ensuregrazing far into the winter.•Create goals and strategies around grazing season benchmarks•Monitor and track dry matter production weekly•Implement practices to improve animal health and soil biology•Use grazing management to improve nutrient management

and/or manipulate ecological succession on specific fields.•Build in pasture recovery times for getting through weather

events and plan back in time from projected and/or estimatedmajor events.

April 29, 2014 • 10:00am-4:00pm • $20 registrationCliff Hawbaker Farm • 2300 Edenville Road • Chambersburg PA PCO-certified grass-based organic dairy

Planned Grazing & Biological Monitoring

www.paorganic.org4 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

Team Raw Milkcontinued from page 3

To register: Visit paorganic.org/education/grazingworkshopor contact Lee Rinehart at 814-470-9734, [email protected]

This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2012-49200-20031.

Presenter Troy Bishopp

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with the needs of an organic orchardistand have years of experience behind themto assist you. There are primarily threetypes of rootstocks to choose from thatwill determine the size of the trees whenfull grown; dwarf, semi-dwarf, and stan-dard. Dwarf trees will achieve a height ofapproximately 8 feet, semi-dwarf between12–18 feet, and standard trees typicallywill be larger than 18 feet tall. Sara rec-ommends and uses the semi-dwarf root-stocks for a variety of reasons such as theyoptimize the use of space, allow for awider variety of trees to be planted in adefined area, and ease in harvesting andmaintenance of the trees.

There are seven criteria to considerwhen choosing the rootstock varieties:• Years to harvest• Size of harvest• Life span of tree• Size of tree (consider the maintenance

of it)

Every year for the last 23 years, sup-porters of sustainable agriculture includ-ing farmers, students, families, andbusinesses alike have made the trek to cen-tral Pennsylvania for PASA’s Farming forthe Future Conference. They seek theknowledge and expertise gained fromthose who work day to day in the fieldsand orchards. They seek to share stories,frustrations, the good and the bad of thelivelihoods they’ve chosen growing foodand raising livestock.

2014 was no exception. For those whoeither currently manage an orchard, orwere looking to add one to an existingoperation, a key question may have been“how can we best develop our own farmorchard AND how can we do it organi-cally?” Sara Baldwin of PCO-CertifiedOyler’s Organic Farms was there to helpanswer these and other daunting ques-tions.

Sara and her family have been growingapples organically for seven years on their5th generation family farm located insouth-central Pennsylvania. On their 360-acre farm, the Oylers raise organic applesand peaches, grass finished beef and veg-etables, as well as organic pastured browneggs, organic apple cider, and organicapplesauce. During the workshop, Sarashared her expertise on a variety of topics;the theme underscoring each topic of con-versation was how to do it within a certi-fied organic system.

Sourcing Rootstock & Protecting Your Trees

For those considering taking theplunge, there are many sources to findtrees. Two recommended by Sara basedon her personal experience are BoyerNurseries & Orchards, Inc. in Biglerville,PA and Adams County Nursery, Inc. inAspers, PA. Both nurseries are familiar

Lessons Learned In The Organic OrchardEver wondered if your orchard could be managed organically?

Sara Baldwin of PCO-certified Oyler’s Organic Farms shared her expertise with organicorchardists and enthusiasts at the recent PASA Farming for the Future conference.

Joshua Brock, Technology Coordinator

continued on page 6

• Space requirements• Availability• Characteristics of rootstock

Preventing damage to your trees fromthe likes of mice, groundhogs, deer, andrabbits is an ongoing battle. While thereare some substances approved by variousorganic certifiers that are marketed asdeterring animals large and small fromdamaging trees, Sara has found many ofthese to be ineffective. Greater success canoften be found with physical fencing,wire/mesh tree trunk protectors or evenelectric fencing.

Nutritional Testing & AnalysisNutrition to the tree should be consid-

ered in the same vein as with our ownbodies, where “more, is not always better!”For instance, although fruit trees dodemand fairly high levels of nitrogen, pro-viding too much can cause issues such as

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 5

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Insect ManagementThe focus in an organic orchard is

managing insects versus eliminating them.To that end, one needs to determine threekinds of information; biological, ecologi-cal, and behavioral.

Biological: Understanding what theinsect pest needs to survive can help deter-mine what possibly can be removed tothus make the environment uninhabitablefor the pest.

Ecological: Knowing how the pestsinteract with the environment as well asother pests can be used to the advantage ofcreating a pest resistant environment.

Behavioral: For both harmful and ben-eficial insects, determining how theinsects meet their needs grants theorchardist the potential to manipulatethose needs to protect their crops.

According to the organic regulations,insects may be controlled through a com-bination of cultural, mechanical, or phys-ical means; the introduction of predatorsof the pests; the development of an envi-ronment welcoming to natural enemies ofthe pests; and devices such as lures, traps,and repellents. If and when these fail, anorchardist can then turn to a variety ofsubstances included on the National Listof synthetic and nonsynthetic substancesapproved for use in an organic system.

An orchardist’s organic partners in thebeneficial insects realm include brownand green lacewings, minute pirate bugs,“hover” flies and of course, the lady bug.Conserving and planting certain cropsand vegetation helps encourage beneficialsin their battle against various pest species.Flowers from the Aster family, for exam-ple, are well known for attracting benefi-cial insects. A practice known as“intercropping” places one crop plant neara different one to further promote anenvironment for the helpful insects. Itprovides a way to keep beneficials close tocrops and provide a consistent source ofnutrition and shelter. The enhancementof natural enemies is probably one of thebest-known methods of controlling pestsfrom a biological perspective.

Spraying in an organic orchard is lim-ited by the types of materials that can beused to stay within compliance of organicregulations. If an organic orchard issprayed with a prohibited material, even

blight. Soil pH should be maintained atlevels between 6 and 6.5. Leaf samplesshould also be taken from the trees tomake a more complete picture of the tree’shealth. Fifty to one hundred leaves of thesame variety and management unitroughly between mid July and midAugust should be selected. The leavesshould be from the middle growth of thecurrent season’s vegetation. Dependingon which lab facility you select to sendyour samples to, the leaves should bewashed and dried according to that lab’srecommendations. The information pro-vided by the leaf tissue analysis will helpreveal nutritional information regardingthe tree itself that may not be reflected ina mineral content of just the soil.

Testing of both the fruit and the leavescan help ensure the fruit has reached thefull potential for nutrition and taste. Test-ing options include the starch-iodine testand the use of a refractometer to deter-mine the Brix value (sugar content). Thestarch-iodine test helps narrow the properharvest window by determining the levelsof starch and sugar in the fruit. Starchesslowly change into sugars as applesmature; thus increased sweetness. Thestarch-iodine test is as simple as these twosteps:

1. Cut an apple in half across the diame-ter. Hold one half by the stem andimmerse it cut side down in a liquidiodine solution.

2. Wait at least a minute for the starchto stain sufficiently. Where the fleshstains dark there is starch and wherethere is little or no staining there issugar.

A refractometer takes a step up in bothcomplexity and cost. With this tool, agrower presses juice from a sample appleonto a slide, which is then held up to thelight. A lens inside the device refracts thelight and shows the amount of solublesolids in the juice. Those solids are sugarand give the grower the Brix level of anapple’s juice. The higher the Brix number,the more sugar the apple contains. Themore sugar, of course, the sweeter theapple.

by accident, it must undergo a three-yeartransition period to regain its certification.Here in the East, orchardists face threespecific pests; European apple sawfly,plum curculio, and codling moth. Solu-tions such as kaolin clay (Surround) havegiven organic orchardists an effective toolto help combat pests in two specific wayswhen the fruit is about the size of a mar-ble. When kaolin clay is applied to thefruit tree, it first clogs the eyes, ears, andreproductive organs of the insects like thecurculio that crawl on the surface of theleaves seeking to lay eggs. Second, flyinginsects such as the codling moth that arelooking for an environment to land andlay their eggs are deterred by the coatingof kaolin clay

It is important to note that kaolin clayonly proves effective after three uniformapplications have been made on the fruittree. After the third application, there isenough of a coating to stop early stages ofsawfly larvae from continuing to develop.One coating is not enough, and back-to-back coatings need to be done for approx-imately four weeks with the caveat thatheavy rains may necessitate additionalapplications.

Identifying & PreventingCommon Diseases

The two most common “summer dis-eases” of apples in the Northeast are sootyblotch and fly speck. They often occurtogether since both are confined to thefruit surface and favor similar environ-mental and horticultural conditions.Sooty blotch appears as sooty-colored fun-gus colonies on the surface of infectedfruit while fly speck looks like 50 or moretiny black dots on the fruit surface.Annual pruning to open tree canopies andpromote air circulation will help to mini-mize the diseases since both diseasesdepend on long periods of extremehumidity around the fruit. Proper fruitthinning is also important for increasingair flow and thus reducing high-humiditymicroclimates around clustered fruit.

Fire blight, a bacterial infectionreferred to as “the plague” by orchardists,can occur in apples and pears and can killthe tree after a substantial amount ofgrowth takes place. The term describes theappearance of the disease, which can makefruit appear blackened, shrunken and

www.paorganic.org6 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

The Organic Orchardcontinued from page 5

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apple and other crop diseases and insectsdown to the regional level.

Thinning & Harvest ConsiderationsMost novice orchardists would likely

believe that the larger the cluster of fruitper branch, the better your chances ofhaving a larger, successful harvest. On thecontrary, that is actually the best way toensure rot and drop your chances of suc-cess as fruit touching each other decreasesair circulation, increases nutrient competi-tion between each fruit, and also increasessusceptibility to diseases and pests. Sara aswell as a handful of other experiencedorchardists in attendance, encourages onepiece of fruit per cluster. It is key to get inthe orchard as soon as possible to performthinning. Also highly recommended isclearing away all fruit and trimmings thatdrop to the ground.

