USDA 

~ 

United States Department of Agriculture 

MAY 0 5 2014 

The Honorable Robert B. Aderholt 

Chairman 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, D.C. 20250 

Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, 

Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 

U.S. House ofRepresentatives 

2362A Rayburn House Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Mr. Chair: 

Section 10301 ofthe Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246), requires the 

Department of Agriculture to annually submit a report to the Senate and House Agriculture 

Committees, which describes the expenditures of each State under the National Organic 

Certification Cost-Share Program. 

The statutory language requires that the report describe the requests, disbursements, and 

expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, 

including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal 

year. The report is enclosed. 

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact our Office of Congressional 

Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar letter is being sent to Senators Stabenow, Cochran, 

Pryor, and Blunt; and Congressmen Lucas, Peterson, and Parr. 

Sincerely, 

~~~ Secretary 

Enclosure 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 
USDA 

~ 

United States Department of Agriculture 

MAY 0 5 2014 

The Honorable Sam Farr 

Ranking Member 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, D.C. 20250 

Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, 

Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 

U.S. House of Representatives 

10 16 Longworth House Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Congressman Farr: 

Section 10301 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of2008 (P.L. 110-246), requires the 

Department of Agriculture to annually submit a report to the Senate and House Agriculture 

Committees, which describes the expenditures of each State under the National Organic 

Certification Cost-Share Program. 

The statutory language requires that the report describe the requests, disbursements, and 

expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, 

including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal 

year. The report is enclosed. 

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact our Office of Congressional 

Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar letter is being sent to Senators Stabenow, Cochran, 

Pryor, and Blunt; and Congressmen Lucas, Peterson, and Aderholt. 

Sincerely, 

~CJ..~L. Thomas J. Y![;;A• 

Secretary 

Enclosure 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 
USDA 

United States 

--

Department of Agriculture 

MAY 0 5 2014 

The Honorable Mark Pryor 

Chairman 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, D.C. 20250 

Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, 

Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

129 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Mr. Chair: 

Section 10301 ofthe Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of2008 (P.L. 110-246), requires the 

Department of Agriculture to annually submit a report to the Senate and House Agriculture 

Committees, which describes the expenditures of each State under the National Organic 

Certification Cost-Share Program. 

The statutory language requires that the report describe the requests, disbursements, and 

expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, 

including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal 

year. The report is enclosed. 

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact our Office of Congressional 

Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar letter is being sent to Senators Stabenow, Cochran, and 

Blunt; and Congressmen Lucas, Peterson, and Aderholt, and Farr. 

Sincerely, 

~a-~ Secretary 

Enclosure 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 
USDA 

iii~.-

United States Department of Agriculture 

MAY 0 5 2014 

The Honorable Roy Blunt 

Ranking Member 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, D.C. 20250 

Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, 

Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

190 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Senator Blunt: 

Section 10301 ofthe Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of2008 (P.L. 110-246), requires the 

Department of Agriculture to annually submit a report to the Senate and House Agriculture 

Committees, which describes the expenditures of each State under the National Organic 

Certification Cost-Share Program. 

The statutory language requires that the report describe the requests, disbursements, and 

expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, 

including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal 

year. The report is enclosed. 

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact our Office of Congressional 

Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar letter is being sent to Senators Stabenow, Cochran, and 

Pryor; and Congressmen Lucas, Peterson, and Aderholt, and Farr. 

Sincerely, 

~J-~ Secretary 

Enclosure 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 
USDA 

United States Department of Agriculture 

MAY 0 5 2014 

The Honorable Debbie Stabenow 

Chairwoman 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, D.C. 20250 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry 

United States Senate 

328A Russell Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Madam Chair: 

Section 10301 ofthe Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of2008 (P.L. 110-246), requires the 

Department of Agriculture to annually submit a report to the Senate and House Agriculture 

Committees, which describes the expenditures of each State under the National Organic 

Certification Cost-Share Program. 

The statutory language requires that the report describe the requests, disbursements, and 

expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, 

including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal 

year. The report is enclosed. 

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact our Office of Congressional 

Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar letter is being sent to Senators Cochran, Pryor, and 

Blunt; and Congressmen Lucas, Peterson, Aderholt, and Farr. 

Sincerely, 

