FRANKFORT, Ky. — More of the nation’s organic farmers could be getting an exemption from paying into commodity checkoff programs, according to a new proposed regulation from the USDA.

The agency rule, announced Dec. 16, is an expansion of regulations in the 2014 farm bill. The organic commodity promotion orders (Title X) included in the farm bill state: “Provision clarifies that all certified organic producers, including those that also have conventional farming operations, may be exempted from commodity promotion orders on their organic production; the option is established for the organic sector to develop an organic commodity promotion order.”

The farm bill also doubled spending to assist organic producers and handlers with the cost of organic certification, over the 2008 bill. Laura Batcha, CEO and executive director of Organic Trade Assoc. (OTA), said the organization has worked hard to get this exemption on the books.

“We are optimistic that this important regulation will now soon take effect,” she said. “The organic sector is a fast-growing, distinct industry with its own unique demands for research and promotion. We’re pleased USDA is moving swiftly to allow the industry to use its money to grow and develop its own sector.”

Organic production has grown exponentially over the last 25 years. The USDA denotes the sector as being the “fastest-growing portion of the agriculture industry, growing from about $1 billion in 1990 to more than $35 billion today.”

The agency has also made a sizable investment in organics, to the tune of $22 million since 2008 by way of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for research and extension projects on high-priority issues.

Tim Woods, an extension professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, said many organic growers feel checkoff dollars for certain conventional commodities don’t benefit the crops they are growing – and the USDA is recognizing that.

“The USDA is saying ‘we recognize these organic growers have different markets, have different production issues, and they shouldn’t be obligated to have to pay into a mandated marketing order for a particular crop because their marketing and research issues can be quite different,’” he said.

Woods thinks the rule makes sense, and because organic growers have to be certified with the USDA, getting exempt from a checkoff program should not be difficult.

“I think you can recognize the rights of these organic growers to want to operate separately and not be involved in the checkoff program, but still allowing a mechanism for commodity groups that see a need for these checkoff programs for conventional production,” he said.

Woods noted the pushback from conventional growers to such an exemption is that organic producers can still benefit from the marketing and research efforts for which only conventional growers are paying.

One thing the farm bill also does when it comes to organic growers is to allow for an organic checkoff program. Woods said the problem with that is in order for checkoff dollars to really make a difference, there has to be a meaningful amount of money invested. For many organic products, there simply are not enough producers for certain crops to generate those kinds of funds.

Batcha said the additional savings that will be available as a result of this exemption can be used by organic farmers, ranchers and handlers to address everyday problems and to tackle issues that will help advance their businesses and the organic sector.

Woods said with the growth in organic production at 15-20 percent per year for the last 10 years, now may be a good time to open a conversation about an organic checkoff. “Every major grocery store has a pretty significant inventory of organic products they’re offering to consumers, so this has certainly moved into the mainstream market,” he pointed out.

He also thinks the market demand will help pull organic producers together but, for now, most of the organic products being sold are through larger conventional stores from large organic producers – something that is making it difficult for smaller local producers to make a go of it.

Any organic checkoff program would undoubtedly have the same issues as conventional checkoff programs, in that many small producers think they don’t benefit as much as larger producers.

“The successes in the organic industry have been enormous,” said Batcha. “However, there is still much that needs to be done in the way of educating consumers about organic, devoting more research dollars to organic agriculture and helping farmers to convert to organic. Giving the industry more ability to invest in its future is very significant.”