And finally, the harvest! To better reapwhat you’ve sown, consider these harvestrecommendations:

• Check the ripening date based on therecommendation of the nursery

• Lift the fruit gently so as not to damageor drop from the tree

cracked much like it would look if theywere scorched by fire. The most effectivehorticultural practice for minimizing fireblight outbreaks is to avoid highly suscep-tible cultivars and rootstocks. In additionpruning out cankered limbs and branchesduring the dormant season is a good wayto reduce inoculum sources.

Cedar apple rust, a fungal infectionthat can occur when there are cedar treeswithin 4-5 miles of the orchard, can resultin the defoliation of the trees. Apple scab,another fungal infection, rarely kills thetree but can significantly reduce the yieldand quality of the fruit. Again, the organicorchardist should consider selecting culti-vars that are immune to or at least less sus-ceptible to these diseases as such varietiesare available.

To assist in the preparation to ward offpests and disease, Sara mentioned the useof a service from SkyBit called E-Weather™. According to their website,E-Weather™ is an “electronic weatherservice that delivers (with subscription)site-specific weather information via fax ore-mail on a daily basis.” A subscriber canchoose from different tiers of informationto deliver crop and pest simulations for

• Watch the ground remove any fruitthat falls during harvest and keep separate from the harvested fruit

• Observe the colors of the fruit

• Keep an eye on the weather forecasts

• Taste the fruit is it ready?

• Anticipate total harvest time

Even the best and most accomplishedorchardists will have a need to deal withblemished fruit as no harvest is 100% suc-cessful. Cosmetically blemished fruit canbe used in ciders, pies, or simply sold at aslight discount. Someone who trulyappreciates the planning and workinvolved on behalf of an organic opera-tion, also realizing the health and sustain-ability practices employed by theorchardist and farmer, can see beyond thefacade of the glistening, waxy applesfound in the major supermarkets.

Additional Resourceswww.groworganicapples.com/organic-orchard-ing-articles/surround-kaolin-clay.php

“Insect Management on Organic Farms,” by H.M. Linker, D. B. Orr, and M. E. Barbercheck, Cen-ter for Environmental Farming Systems, January2009.

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 7

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to assist producers in making the transi-tion. PCO offers educational resources,farm visits, as well as a mentor programwhere interested producers can get on thephone with an experienced organic farmerto have some of their questions answered.

During one such all-day meeting,hosted by Kreamer Feed on March 4 in

It’s no surprise that demand fororganic products has been steadily grow-ing. Consumers have been drivingdemand for specialty food products suchas organic for years. But recently we haveseen a more localized phenomenon inheightened demand for organic products,especially organic milk and organic feedgrains.

Organic grain mills are actively seekingfeed grain producers who are interested intransitioning to organic production. Theorganic grain market in Pennsylvania isdriven by the organic poultry and dairyindustries, and marketers of these grainsare interested in sourcing more organicgrain from US farms, especially Pennsyl-vania farms.

“The lion’s share of organic grain fedto organic livestock in the US is sourcedfrom overseas, as there are just not enoughorganic acres in the US to keep up withdomestic demand,” notes Steve Smelter,Organic Sales and Nutritional Servicesrepresentative for Kreamer Feed inKreamer, PA, which markets Nature’sBest Organic Feed.

Mills are getting some pretty strongmarket signals to source as much organicgrain domestically as they can. Processorssuch as Bell & Evans, Kreamer Feed, andPerdue AgriBusiness Inc are actively ask-ing producers to grow organic grains andPennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) ishelping these businesses by assisting farm-ers in making the transition.

There have been several informationalmeetings around the state where farmerswere invited to consider transitioning toorganic production and learned aboutmarketing incentives and organic produc-tion practices, as well as the organic certi-fication process. PCO has been present todemystify the process and offer resources

Organic Grain Marketing Opportunities Abound Ag professionals and industry representatives come together to aid interested farmers in organic transition process

Lee Rinehart, Director of Education and Outreach

Lewisburg, PA, Jeff Moyer,Farm Director at the RodaleInstitute, and Lee Rinehart,PCO’s Director of Educa-tion and Outreach, providedpresentations on organicproduction and certificationfor the 45 attendees. Thepresentations were high-lighted by questions andcomments by farmers andinformational discussionswith representatives fromSeedway, LLC; Blue RiverHybrids; Lancaster Agricul-ture Products and The Fer-trell Company. The industryreally came together to offerresources so farmers canmake an informed decisionon transitioning to organic.

For more information onorganic grain production,organic certification and

marketing, or to find out about PCO’sOrganic Mentor Program, contact LeeRinehart at 814-470-9734 or [email protected].

To learn more about PCO or to applyfor organic certification, contact HeatherDonald at 814-422-0251, or [email protected] or visit www.paorganic.org.

Feature Story

Jeff Moyer, Farm Director at the Rodale Institute in Kutz-town, provided an organic grain production presentationat a recent informational meeting geared toward farmersinterested in transitioning to organic.

Help PCO Conserve Resources — Sign Up to Receive Organic Matters Electronically!

In an effort to conserve valuable resources such as fossil fuels, printing supplies,mailing materials and money, PCO is now offering electronic delivery of its quar-terly newsletter Organic Matters. By signing up to receive Organic Matters elec-tronically, you are making a positive contribution to the environment as well as thePCO budget, AND you will receive your issue of Organic Matters faster then ever!Skip the bulk mailing time and receive your electronic edition in your inbox 1–3weeks sooner, just minutes after it’s published. To sign up today, please visit: paor-ganic.org/survey or call 814-422-0251.

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tea gardens, not merely to see first handhow they produce the quality tea HonestTea uses, but to build relationships andlearn how these hard-working entrepre-neurs maintain the integrity of their prod-ucts. In a wonderful bridge building, orperhaps non-bridge building story, Gold-man learned first hand how local knowl-edge and innovation could often becounter-intuitive to a western mind.

His story starts at the bank of a river.Curious as to how he is going to get acrossto view the tea garden nestled in the valleybeyond, and seeing no bridge, he immedi-ately sees a need. “Let’s build a bridge.Certainly this will ease the workers bur-den and allow for more efficient produc-tion.”

Goldman’s “ah-ha” moment camewhen a villager told him that if they builda bridge there would be roads, then build-ings, and then more people. “We don’t

“Those who say it cannot be doneshould not interrupt those doing it.” Thistimely quote summarizes the inspirationalkeynote presentation delivered by SethGoldman, co-founder, president, and“TeaEO” of PCO-certified Honest Tea,at Pennsylvania Certified Organic’s 2014Annual Meeting.

Seth Goldman spoke to PCO mem-bers about his experiences developingHonest Tea into a model of what a largecompany can do to make the world a bet-ter place. Describing their humble begin-nings, Seth told the story of how he andco-founder Barry Nalebuff of the YaleSchool of Management started operationsout of Seth’s house in Bethesda, MD, in1998, and made their first sale to a WholeFoods regional office with five thermosesand an empty Snapple bottle.

After many starts and stops, includingthe well-intentioned but problematic pur-chase of a bottling plant near Pittsburgh,the company grew to the point of intro-ducing the world’s first organic bottled teain 1999, and then the world’s first FairTrade Certified organic bottled tea in2003.

In March 2011, Honest Tea wasacquired by The Coca-Cola Company,helping to further the reach and impact ofHonest Tea’s mission by becoming thefirst organic and Fair Trade brand in theworld’s largest beverage distribution sys-tem. Today, Honest Tea is the nation’stop selling ready-to-drink organic bottledtea, and is carried in more than 100,000outlets.

Honest Tea sources its teas from third-party certified organic and Fair TradeCertified tea gardens in China and India,and one source is the oldest certifiedorganic tea garden in the world. Goldmanmakes personal visits to the villages and

PCO Annual MeetingHonest Tea’s Seth Goldman tells story of courage, innovation at PCOAnnual Meeting

Lee Rinehart, Director of Education and Outreach

continued on page 10

want that.” It turns out the river and therequisite bamboo raft that is used to bringworkers and tea baskets across was a bar-rier that served to protect the integrity ofthe tea garden. Innovative thoughtbrought home to a western company bylocal knowledge.

As an example of the evolution of thecompany’s innovative and inquisitivethought, Goldman told the story of asocial experiment, called the HonestyIndex that Honest Tea conducted to get alook at how honestly people act when theythink no one is looking. The company setup unmanned kiosks in all 50 states fullystocked with Honest Tea beverages and asign asking for $1 to be paid on the honorsystem, and people were presented withthe choice to pay for a bottle or steal abottle with no consequences. Results weretabulated and in 2012 Honest Tea calcu-

Seth Goldman, of PCO-Certified Honest Tea, pictured here with students participating in“The Great Recycle,” a call to action to boost national recycling rates. Goldman recentlykeynoted PCO’s 2014 Annual Meeting where he spoke about holding to values while navi-gating through “shades of gray.”

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www.paorganic.org10 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

lated a 93% Honesty Index from kiosks in35 cities. Though certainly not scientific,the experiment gave some insight intohow people think, and like Honest Tea,most people want to do the right thing.

Doing the right thing is not alwayseasy and the road to social responsibility isnot often well lit. Goldman shared hisperspective on how a large company hasto “navigate shades of grey” in a worldthat seems polarized but is actually morecomplex. For instance, he reminisced onthe years when there was a clear distinc-tion between the quality of goods pro-duced in the US and those produced inJapan. Now, the quality implications arenot as clear, evidenced by the fact that aJapanese company often makes goods inthe US, with parts assembled in Mexico.

