At the Organic Trade Association (OTA), our strength comes from the knowledge, passion, and leadership of our members. Through OTA’s Member Councils and Task Forces, experts from every corner of the organic sector come together to solve shared challenges, advance best practices, and amplify the voice of organic in policy, research, and the marketplace.
This edition spotlights the Seed Task Force—a cross-sector group of breeders, certifiers, growers, and advocates working to strengthen the use of organic seed and planting stock across U.S. organic production. With organic seed requirements long established but unevenly implemented, the Task Force is developing collaborative, data-driven roadmaps to move the industry toward maximum use of organic seed and planting stock in a sensible and predictable way.
Drawing on lessons from international models and successful U.S. frameworks, the Seed Task Force is tackling availability, enforcement, and market development to align demand and supply and uphold the integrity of the USDA Organic label. Read on to see how this group is charting a practical path to ensure the future of organic is rooted—quite literally—in organic seed and planting stock.
The future of organic is bright...but will it include organic seed and planting stock? Unless we change our approach, the answer is no.
The Current State of Organic Seed and Planting Stock
The use of organic seed and planting stock has always been an organic practice standard (7 CFR §205.204) and based on commercial availability. If the variety needed is not available in the appropriate form, quality, and quantity, conventional seed or planting stock may be used.
For the principle of commercial availability to work, we need growers willing to buy organic seed and planting stock (some are, some are not), and we need suppliers willing to produce organic seed and planting stock (some are, some are not). This creates a weak market where demand is modest, at best, and thus so is supply.
Why Regulations Matter
Only improved regulations can break this stalemate, but how can this be accomplished with crops as diverse as apples, alfalfa, wheat, and zucchini? The complexity of production and supply of seed and planting stock is surely one of the reasons that the regulations have not been significantly updated since they first came into effect in 2002. Another is the lack of independent and verifiable data that shows current seed and planting stock usage patterns to indicate where progress needs to be made.
While the broad flexibility embedded in the regulation made sense at the turn of the century, when the organic industry was small and the organic seed and planting stock industry smaller yet, we are now at a tipping point: Does organic seed and planting stock grow with the organic industry, or does it get left behind?
OTA’s Seed Task Force: A Collaborative Path Forward
Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) codified organic seed and planting stock as a cornerstone of organic production, but after more than two decades, its implementation has been a failure.
Members of the OTA Seed Task Force are committed to honoring the intent of OFPA and strengthening organic seed and planting stock through collaborative, practical, and forward-thinking solutions. Recognizing the importance of organic seed and planting stock to the integrity of the USDA organic label, we seek to address challenges in availability, enforcement, and market development with a balanced approach that benefits growers, certifiers, handlers, and seed and planting stock producers alike.
We aim for a strategy that can move towards maximum usage of organic seed and planting stock in organic production in a sensible and predictable manner.
Exploring Models and Solutions
Over the past year, members of the Seed Task Force have been exploring different models, challenging assumptions, and asking many “what if...” questions in order to develop new roadmaps for organic seed and planting stock usage. The Task Force includes representatives from multiple stakeholder groups, including breeding companies, certifiers, regulatory experts, growers, and advocacy groups.
Learning from Global and Industry Examples
We are not starting from scratch, as we have multiple examples (some more successful than others) to guide us.
For example, the EU Organic Regulation has set a deadline of December 31, 2036, after which no conventional seed or planting stock will be allowed on organic farms throughout Europe. Member states have flexibility in how they achieve this goal, but foundational to their approach are national seed and planting stock availability databases, as well as expert panels made up of growers, certifiers, and suppliers.
In the US, there have also been attempts at an organic seed database. Though unsuccessful, many of the past obstacles could be overcome with modern tools such as cloud-based computing. We also have examples from other parts of the industry that can be informative, including the materials review process coordinated by OMRI, the development of a Common OSP, and discussions about risk-based certification.
Building a Roadmap for the Future
The Seed Task Force first convened over a decade ago and has participated in every seed-related issue that has come before the NOSB. We are not naïve to the challenge that is before us, nor are we deterred by the complexity.
We invite all stakeholders, and especially the NOSB and the NOP, to work collaboratively with us to build a new roadmap that remains rooted in the original intent of OFPA but is also successful for generations to come.
The future of organic is bright, and it will be brighter when it includes organic seed and planting stock.
Contact Scott Rice, Sr. Director, Regulatory Affairs, (202) 695-1268 to get involved in OTA’s Seed Task Force.