Organic Report Fall 2021 - Flipbook - Page 39
UPDATE F ROM CCOF, INC.
Reward organic farmers, ranchers for protecting water quality
O
rganic farmers, ranchers and processors receive a
premium price in the marketplace because consumers
are willing to pay more to support producers who
protect the environment by following the rigorous organic
standards. Consumers appreciate that organic producers use
farming practices that build soil health while forgoing the use
of synthetic fertilizers, persistent pesticides, antibiotics and
hormones in animal
production, and chemical
additives in processed
products.
Policymakers also should
consider rewarding organic
practitioners because organic
soil-building practices hold
nutrients in the soil, and can
help mitigate longstanding
public health and
environmental impacts of
farming on water quality,
including
• The Dead Zone that forms
annually in the Gulf of
Mexico due to drainage of
excessive nitrogen from farms
along the Mississippi River (58% of U.S. rivers and streams and
40% of the nation’s lakes have excess nutrients).
• Ubiquitous presence of persistent pesticides—which are not
allowed in organic farming—in the nation’s streams and
drinking water wells as documented by the United States
Geological Survey.
• Nitrate contamination of domestic water wells in California
that makes tap water unusable for drinking or bathing for
millions of residents, especially in poor, rural communities
inhabited disproportionately by farmworker families.
CCOF’s policy team is working to elevate organic farming
and ranching as a key part of the solution to these challenges,
beginning in California by crafting policies that can be
adapted nationwide. Our work centers on advocating for state
policy to acknowledge the value of organic farming and
support organic farmers to comply with water regulations.
The rationale is simple: organic farming provides multiple
environmental, economic, and public health benefits (as
documented in CCOF’s Roadmap to an Organic California:
Benefits Report) and support for existing and new organic
producers should be built into public policies (numerous
suggestions are included in CCOF’s Roadmap to an Organic
California: Policy Report).
As regulators across the nation grapple with how to reduce
nitrates in surface and groundwater, rules made by an agency
in California can serve as a model elsewhere. In response to
continued degradation of water quality in the Central Coast
Organic Report • Fall 2021
area, the regional water board has issued tight regulations over
discharges from irrigated farmland. Imposing limits on
nitrogen fertilizer application rates, the regional board
included discount factors for compost and most organic
fertilizers in calculating pounds of nitrogen applied to a field.
Why did the regional board do this? It recognized that,
distinct from highly-soluble synthetic fertilizers that move
Source: Roadmap to an Organic California: Policy Report
rapidly through the soil and pose a high risk of leaching into
groundwater, most biologically based fertilizers used by
organic farmers release nitrogen slowly over time, holding the
nutrients in the soil rather than releasing them into the
environment. The discount factors for compost and organic
fertilizers more accurately measure the nitrogen actually
released by these materials.
In a remarkable acknowledgment of organic farming’s
environmental benefits, the new regulation states, “The
Central Coast Water Board encourages the use of organic
fertilizers and amendments to improve soil health, nutrient
and carbon sequestration, and water holding capacity...”
Ultimately, CCOF would like to see a statewide
acknowledgement of the many benefits provided by certified
organic farms and ranches to the economy, public health, and
economy. Meanwhile, we will take our victories as they come,
and hope they can serve as models for regulations across the
country.
This article was prepared by Jane Sooby,
CCOF’s Senior Outreach & Policy Specialist.
39