Goldman brought this idea home tothe audience by describing the dichotomybetween locally grown organic and fac-tory-farmed food by the prevalence oforganic asparagus air-shipped from alarge-scale farm in Chile. Which is better?These are decisions we all make, and it’salso a decision point for a large companythat wants to have a positive impact onsocial and environmental sustainabilitywhile maintaining a successful business. Asmart company, says Goldman, must nottake sides between the positions of sus-tainability and mass consumption, butmust strive to be a mission-driven busi-ness operating in a consumer economy.

“If we don’t change the direction weare headed, we will end up where we aregoing.” This snippet of wisdom foundinside the lid of an Honest Tea bottlesummarizes Goldman’s message. Positivechange happens when you consider youroptions, have a vision, listen closely, andset your course.

Held on February 6 at the Penn StaterConference Center in State College, thePCO Annual Meeting is a much-awaitedannual event where Pennsylvania Certi-fied Organic certified farmers, foodprocessors, volunteers, board members,and staff come together to reminisce, cel-ebrate accomplishments, and get inspired.

PCO Members Contribute to LivestockLiving Conditions Policy-Making

Johanna Mirenda, Policy Director

The PCO Standards Committee is developing policy recommendations forimplementing the livestock living conditions requirements of the NationalOrganic Program regulations. Just prior to the Annual Meeting PCO’s PolicyDirector Johanna Mirenda and members of the Standards Committee providedsome topical background to the PCO membership as a guide to the developmentof these policies.

PCO’s goal is to provide stricter definitions for animal welfare in certifiedorganic operations, while remaining flexible enough to adapt to future regulatoryrequirements, guidance, or instruction from the National Organic Program.

The NOP regulations address requirements for organic livestock living con-ditions, but the opening statement of this section is very broad and has resultedin different implementation strategies by certifiers when putting this regulatorylanguage into practice during certification review: “The producer of an organiclivestock operation must establish and maintain year-round livestock living condi-tions which accommodate the health and natural behavior of animals, including:Year-round access for all animals to the outdoors, shade, shelter, exercise areas, freshair, clean water for drinking, and direct sunlight, suitable to the species, its stage oflife, the climate, and the environment… (205.239(a)(1)).”

PCO believes it is extremely important to get producer feedback on this issuein order to develop policies consistent with the National Organic Program stan-dards as well as the practical and pragmatic practices that producers use to ensureoutdoor access on their farm.

PCO’s Standards Committee sought specific feedback on

1. the type of ground surface for outdoor access area for all species;

2. enclosures around outdoor access areas for all species;

3. poultry space requirements for permanent structures;

4. age that outdoor access is required for poultry; and

5. alternative poultry production practices such as pastured poultry and free-range.

The Standards Committee is now reviewing comments and recommenda-tions received in person at the Annual Meeting, over the phone, via email and inthe mail. Proposed policy language will be submitted to PCO members for addi-tional comment and vote in the near future.

PCO Annual Meetingcontinued from page 9

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Going the Extra AcreFor sharing knowledge and expertise withfellow farmers and the organic commu-nity. Great systems are built on collabora-tion.

�Alyson and Terry IngramThrelkeld Farm Dairy

Brandy Station, Virginia

A smart man learns from his mistakes,Terry likes to say, but a wise man learnsfrom the mistakes of others. “I’ll neverclaim to be a wise man, but I’m at least asmart man. Once you experience what it’slike to farm organic, your eyes open tohow abundant nature is. I am blessed tosee it every day. I feel privileged to be ableto farm this way.” Terry and his wife,Alyson, their two small children, Terry’sparents, and his brother, live on and workthe farm where Terry was born and raised.The Ingrams milk about 220 cows ontheir 100% grassfed, organic dairy. “Ihave gotten much more in tune with feed-ing the soil, and I can actually see thereturn on that effort. I have grass whenother people don’t, because healthy soilretains water so much better.” Terry cred-

Advisory Board AwardWe wish to recognize the following out-going board member for the importantwork she has contributed to our organiza-tion.

�Kathy Soder, Board Secretary

Outstanding New Organic ProducerFor attentiveness throughout the certifica-tion process, innovative management, anddedication toward creating and maintain-ing a successful organic plan.

�The Young FamiliesYoung Crest Farm, Kodru Dairy,

& Young ContractingAntwerp, Governour, and Theresa,

New York

“Farming has always been in our blood.One way or another we’ve been involvedwith dairy and crops,” says TommyYoung. While Tommy, his brother,Andrew, and their nephew, Adam, may benew to organic certification, they beenfarming with “just manure and hay” sincethey could walk. Tommy and Andrew,along with their 2 brothers and 4 sisters,grew up on a small dairy farm in Gov-erneur, NY, where their 72-year old dadstill takes 100 acres of square bale hay offthe land by himself. Tommy credits hisdad along with his eldest brother, Jimmy,who has been organic dairying for 20+years, as his inspiration to farm organi-cally. Tommy farms 57 acres of hay andcorn, although he is planning to add dairysoon too. Adam farms 212 acres of hay,pasture, and corn with 35 dairy cows.Andrew farms 140 acres of hay, pastureand corn with 40 dairy cows and 25heifers. While they all have their ownfarms, they are constantly helping eachother and working together. Adam,Andrew and Tommy are dedicatedorganic farmers with strong family ties tothe organic community. Hats off to theYoungs.

2014 Annual Meeting Award WinnersPCO honors outstanding organic farmers and professionals

continued on page 12

its a lot of the farm’s success to hismother, Boo, and his brother, Rush.“They’ve supported my efforts, and we alllive right here on the farm. It’s great toraise my kids like this with their grand-parents and uncle around them.” Terryand family have welcomed numerous visi-tors to their farm for the many field daysthey have hosted and openly shared theirfarming practices so others can learn fromtheir mistakes and successes.

Sustainability AwardFor furthering the sustainability of farms,families, communities, and the environ-ment.

�Annemarie and Samuel YoderGreen Alchemy Farm

Kutztown, Pennsylvania

Annemarie and Samuel Yoder VMD arepassionate about and have been integrallyinvolved in educating, facilitating andpromoting renewable energy and sustain-able living much of their lives. After sev-eral years of academic and veterinaryventures, they returned to Samuel’s family

Terry Ingram, of Threlkeld Farm Dairy, in Brandy Station Virginia, graciously accepts PCO’sGoing the Extra Acre Award.

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www.paorganic.org12 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

but was not phased at all by the interrup-tion. Instead, he was willing to spend asmuch time as needed to answer all ques-tions and he recognized the importance ofunannounced inspections and residuetesting for organic integrity.

Organic Research and EducationFor furthering the cause of organic farm-ing through research and education.

�The Ranck FamiliesCharvin Organic FarmMifflin, Pennsylvania

Charlotte and Elvin Ranck and their sonand daughter-in-law Michael and Krystaloperate a 180-cow organic dairy and cropfarm on 1,000 acres in Juniata County.After years of conventional farming Elvinhad the opportunity to observe a biologi-cally managed farm and the soil tilththereof and so began his inspiration to paycareful attention to the life of the soil.Elvin and family have been farmingorganically since 1987, are grateful for thehealthier crops, healthier animals andhealthier environment such practicesafford, and are eager to share their knowl-edge. “While we don’t have all theanswers to all life’s problems in organicfarming, we’ve learned and mastered a fewthings along the way and would like topass that along to other people.” From soilconsulting, hosting field days, and con-ducting seed trials to collaborating onresearch projects, the Ranck families playan important part in furthering organicagriculture research and educating theorganic community. In addition to theirdomestic pursuits, Elvin travels to Africaseveral times a year to do ministry workand agriculture education. Many thanksto the Rancks for their great work.

Inspector’s ChoiceFor excellent management, thoroughrecords, positive attitude towards theinspection process and exceptional effortin creating and maintaining a successfulorganic plan.

�Mary Jane and Bill YoderMar-Bil Jersey Farm

Meyersdale, Pennsylvania

Mar-Bil Jersey Farm has been in BillYoder’s extended family since the 1700’s,

farm to found and build from scratch Sil-ver Maple Veterinary Clinic while work-ing toward their life-long goal ofself-sufficiency. Toward that end theybegan operating an organic farm, growingmost of their own food, generating mostof their electricity from solar photo voltaicand wind, and powering cars and tractorswith biofuels. In 2005, Samuel and Annemarie foundedthe Pennsylvania Renewable Energy andSustainable Living Festival, the first origi-nal green festival in Pennsylvania. Samuelhas spoken widely at energy and organicfarming organizations and has succeededin promoting a widening perception ofgreen issues in the mid-Atlantic States. In2010, Annemarie and Samuel startedGreen Alchemy LLC, an organizationdriven to supporting self-empowermentof the individual and the local commu-nity, producing organic beef and sun-flower oil, and conducting “on farm”experimentation on topics from organicparasite prevention to organic sunflowerproduction. Samuel and Annemarie arehappy to Live what they Preach!

Staff’s ChoiceFor special dedication to the organic certi-fication process and use of innovativepractices.

