USDA Farm Service Agency Offers Organic Certification Cost Share Programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Service Agency (FSA), requests applications for the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program (NOCCSP) and the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Organic Certification Cost Share Program, collectively referred to as the OCCSP, for fiscal year (FY) 2020. The purpose of the OCCSP awards is to defray the costs of receiving and maintaining organic certification.

In FY 2020, the available funding for these two programs is approximately $6M for the NOCCSP and $931,000 for the AMA. FSA awards the OCCSP funds to eligible State Agencies* that serve as administering entities, to reimburse organic operations for specific organic certification costs.

This is the initial request for applications, which outlines the eligibility and performance criteria for State Agencies seeking NOCCSP and AMA funding in FY 2020. For eligible certification costs incurred from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020, organic operations may request reimbursement until November 2, 2020, unless the State Agency requests and receives approval for a different application deadline. The State Agencies may provide reimbursements to certified organic operators for 50% of the operation’s total allowable certification costs, up to a maximum of $500 per certification scope: crops, livestock, wild crops, handling (i.e., processing), and State Organic Program fees. If additional funding is authorized for FY 2020, FSA and State Agencies may amend the FY 2020 grant agreements to provide additional funds and increase the payment amounts for certified operations.

* The use of “State Agencies” throughout this document refers to the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and 5 U.S. Territories including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.