�Eli and Floyd SummySalisbury, Pennsylvania

Eli and Floyd Summy farm 260+ acres ofhay and pasture, and milk about 30 cows.They are conscientious organic farmersinside and out, with well managed fields,healthy animals, and detailed paperwork.They consistently call the PCO officeshould they ever have a question regardingcompliant practices and materials andhave thus been free from any issues ofconcern and notices of noncompliance formany years. “Floyd and Eli are extremelythoughtful, sincere and open people whoenjoy talking about organics,” com-mented a recent organic inspector. Thesame inspector noted that when shearrived for an unannounced inspection Eliwas in the middle of spreading manure

and his grandfather built their big redbarn nearly 100 years ago. Now Bill milks45 organic Jersey cows with help from hiswife, Mary Jane, and the two youngest oftheir six children. Bill and Mary Janemanage their 150-acre farm exceptionallywell and keep very detailed records. From1999–2003 the Yoders extended theirmanagement skills beyond their own farmto facilitate the set up of a 20-cow modeldairy farm in Mongolia with a vision ofputting into practice principles of moderndairying that they knew would work andwere unknown in Mongolia. The modelfarm has since been replicated many timesthroughout the country and has played asignificant part in revolutionizing theMongolian dairy industry. The Yoders arenow training a farm manager to care fortheir operation in Pennsylvania while theytake another two-year trip abroad to Asiato provide missionary care and visit theirMongolian village.

Outstanding Organic ProducerFor exceptional commitment to highquality organic production, promotingorganic products and supporting theintegrity of organic goods in the market.

�Ruby and David TroyerMeadow View Dairy

Lindenville, New York

David says, “In all farming you need tostop and think…give it a lot of effort. Putyour heart into it. It’s a lot of responsibil-ity, especially in the organic world andwith that comes accountability.” Whenlooking at David and Ruby’s 165-acreexemplary dairy farm, it is clear that theytake the responsibility quite seriously.From their detailed recordkeeping andmaps to their grazing rotation and forageplanning, the Troyers’ conscientious man-ner shines through. Their hard work ofreclaiming land that had been conven-tionally crop/vegetable farmed for 50years is certainly paying off with rewardsof increased soil fertility and organic mat-ter, improved animal health, and aug-mented dry matter yield — from 500 lbper acre in their first year to 2 ton per acrejust 4 years later! In addition to all the soiland yield benefits, David and Ruby appre-ciate the safe environment in which theirfamily can live and learn. Their 5 boys are

Award Winnerscontinued from page 11

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2013 PCO Hall of FameFor continuous, extraordinary dedicationof time and energy to furthering the mis-sion of Pennsylvania Certified Organic.

�Bob EberlyEberly Poultry

Stevens, Pennsylvania

Bob Eberly has been involved with theorganic food movement since the 1980sand has shown dedication to PCO’s mis-sion from the time of its inception in1997. A charter member of PCO, Bob hasserved as Board President, Board Mem-ber, and Standards Committee Member.Bob is “very pleased to see how organichas gone from small niche markets to amainstream growing part of agriculture.”Until June 2013 Bob served as the Presi-

very much a part of the farm. When adriver told the well behaved boys that theywere little angels, they replied, “Oh no —we are farmers!” That brought a smile toDavid’s face. In recounting the story later,David said, “that’s an avenue of sustain-ability that I can look at.”

Outstanding New Organic ProcessorFor attentiveness throughout the certifica-tion process, innovative management anddedication toward creating and maintain-ing a successful organic plan.

�Perdue AgriBusinessSalisbury, Maryland

Due to delays in approval legalities wewere unable to print a biography of Per-due AgriBusiness.

dent of Eberly Poultry, an organic andspecialty poultry business, family ownedand operated since 1947. After the Junesale of Eberly Poultry to Wise/KosherPoultry and new formation of PA FarmProducts, Bob began taking steps towardretirement. Eberly, and now PA FarmProducts, take great pride in their pas-sionate tie to the organic movement, asmembers of the Pennsylvania Associationfor Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), theOrganic Trade Association (OTA), andPCO. PCO extends a hearty thanks toBob for his countless hours of volunteer-ing and his fervent dedication to organicand sustainable agriculture.

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 13

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS AND CONTRIBUTOR

Our Annual Meeting would not be as special without all of the generous contributions from all of our friends in the organiccommunity. PCO would like to thank the following families and organizations that sponsored our meeting, filled our gift bags,and consistently demonstrate their dedication to organics:

Catoctin Creek Distilling Co.

Common Ground Farm

Custom Co-Pak

Dairy Marketing Services, LLC

Del Grosso Food, Inc.

Frankferd Farms Food

Gardens by Grace

Harney and Sons Tea Corporation

Julie Hurst

Keystone Food Products

Knouse Foods Cooperative

Lady Moon Farms

Heritage Poultry Management Services / Laurel Grove

Allen Matthews

McGeary Organics

Mother Earth LLC

Organic Valley

Oyler’s Organic Farms

PASA

Phillips Mushroom Farms

Seedway

Shiloh Farms /Garden Spot Distributors

Anna Smith

Soergel Orchards

Spiral Path Farm

Steigman Enterprises

Tait Farms

Upstate Niagara Cooperative

Theresa Shay TriYoga

Trickling Springs Creamery

Uncle Matt’s Organic

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www.paorganic.org14 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

continued on page 4

Box 361, 119 Hamilton PlacePenn Yan, NY 14527315-531-1038

Certified Organic Feed, Seed & Livestock Products from Northeast organic farmers

for Northeast organic farmers

www.lakevieworganicgrain.com

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as a control. In 2011 tomatoes after arotation of mustard and sudangrass usedas a biofumigant yielded twice as much astomatoes grown after the buckwheat covercrop control. Although growing andincorporating the cover crops was a lot ofadditional work, Weaver felt the yieldboost made it worth the effort.

In 2013, we did not observe any differ-ences in the yield between tomatoesplanted after buckwheat or the sudangrassthat was chopped and incorporated as abiofumigant. However, keep in mind that2013 was a wet year. Verticillium impactstomatoes by clogging up the vascular sys-tem of the plant making it difficult for theplant to move water from its roots to therest of the plant. Tomato plants in 2013at this site did not appear to be as stressedby Verticillium wilt like they would in adry year, which might explain why therewere no differences. These results are notsurprising and success in only one out oftwo years also reminds us that workingwith living cover crops to suppress soil-borne disease is likely to produce variableresults and requires a long-term integrated

Tianna DuPont, Penn State Extension

Reducing Soil Borne Disease with Cover CropsUtilizing variety selection, planting rates, crop incorporation, and irrigation to suppress disease

Produce Perspectives

approach. Success also depends on ourability as managers to successfully growand incorporate the cover crop, as well asthe variable whims of Mother Nature.

Tips for successful suppression ofsoil-borne disease with cover crops.

Grow a large lush cover crop. Mustardcover crops are picky — they need enoughmoisture, enough nitrogen, a goodseedbed and sulfur to create the bio-activecompounds. The nitrogen recommenda-tion for Caliente mustards is 120 units ofnitrogen and 20 of sulfur/A. This nitro-gen will be recycled for the following cashcrop. Phosphorus and potassium shouldbe at sufficient levels for your followingcash crop. Most mustard cover cropsincluding ‘Caliente 119’ are particularlysusceptible to water stress which will causethem to mature and flower when they arestill small. Spring or mid-August plant-ings tend to do best. Planting in droughtysoils is not recommended. Sudangrass hassimilar nitrogen requirements, but it doeswell in warm summer conditions and can

Soil-borne diseases can be devastatingto vegetable crops. In the Northeast alone1,687,080 tons of fresh market and pro-cessing vegetables on 264,490 acres,worth $701,377,000 suffer 10–15%losses from soil borne diseases (NASSCrop Profiles, 2007). Disease suppressivecover crop rotations may provide an addi-tional tool for managing soil borne dis-ease. Researchers have documentedsignificant increases in yield after sudan-grass, brassica, millet, and other covercrops. Here we describe recent results of atwo season on-farm case study using covercrops to suppress Verticillium wilt intomato.

Mustards, rapeseed, and sudangrasscontain a chemical and an enzyme in theplant cell wall. When these cover crops arechopped into small pieces with a flailmower and then quickly incorporatedinto the soil using a cultipacker or water,the chemical comes into contact with theenzyme and it breaks down into a chemi-cal that behaves like a fumigant. Thechemicals and the enzymes are not toxicby themselves, but when they come incontact with each other, the chemical isbroken down by the enzyme into com-pounds that are toxic to soil-bornepathogens and even weeds seeds. Covercrops can also improve soil organic matterand related soil water holding capacity,infiltration, and microbial activity thatpositively impact yields over time.

From 2010 to 2013 we worked withHarold Weaver from Meadow Gate Vistafarm. Weaver planted strips of cover cropsin fields that had a history of Verticilliumwilt on tomato. We worked with mustardcv. Caliente 119 and sudangrass covercrops known to have “biofumigant” prop-erties and compared them to buckwheat

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 15

Mustard/Sudan Cover Crop Biofunigation vs Control Buckwheat

continued on page 16

The tomato yield (cv. Green Zebra) in areas that had the mustard and sudangrass covercrop treatments were twice as high as those planted to buckwheat.

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Cover Cropscontinued from page 15

pieces. The more the tissue is crushed thegreater the chemical reaction of the bio-active compounds.

Incorporate the cover crop immedi-ately after mowing. These bio-activecompounds are volatile. As much as 80%can be lost if the cover crop is not incor-porated within 15 minutes of mowing.

Irrigate or cultipack to trap com-pounds. Sealing the surface of the soil

withstand drier soils. Rapeseed is fallplanted and will take advantage of fall andspring moisture. Remember the morecover crop biomass you grow, the morebio-active compound you will have tosuppress soil-borne disease. You want togrow large cover crops.

Choose appropriate varieties. Somecover crop varieties have been selected forincreased levels of bio-active compounds.Mustard cvs. Caliente 199 and 119, rape-seed cv. Dwarf Essex, sudangrass cv. Tru-dan 8, sorghum sudangrass cvs. 79,SS-222 and SS-333 are among those thathave done well in research trials. In addi-tion, the mustard is selected for reducedseed viability to reduce potential problemswith becoming weedy.

Plant at appropriate rates. Sudangrassshould be drilled at 30–50 lb/A. Mustardsand rapeseed are planted at 8-10 lb/A.

Chop the cover crop into small pieces.A flail mower does a good job of crushingplant tissue and breaking it into small

with water or a cultipacker can trapvolatile bio-active compounds givingthem more time to work.

For a more information

extension.psu.edu/plants/vegetable-fruit/research-reports

Tianna DuPont at (610) 746-1970,[email protected].

www.paorganic.org16 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

The mustard cover crop was ready for incorporation as a biofumigant when the plants wereat full flower but the seeds were still green in the pods.

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President’s Message

Recently PCO and other certifyingorganizations have begun testing productsamples for pesticide residues. To manythis seems like an obvious practice; it isalso thought to be cut and dry. Eitherthere are pesticide residues or there arenot, right?

Maybe, or maybe not quite so simple.There are many things to keep in mind,particularly as testing has become moresensitive. There was a time when detec-tions to parts per million, or ppm, were abig deal. Today parts per billion are typi-cal and some compounds can even bedetected to a level of parts per trillion.

So what’s the big deal about changingan “m” to a “b” or a “tr?” First of all, it isimportant to remember changing that“m” to a “b” is a thousand-fold increase insensitivity. Then that little “tr” change isanother thousand-fold increase. Put themtogether and a trillion is a thousand, thou-

sand million, or another way to put it,there are one million millions in a trillion.This is not only useful when trying toappreciate the federal budget deficit (ornot), it also means when talking aboutpesticide residues, we are trying to detectincredibly small amounts of pesticideresidues. When doing so, many things cango wrong: things like false positives andfalse negatives.

When we have a false positive, it meansthere is a positive reading indicating thepresence of pesticides, but pesticides arenot present. The other side of the coin isa false negative, meaning there areresidues there, but the test failed to detectthem.

Similarly, (but not quite the samething) often you will hear polls taken forpolitical candidates. It may say candidateA is ahead of candidate B by two points,but it is within the margin of error, whichis three percentage points. So one of thecandidates is ahead, but we do not havethe accuracy to detect which one it reallyis. It is like watching a horse race and not

What’s in a test?False positives and negatives can create a bit of confusion

Phil Coles, PCO Advisory Board President

being able to tell who won without the“photo-finish.” More accuracy wasneeded; only sometimes that camera is notavailable.

There are accuracy problems with anytype of test. This is different from sensi-tivity, which is how small of an intervalcan be measured. It may have high sensi-tivity, but could also have low accuracy:that is it may have a lot of false positivesor negatives. So what’s the deal? Are therepesticides there or not?

There are many things that can inter-fere with the accuracy of a test. There canbe sample contamination. There is a posi-tive because a sample was contaminated,in which case the sample would be theproblem, not the test itself. There couldbe a mistake by a technician doing thetesting. There are also inaccuracies thatare an inevitable part of any residue test-ing, especially when attempting to meas-ure at such small residue levels. There canbe chemical interferences caused my natu-rally occurring compounds and all sorts of

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 17

Organic Matters is the quarterly newsletter of PennsylvaniaCertified Organic, a non-profit organization serving growers,

processors and handlers of organic prod-ucts. Issues contain articles on the latestnews and research in the organic indus-try, often highlighting our certifiedmembers. Approximately 1,000 copiesof each publication are distributeddirectly to members and those request-ing information about organic agricul-ture, and made available to the publicat conferences, exhibits and educa-tional programs in the Mid-Atlanticregion.

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Full Page $320 $1,088 8 µ 10

Half Page $200 $680 7 µ 4.5 (horizontal)3.25 µ 8.75 (vertical)

Quarter Page $110 $374 3.25 µ 4.5 (vertical)

Eighth Page $70 $238 3.25 µ 2.25 (horizontal)

The above rates refer to a single-issue ad placement and a subscriptionfor ad placement in four consecutive issues.A 15% discount is granted for the purchase of the 4-issue subscription.For more information, please contact [email protected] or callthe PCO Office at 814-422-0251.

Advertise in Organic Matters

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Dear BP, Although biodegradable plastic is corn-

based, it is still considered a syntheticmaterial, and must therefore be includedon the National List as an allowed Cropinput. You’ll be glad to hear that biobased

SPRI

NG MILLS

PA 1 6 8 75

Dear Aggy

Biodegradable Biobased Plastic Mulch

Dear Aggy, We’re applying for organic certification for the first time this

year. We’ve been following organic requirements for a while, butsomeone just told us that we will no longer be allowed to use thebio-degradable plastic mulch once we are certified.

Why? The brand we use is made from non-GMO corn starch,and appears to be compostable and biodegradable. I’d love to hearwhether or not this is allowed in our vegetable production. I’dmuch rather use this than send all that regular plastic mulch tothe landfill. Pulling it up at the end of the season like regular plastic isn’t possible, as it really does disintegrate.

— BioPlastic Bill

Dear Aggy, My fertilizer sales person just stopped in and was telling me I

should be applying micronutrients to my fields to boost crophealth and yields. He did pull some soil samples, but I haven’t got-ten the results back yet. I see there’s a micronutrient restrictionmentioned in the new Annual PCO Approved Materials List — butwhat does it mean (other than taking soil tests)?

— Managing my Micros

Got a question for Aggy?

• Mail to PCO:106 School Street, Suite 201Spring Mills, PA 16875

• Email to: [email protected]

• Fax to: 814-422-0255

mulch was recommended to be added tothe National List by the National OrganicStandards Board (NOSB) in 2013.

The National Organic Program(NOP) has proposed amending theNational List of Allowed and Prohibited

Substances to allow the use of biodegrad-able biobased mulch film in organic pro-duction. Under the amendment, farmerswouldn’t need to remove the biodegrad-able mulch at the end of the growing sea-son, thus reducing waste and farm workerlabor costs. Public comments on the pro-posed amendment were collected untilOctober 21, 2013.

At this time we are awaiting the Fed-eral Register announcement that biode -gradable biobased mulch has beenofficially added to the National List.Biobased mulch is not allowed in organicproduction until that announcement hasbeen published. Biobased mulch will stillneed to be reviewed for compliance byPCO to make sure it complies with vari-ous restrictions, and those allowed will belisted under the Crops — Weed Controlcategory in PCO’s Allowed Materials List.

Dear MMM, You’ll definitely want to wait to receive

the soil test results before making anydecisions on which micronutrients toapply. Micronutrients include solubleboron products and sulfates, carbonates,oxides, or silicates of zinc, copper, iron,manganese, molybdenum, selenium, andcobalt. Synthetic micronutrients arespecifically restricted at §205.601(j)(6),“not to be used as a defoliant, herbicide, ordesiccant. Those made from nitrates or chlo-rides are not allowed. Soil deficiency must bedocumented by testing.”

When using synthetic micronutrientsas plant or soil amendments in organiccrop production, the soil deficiency ofeach micronutrient must be documented.Testing must be performed by a qualifiedtesting facility, and may include soil test-ing or tissue testing. Since deficiencies areoften crop specific, tissue tests can provideuseful information on what your cropneeds.

Testing must be specific to the eachmicronutrient, each field/production areawhere the micronutrient will be applied,

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RECIPE CORNER Debra Deis, PCO Advisory Board Vice President

Shotgun Wedding SoupThis simple but satisfying soup is a cross between Italian Wedding Soup and a Pasta Fagioli Soup that my Italian Mother made frequently. I call it“Shotgun wedding” because it is really fast to make and a little spicy.

Directions1. Remove sausage from the casing and roll it into small meatballs, using ascant tablespoon of sausage for each meatball. In a large saucepan, sauté thesausage meatballs in the olive oil for a few minutes until slightly browned. Addthe red pepper and sauté 1 more minute. Lower the heat and add chickenbroth. Bring to a slow boil and add the pasta. When the broth comes back toa boil, add the kale and cover. Just let the kale float on the soup until it wilts— it is best not to stir it in right away. Simmer another 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the floating kale along with the chickpeas and tomato juice. Checkfor salt and add black pepper to taste. Simmer 5 to 10 more minutes until thepasta is tender.

3. Serve in large shallow soup bowls topped with the shredded cheese.

Serves 4–6

Ingredients1 lb fresh hot Italian sausage

1 T olive oil

1/4 cup diced red sweet pepper

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup cut fusilli or any small thintwisted pasta

1/2 lb kale greens, bite size (stemsdiscarded); spinach and escarolealso work but cook them less

2 cups tomato juice

1 cup canned chickpeas, drained

Fresh ground black pepper

Salt, optional

1/3 cup freshly finely shreddedPecorino Romano (or Parmesan)cheese. (Considering my mothergrew up in a small town filled withPennsylvania Germans, she careddeeply for Pecorino Romano andwould restock a few times a yearfrom Philadelphia.)

and must be current within 3 years ofapplication date. Application rates shouldnot exceed the recommendations set bythe testing facility.

In some cases, soil deficiencies can bedocumented through evidence from anindependent scientific expert (not yourlocal sales rep.), including extension pub-lications such as your local AgronomyGuide.

So, make sure:• Your test samples are a good representa-

tion of the area where you want to applymicronutrients.

• Micronutrients are actually part of thetests you are taking (frequently they’readd-on requests to the basic tests)

• Tests are taken at least every 3 years totrack micronutrient levels as you amendand improve your soils

• The rate of micronutrients you areadding is consistent with the require-ments of the tests.

across a solution. Monitor indicators of milk hygiene

(SPC, SCC) too, as all indicators areimportant. Since then, Edwin has added afifth step of producing raw milk:

Keep the healthy, healthy.Edwin’s SCC count has since come

down from around 400,000 to around120,000, mainly through culling highSCC cows and herd management. Heattributes his success in solving this rarecase to the collaborative efforts amongvets/agencies/farmers.

For more information on productionof raw milk, request a raw milk produc-tion guide from Lydia Johnson, FoodSafety Director at PDA, at www.agricul-ture.state.pa.us or by calling (717) 787-4315.

1. According to the World Health Organiza-tion campylobacter is a bacterium thatcauses intestinal infections. The bacterianormally inhabit the intestinal tract ofwarm-blooded animals such as poultry andcattle, and are frequently detected in foodsderived from these animals.

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 19

Team Raw Milkcontinued from page 4

Dear Aggycontinued from page 18

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www.paorganic.org20 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

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1. Improve Membership Services & SatisfactionGOAL A — Reach at least 50% participation of our certi-fied organic members with online and phone renewal serv-ices.

GOAL B — Acquire and consolidate information manage-ment tools in order to ensure operational efficiency whichwill improve customer service.

2. Increase Financial Viability & DiversityGOAL A — Ensure our organic certification fees are com-parable with other certying agencies.

GOAL B — Establish and implement a plan for non-certi-fication income (i.e. memberships, sponsorships, grants) inorder to increase and diversify revenue streams.

3. Grow Market ShareGOAL A — Ensure that prospective organic clients are

responded to and followed up with so that we grow PCOclients/members.

GOAL B — Develop and implement 1 additional certifica-tion program.

GOAL C — Increase PCO’s market share of certifiedorganic operators in our region by at least 10%.

GOAL D — Ensure current company name, structure, andmission statement accurately represent the types of serviceswe provide.

4. Advisory Board DevelopmentGOAL A — Define the Board’s role and responsibilitiesand revise by-laws and governing documents to reflect these.

GOAL B — Recruit, develop, and engage a committed andactive Board.

Organic Updates

Startegic Plan 2014–17PCO’s Mission: To assure the integrity of organic agricultural products through education, inspection, and certificationof growers, processors and handlers.

Leadership Team Update

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 21

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process. This goal is to increase market share in our region by 10percent over the next 3 years. We are off to a great start in 2014as we have already processed several new applications!Certification Cost Share Fully Restored

Kyla Smith, Certification Program Director

The President of the United States signed the2014 Farm Bill into law on February 7, 2014.This Farm Bill fully restored the Organic CostShare Program that reimburses organic produc-ers and handlers up to 75% ($750 maximumper scope) of their certification fees.

This program had been cut when the previous Farm Billexpired in September 2012. As a result producers and handlersin many states were not eligible to receive this reimbursement.

Please visit the PCO website at www.paorganic.org/cost-share or call the PCO office at 814-422-0251 for more detailson eligibility and how to apply.

2013 Year in ReviewPCO certified a total of 580 main operations and 169 con-

tracted operations in 2013, which is a slight increase over 2012.While the number of applications received and new certifica-tions issued in 2013 compared to 2012 decreased, we still had anet gain in number of certified operations in 2013 compared to2012 because the number of non-renewals/surrenders alsodecreased.

Certification Update

Dairy operations continue to represent the type of operationwe certify the most of, coming in at 34 percent. However, thispercentage is down slightly from 36 percent in 2012. PCO sawa growth in the percentage of handling and crop operations wecertified in 2013 compared to 2012, both sectors increasing byone percent.

The Certification Team will play an integral role in one ofthe organization’s goals identified during the strategic planning

Organic Updates

Certification Comparison

Main O

perations

Certifie

d

New Certi

ficatio

ns

Issued

Nonprenewals/

Surrenders

Inspectio

ns

Completed

New Applic

ations

Received

Contracted O

perations

Certifie

d

Certification by Category — 2013

www.paorganic.org22 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

PCO's partnership with the Gluten Fee Certification Organization (GFCO) provides you

with a streamlined inspection process that…

• Simplifies the inspection process — PCO and GFCO will coordinate the scheduling of asimultaneous inspection for both gluten-free andorganic certifications.

• Saves time — one inspector conducts a combined inspection ofboth gluten-free and organic products.

• Saves money —the amount of inspection fees and travel expenses incurred is reduced by having a combined inspection.

Contact PCO about becoming certified gluten-freeunder the dual-inspection process.

814-422-0251 • [email protected]

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New NOP Handbook PublicationsJohanna Mirenda, Policy Director

• The Organic Certification Process (NOP 2601)This instruction document describes the five steps of theorganic certification process.

• Organic System Plans, Updates, Notification of Changes(NOP 2615)This instruction document describes requirements for con-tinuing certification and how a certified operation shouldnotify its certifier of changes that may affect its compliancewith the regulations.

Standards & Policy Update

• Certification Requirements for Unpackaged Products(NOP 5031)This guidance document describes the certification require-ments for operations that handle unpackaged organic prod-ucts. An operation that handles unpackaged organicproducts (other than transporting), and is not an exempt orexcluded operation, must be certified.

• Reinstating Suspended Operations (NOP 2605)This instruction document describes the process for certifiersand suspended organic operations to request certificationreinstatement. Once an organic operation’s certification hasbeen suspended, only the NOP has the authority to approveits reinstatement.

• Humic Acid Extraction (PM 13-2)This policy memo clarifies that any alkali material may beused for humic acid extraction under NOP regulations forsynthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop produc-tion.

Material Review Status ChangesJohanna Mirenda, Policy Director

Please note the following status changes for materialsreviewed by PCO for use by certified operators.

ALLOWED — Contact PCO with any questions about the use orrestrictions for these products.

• Yeastsure O (Cenzone Tech, Inc.) allowed as livestock feedadditive.

PROHIBITED — Operators must immediately discontinue use ofthese products unless otherwise indicated.

• Culbac Green Dry Seed Treatment (TransAgra) prohibitedas crop production aid. Clients may use up existing supplyuntil 7/31/2014.

• Iron Dextro Lac (Agro-K) prohibited as fertilizer. Clientsmay use up existing supply until 7/31/2014.

• Manganese Dextro Lac (Agro-K) prohibited as fertilizer.Clients may use up existing supply until 7/31/2014.

• Zinc Dextro Lac (Agro-K) prohibited as fertilizer. Clientsmay use up existing supply until 7/31/2014.

Chlorine Restriction on Food vs. EquipmentChlorine-based products are restricted in different ways,

depending on how the product will be used. There is a differentrestriction for chlorine when it is used on equipment than whenit is used in direct food contact.

Materials Update

Organic Updates

Farm Bill Finally Becomes LawJohanna Mirenda, Policy Director

After years of debate and compromise, theHouse and Senate finally passed a new five-yearFarm Bill that was signed into law by PresidentObama on February 7, 2014. The bill includesmany features that will continue to supportorganic farmers and processors, as reported

by the National Organic Coalition and the Organic Trade Association:

• Increases funding for certification cost share programsNational Organic Certification Cost Share Program fundedat $11.5 million annually, for farmers and handlers in allstates, to be available until expended.Agricultural Management Assistance program funded at $1million annually for farmers in 16 states.

• Increases funding for the National Organic ProgramNOP funded at $15 million annually with an additionalone-time $5 million for database upgrades

• Increases funding for organic researchOrganic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative(OREI) funded at $20 million annuallyOrganic Data Initiative funded at $5 million (one-time)

• Expands exemption for organic operations from conventionalcheck-off programsProducers of “100% organic” and “organic” are no longersubject to conventional check-off programs. The bill alsoauthorizes USDA to consider establishment of an organiccheck-off program.

• Improves organic crop insuranceUSDA is required to complete organic price elections forpurposes of crop insurance by 2015 to reflect the actualretail or wholesale priced received by producers of organiccrops.

Legislative Update

To access full text of any NOP publication or to receive emailupdates directly from the NOP by subscribing to be anOrganic Insider, please visit the NOP website (ams.usda.gov)or contact PCO for hard copies.

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 23

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• Chlorine (Facility) — Chlorine products used as equipmentcleaners and sanitizers are subject to the following restriction:May be used up to maximum labeled rates for disinfecting andsanitizing food contact surfaces and equipment. Rinsing is notrequired unless mandated by the label use directions. If chlo-rine is used at higher levels than specified in the Safe DrinkingWater Act (4ppm as chlorine, 0.8ppm as chlorine dioxide),food contact surface must be allowed to drain and dry thor-oughly.

• Chlorine (Processing) — Chlorine products used in directfood contact as processing aids are subject to the followingrestriction: Residual levels of chlorine in water in direct foodcontact must not be greater than specified in the Safe Drink-ing Water Act (4ppm as chlorine, 0.8ppm as chlorine dioxide).

The 2014 Approved Materials List will have the term chlo-rine in the restriction column to indicate that the product isrestricted. Look in for the full text of the restriction within the“List of Restrictions” section of the Materials List. The next edi-tion of the Materials List will be updated with the full text of the“Chlorine (Facility)” restriction.

Attention Manufacturers!Manufacturers that would like to advertise products as

approved for use in organic production are encouraged to regis-ter products with the Organic Materials Review Institute

(OMRI) (www.omri.org, 1-541-343-7600). Suppliers of live-stock and processing products can use the PCO Discount CodeAPP410346 to receive both a free OMRI Application Kit and a15% discount off their first product application fee. (Cropmaterials are not eligible for this program.)

Seasonal Similarities Between Farming and Inspecting

Amanda Birk, Staff Inspector

During the 7 years when I raised vegetablesand some livestock for CSA and market, peoplewould often ask me, “What do you do in thewinter?” Meaning that, since vegetables aren’tbeing grown, harvested and sold, it must be anice break, right? A farmer from Massachusetts

once told me that, sure, we get a break in the winter, we onlywork 50 hours a week instead of 80.

Well, since the PCO inspection season coincides with thefarmer’s growing season — it’s from the first of April throughthe end of October — one might think that PCO Staff Inspec-tors get a nice break over the winter, too, but fortunately, weknow better…

So, what does the PCO Staff Inspector do with all of her

Inspection Insights

Organic Updates

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time in the winter? We’ve got our seasonal maintenance duties,too. Just like the farmer organizes the washroom, buys seeds andrepairs equipment, we update forms to reflect policy changes,improve our systems to be more efficient and consistent, draftinspection assignments, and take and coordinate trainings.

One thing we do in the winter is recruit and support farmersto grow organic. For example, PCO Staff Inspector, Liz Amosrecently attended a meeting for dairy farmers interested in tran-sitioning to organic. For better or worse, this meeting was heldon Thursday, February 13th, the day of the now infamous 2014“Polar Vortex,” when it snowed 12 to 18 inches across the eastcoast. While Liz was driving the three hours to get to the meet-ing in blizzard conditions, over 40 farmers found their own waysthrough the snow to learn how to become organic.

Another thing we do in the winter is Gluten Free Certifica-tion Organization (GFCO) inspections. GFCO is an additionalcertification program made available both for the convenienceof our clients interested in gluten free certification, and also todiversify our funding sources.

Sticking with the snow theme — we are talking about win-ter after all — PCO Staff Inspector Amanda Birk — that’s me— recently took a trip to Minnesota to complete a full scheduleof GFCO inspections. While I was there, the weather was 15below zero with 30mph winds, until the end of the week, whenthe weather warmed enough to snow. The day it snowed, I too,drove through a blizzard. The funny thing was that I saw aschool bus driving through this blizzard, picking up kids. I

learned later that the past week, they had been off school for 6days due to extremely cold weather…

Fast forward to April: as planting gets underway, the PCOStaff Inspector gets back on her full-time inspecting schedule.Just as the farmer is looking for a nice day to work the groundand plant crops, April is a time when we are heading everywhich way to inspect a new pasture in the northeast region, anew dairy in Lancaster, or new hayfields in the western part ofthe state.

These seasonal similarities between the work schedules offarmer and inspector surely help both to be more understand-ing, respectful and considerate when scheduling inspections.While the inspector may be working long hours away fromhome, family and community, for days, or even weeks at a time,the farmer still must get his or her recently acquired field certi-fied to take the hay crop for the next winter’s feed storage. Beingrespectful and considerate of each other’s situations certainlyhelps make the whole process more pleasant overall.

Organic Updates

www.paorganic.org Organic Matters • Spring 2014 25

continued on page 26

Visit paorganic.orgor like us on Facebook

for the latest PCO news.

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PCO Welcomes New Outreach Specialist In January 2014, PCO announced the addition of Rebecca

Robertson in the newly created position of Organic OutreachSpecialist. Ms. Robertson’s work and the creation of the out-reach position underscores PCO’s commitment to communi-cating the benefits of organic agriculture both on the farm andon the table.

Rebecca brings toPCO diverse skills andexperiences that will serveto take PCO’s outreachto the next level. Ms.Robertson earned herBachelor’s degree fromthe University of Pitts-burgh in 2003 and herMaster’s in NaturalResources and Peace witha focus on sustainablefood systems and foodsecurity from the UnitedNations-mandated Uni-versity for Peace in 2009.

New Faces

Most recently Ms. Robertson served as Farm-Based EducationCoordinator for Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agri-culture (PASA) in Millheim, PA.

“Working with growers and producers these past few years,I’ve witnessed the dedication, innovation and hard work farm-ers pour into their operations every single day. These men andwomen are my heroes,” says Robertson. “They are constantlyadjusting to changing conditions and markets in brilliant ways.Our network has so much to share and learn from each other,and I am very excited to be a part of PCO’s Education & Out-reach Team and help further those connections.”

PCO’s hiring of Ms. Robertson as Organic Outreach Spe-cialist is part of a strategic initiative to further outreach and edu-cation in organic agriculture. In addition to planningeducational events and networking with the community,Rebecca will coordinate the Pennsylvania Organic FarmFest, anannual PCO-sponsored family event held the first weekend ofAugust in Centre Hall, PA.

As Farm-Based Education Coordinator for PASA, Ms.Robertson planned, coordinated and conducted the numeroushigh-quality educational farm field days that PASA is knownfor. Working on farm field days with the diversity of organicand sustainable family farmers in PCO’s region is great experi-ence for PCO’s new outreach specialist.

“We are delighted to have Rebecca join us and are particu-larly excited about the level of passion, knowledge, and experi-ence she brings to the education team at PCO,” says Lee

Organic Updates

www.paorganic.org26 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

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Rinehart, PCO’s Director of Education and Outreach. “Ourgoal at PCO is to serve the organic community through certifi-cation and education, and our outreach programs are a big partof that, from the educational field days we plan, to PA OrganicFarmFest, and especially our high-quality publication, OrganicMatters. This new position gives PCO added resources to makea difference, serve our members, and educate the public aboutorganic agriculture.”

Prior to her farm-based education work, Ms. Robertsonspent five years working in environmental education and sus-tainable development with such organizations as the StudentConservation Association, Serve Alaska Youth Corps, and TrailTown Program where she worked on sustainable growth andeconomic opportunities in the rural towns along the GreatAllegheny Passage rail trail. Rebecca’s diverse experiences gaveher an acute appreciation for connecting with community mem-bers who are trying to make a difference in their communitieswhile earning a fair living.

In her spare time Ms. Robertson enjoys hiking, traveling,cooking, gardening, running, knitting, reading, tubing on thePenn’s Valley “cricks,” making fresh cheeses and hula hooping.She is looking forward to working with her partner, AndrewPorter, on a project to bring new life to his family’s old huntingcabin in Penn’s Valley, where they hope to live and run theirown small farm someday.

Rebecca Robertson can be reached at (814) 422-0251, or byemail at [email protected].

Organic Updates

Staff AccountantPennsylvania Certified Organic announces a job opening for aStaff Accountant. The ideal candidate will have educationand/or experience in bookkeeping functions, including, but notlimited to: accounts payable/receivable, managing payroll,generating financial reports with analysis, reconciling multiplebank accounts, etc. We are looking for a well-organized per-son to join our professional team in Spring Mills, Pennsylvania.This is a full-time, exempt position. Salary Range: $40,000 to$45,000, depending on experience. Benefits: health, dental,vision, disability and life insurance; Simple IRA, generous holi-day, vacation and paid time off.

Interested in volunteering?PCO relies on its outstanding volunteers to help with organicoutreach and education. Volunteers have assisted by partici-pating in one of PCO’s committees: Finance, Standards,staffing an exhibit, FarmFest; and much more. Support Penn-sylvania Certified Organic by volunteering to contribute to our organization’s mission; email: [email protected] or call 814-422-0251 for more information.

How to apply: Please submit a resume and cover letter to (electronic submissions preferred): Lia Sandoval, [email protected], 814-422-0251.

Come join the PCO Team!Want to work with people committed to assuring the integrity of organic food production? For a full description of duties and qualifications, visit www.paorganic.org/jobs.

Employment Opportunities

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FOR SALECROPS4 x 4 wrapped 1st and 2nd cut forages. Phone:724-530-7220; Cell: 724-730-6488. LawrenceCounty.

Organic, weed free, wheat straw in small bails,for sale. Lititz, PA. For pricing and more informa-tion, contact Bob at 717-808-1402. LancasterCounty.

PCO Certified Organic Apples, Apple Cider andApplesauce. Great for your fall/winter 2014 CSApack. Plan now for a great addition sure to pleaseyour members. For wholesale pricing, contactOyler’s Organic Farms. Email: orders.oylersor-ganicfarms@ gmail.com, phone: 717-677-8411.Adams County.

PCO certified triticale straw. Milton, PA. Cleanbright 4x4 net wrapped round bales stored inbarn, $170/tn can deliver in reasonable distance.Abram (Bucky) Ziegler. 570-412-3094. [email protected]. Montour County.

Organic Hay, Straw, Corn, Barley, Wheat. Totesquantity for sprouting grains available. Hayprices based on forage tests. Dairy to dry cowgrades, call for list. Delivery available. ProvidentFarms @ 570-772-6095. Tioga County.

Humified Compost. Available in totes or bulk.Dan Landis, Landisdale Farms. Delivery Avail-able. 717-304-9386. [email protected]. Lebanon County.

Dairy quality organic balage. Forage test resultsavailable, we can do local deliveries. Call 570-412-1392. Union County.

PCO Certified Grass hay, Straw. Dan DeTurk610-972-2864, Berks County.

Certified organic hay and forages. 1st cutting4x4 oatlage ($35/bale), 1st cutting grass balageforages ($40/bale), 2nd cutting $45 bale. Callfor 2nd/3rd cutting availability and pricing. Dan,H. Rothvoss and Sons Farm 518-329-5555,[email protected] Albany, NYarea.

Organic Corn and Second Year TransitionalSoybeans. Richard Smith, 412-559-2251,[email protected], Somerset County.

PCO Certified organic balage. Individuallywrapped. 4x4 mixed hay, 1st and 2nd cutting.$40 dollars a bale. Jim Hepp: 570-746-1651.Bradford County.

REAL ESTATEPCO Certified Organic Packaging Building andSmall Farm For Sale. Energy efficient. Loadingdock. 30x60 bank barn, new steel. Outbuildings.New well, septic, plumbing. 3-Br brick house.2.37 acres. $339,000. 717-468-2624.Wrightsville, York County.

WANTEDSeeking 100% Grass-Fed Dairy FarmersRequirements: No grain, no corn silage—just pas-

ture, dry hay and baleage. Must have organic cer-tification. We offer six-month winter premium,grass-fed premium OVER organic milk price,technical assistance / mineral program. Organictransition payments available. Questions? CallMaple Hill Creamery: 518-758-7777.

Wanted: Organic whole feed grade flax seed,organic feed oats, organic feed grade field peas.Milton, PA. Looking for smaller quantities, butwould take truckload quantities. Abram (Bucky)Ziegler. 570-412-3094, [email protected] County.

Wanted: NON GMO Corn. Paying premium.Must pass test. Does not need to be certified.Lebanon, PA. [email protected]. Lebanon County.

Wanted: Organic Raw Milk ACF Organics, LLC, d/b/a/ Amish Country Farms in Totowa, New Jersey looking to procure certified organicraw milk from farmers in PA. Ken Tensen: 800-990-3447 x 202.

FOR RENTHistoric Farm in Centre County, PA, for rent oncontract or shares. 120 acres plus large barn, hayand pastures. Farmland and barn only, no resi-dence. Transitioning to organic. RhoneymeadeFarm, c/o James Lesher, 177 Rimmey Road, Cen-tre Hall, PA 16828. [email protected].

Organic Marketplace

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Calendar

AprilAPRIL 2, 10AM–4PMManaging Soils in Organic Vegetable ProductionVillage Acres Farm & FoodShed, LLCMifflintown, PALearn how to monitor and build soil health andassessment strategies as Debra Brubaker of VillageAcres Farm describes their soil building practiceswhich include cover crops, green manures, andinputs. Visit: agsci.psu.edu/wagn/events or contactPatty Neiner at 814-865-7031.

APRIL 8–SEPT 23Intro to Organic Vegetable ProductionAllentown, PA and Surrounding FarmsThe objective of this course is to introduce aspiringand new vegetable producers to diverse productionstrategies and provide a framework for effectivefarm production planning. Appropriate for farmersand market gardeners at 1⁄2 acre to 20 acre scales.Visit: extension.psu.edu/start-farming/events orcontact Tianna DuPont at [email protected] or 610-746-1970.

APRIL 13Philly Farm & Food FestPhiladelphia, PAA unique opportunity for local farmers and produc-ers to connect with thousands (this year upwards of5,000 are expected) of visitors offering samples andproducts for sale while enjoying a full schedule ofinformative presentations and workshops. Visitphillyfarmfest.org.

APRIL 16, 10AM–1PMOrganic Field Cover Crop Study Circle: Cover Crop MixturesSummit Valley Farm New Holland, PASee cover crop mixtures trial in the field. Discussiontopics include: how cover crop mixes affect nitrogenavailability and yield; how cover crop diversity bene-fits soil health and soil life; long term cover crop ben-efits versus short term benefits; and residuemanagement. Visit extension.psu.edu/start-farm-ing/events or contact Tianna DuPont at [email protected] or 610-746-1970.

APRIL 18Good Friday • PCO Office Closed Spring Mills, PA

APRIL 24PCO Advisory Board MeetingMifflintown, PA

APRIL 29Planned Grazing and Biological Monitoring with Troy BIshoppCliff Hawbaker’s Farm (Hamilton Heights Dairy)Chambersburg, PALearn to plan your grazing season with a grazingchart, biological monitoring and holistic grazingmanagement to improve profit and mitigate risk.Take part in a hands-on exercise using Cliff’s grazingseason goals to plan pasture use to ensure grazingfar into the winter. Learn from Troy Bishopp how to:create goals and strategies around grazing seasonbenchmarks; monitor and track dry matter produc-tion weekly; implement practices to improve animalhealth and soil biology; Use grazing management toimprove nutrient management; manipulate ecologi-cal succession on specific fields; and build in pasturerecovery times to get through weather events. Toregister, visit paorganic.org or call 814-470-9734.

APRIL 29–MAY 1National Organics Standards Board MeetingSan Antonio, TX

MayMay 5Wholesale Success: Post-Harvest Handling and On-Farm Food SafetyClarion River OrganicsSligo, PAVisit pasafarming.org/events or contact Susan Bealat 814-349-9856.

MAY 12–13Preserving America’s Farms and Farmland: Celebrating 40 years of Farmland PreservationHershey, PAWhether you work in land use planning, resourceprotection, conservation, agriculture, academia, law,real estate or you are a local elected official, if yourwork involves a farmland preservation effort, don’tmiss this conference, the first of its kind in sevenyears! More info at cpe.rutgers.edu/courses or 732-932-9271.

MAY 19Integrating Agritourism into the Whole Farm PlanBerry Fields FarmNew Albany, PADiscover how Barbara and Charlie Gerlach grewtheir farm from a small vegetable garden to a diver-sified operation that includes an on-farm diningroom, farm vacation stays, festivals and concerts.Visit agsci.psu.edu/wagn/events or contact PattyNeiner at 814-865-7031.

MAY 22–23Organic Trade Association ConferenceWashington, DC

MAY 26Memorial Day • PCO Office ClosedSpring Mills, PA

MAY 31, 10AM–1PMHeritage Pastured PigsRodale InstituteKutztown, PAJoin Rodale veterinarian Dr. Hubert Karreman in thisclass to learn all about breeds, housing, feed andpastures, handling and health issues. Visit rodalein-stitute.org/event-registration or call 610-683-1400.

JuneJUNE 1Bike Fresh Bike Local Allegheny CountyIce Rink at North ParkAlison Park, PAProceeds from this event support PASA’s work inWestern Pennsylvania on behalf of family farms.Register at pasafarming.org.

JUNE 10, 10AM–4PMUnderstanding Hardy Kiwi ProductionKiwi CornersDanville, PATour a one-of-a-kind organic hardy kiwi operation.Owners will describe cultivars, planting, pruning,pest management and marketing of this wonderfullysweet fruit. Visit agsci.psu.edu/wagn/events orcontact Patty Neiner at 814-865-7031.

Save the Date! — AUGUST 1–2 3rd Annual FarmFestGrange Fairgrounds, Centre Hall, PASee page 2 for details

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PCO Welcomes 1st Quarter New Members!

NEW CERTIFIED MEMBERS

Fulton Center for Sustain-able Living, Fulton FarmChambersburg, PA

Cindy GorilStrongstown, PA

Lu CaputoKennett Square, PA

Commitent 2000 Inc. dbaFather Sam’s BakeryBuffalo, NY

Paul B. EschOvid, NY

Essential Eating SproutedFoodsWaverly, PA

Shenandoah ValleyOrganic/ ProcessingFront Royal, VA

Bradley HeatwoleSugar Grove, WV

Arnold WengerDayton, VA

NEW SUPPORTINGMEMBERS

Tara ProctorHarmony Hill OrganicsCogan Station, PA

Joe CesaPhilly Fair Trade Roasters,LLCPhiladelphia, PA

Susan PerunPheasant Ridge FarmCogan Station, PA

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2015 PCO Calendar Photo Contest!PCO would like to showcase your organic farm, and photography skills, in our 2015 calendar.

We are looking for pictures of your family and farm workers on your organic farm or han-dling operation, at work or at rest, throughout the seasons. New this year, we’ll display allsubmitted photos at FarmFest for in person voting andprizes. We will accept high-resolution photos via submis-sion on our website, by email, or on a CD. Please submityour entries for the photo contest by July 15 to:

Pennsylvania Certified Organic2015 Calendar Coordinator106 School Street, Suite 201 • Spring Mills, PA 16875 [email protected] • www.paorganic.org

Visit paorganic.orgor like us on Facebook

for the latest PCO news.

www.paorganic.org32 Organic Matters • Spring 2014

interactions between various compoundsand their metabolites, the compounds thatresult from chemical decomposition of var-ious materials.

That is why statisticians and researchersuse the phrase, “We are (fill in a number,usually 95)% confident that (fill in theblank) is true, or false, or whatever. There isstill that 5% chance that something wentwrong! The opposite really happened. Thisis sort of like weather reports, 50% chanceof rain! but just sort of.

So how should we treat test results?Should 95% be accepted the same as if itwere 100%? Would it be better to say, well,it is inaccurate, so let’s just not pay atten-tion to it?

Let’s look at it for what it is. A residuetest is a very good indicator of whetherthere are pesticide residues, but not one thatis infallible. If there are no residuesdetected, there is a very good chance thereare no pesticide residues, but it does notmean everyone can now relax. Systemsmust continue to be improved to ensurethere are no pesticide residues on food soldas organic.

The other side of the coin is that a detec-tion, while a very good indication that thereare pesticide residues present, could also bea false positive. Whenever a positive detec-tion occurs, everyone must be alert andinvestigate any possibility of contamina-tion, not only of the crop, but also anychance of sample cross contamination, andgenerally a retest is also in order. If we are95% sure of the accuracy, then taking a sec-ond test and it also being positive means weare now 99.75% confident that the residuesare actually there.

Regardless of what residue tests turn outto be make sure they are accurate, and makesure you are doing what you need to do tomaintain the integrity of what you produce.

President’s Messagecontinued from page 17

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106 School Street, Suite 201Spring Mills, PA 16875

Non-Profit Org

US POSTAGE PAID

CENTRE HALL, PA

PERMIT NO. 33


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