~~~ Secretary 

Enclosure 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 
USDA 

United States 

--

Department of Agriculture 

MAY 0 5 2014 

The Honorable Thad Cochran 

Ranking Member 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, D.C. 20250 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry 

United States Senate 

328A Russell Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510-6000 

Dear Senator Cochran: 

Section 10301 ofthe Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of2008 (P.L. 110-246), requires the 

Department of Agriculture to annually submit a report to the Senate and House Agriculture 

Committees, which describes the expenditures of each State under the National Organic 

Certification Cost-Share Program. 

The statutory language requires that the report describe the requests, disbursements, and 

expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, 

including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal 

year. The report is enclosed. 

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact our Office of Congressional 

Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar letter is being sent to Senators Stabenow, Pryor, and 

Blunt; and Congressmen Lucas, Peterson, Aderholt, and Farr. 

Sincerely, 

~Cl. ~l-.. ThomasJ. Secretary 

~ 

Enclosure 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 
USDA 

iali 

United States Department of Agriculture 

MAY 0 5 2014 

The Honorable Frank Lucas 

Chairman 

Committee on Agriculture 

U.S. House ofRepresentatives 

1301 Longworth House Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Mr. Chair: 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, D.C. 20250 

Section 10301 ofthe Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of2008 (P.L. 110-246), requires the 

Department of Agriculture to annually submit a report to the Senate and House Agriculture 

Committees, which describes the expenditures of each State under the National Organic 

Certification Cost-Share Program. 

The statutory language requires that the report describe the requests, disbursements, and 

expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, 

including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal 

year. The report is enclosed. 

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact our Office of Congressional 

Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar letter is being sent to Senators Stabenow, Cochran, 

Pryor, and Blunt; and Congressmen Peterson, Aderholt, and Farr. 

Sincerely, 

~~~ Secretary 

Enclosure 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 
USDA 

~ 

United States Department of Agriculture 

MAY 0 5 2014 

The Honorable Collin C. Peterson 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Agriculture 

U.S. House of Representatives 

1305 Longworth House Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Congressman Peterson: 

Office of the Secretary 

Washington, D.C. 20250 

Section 10301 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of2008 (P.L. 110-246), requires the 

Department of Agriculture to annually submit a report to the Senate and House Agriculture 

Committees, which describes the expenditures of each State under the National Organic 

Certification Cost-Share Program. 

The statutory language requires that the report describe the requests, disbursements, and 

expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, 

including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal 

year. The report is enclosed. 

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact our Office of Congressional 

Relations at (202) 720-7095. A similar letter is being sent to Senators Stabenow, Cochran, 

Pryor, and Blunt; and Congressmen Lucas, Aderholt, and Farr. 

Sincerely, 

~J~ Secretary 

Enclosure 

An Equal Opportunity Employer 
USDA AMS NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM 

COST-SHARE PROGRAMS 

2014 REPORT TO CONGRESS 

A. BACKGROUND 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National 

Organic Program (NOP) administers two organic certification cost-share programs. Each program 

provides cost-share assistance, through participating States, to organic producers and/or organic 

handlers. Recipients must receive initial certification or continuation of certification to the USDA 

organic regulations from a USDA-accredited certifying agent. Reimbursement is set at 75 percent of 

an operation's certification costs, up to a maximum of$750 per year. 

The first program is the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Organic Certification Cost-Share 

Program, which was established in 2001 as part of the Agricultural Management Assistance Program. 

This program was originally authorized under Section 1524 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIA), 

as amended (7 U.S.C. 150 1-1524). It authorizes cost-share assistance to producers of organic 

agricultural products in Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, 

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, 

and Wyoming. AMS allocated $1,325,850 to States in fiscal year (FY) 2013; States are distributing 

these funds to producers during FY 2014. 

The second program is the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program, which was initially 

established as a part of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of2002 (7 U.S.C. 3007) and then 

reauthorized as a part of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of2008 (7 U.S.C. 6523). This 

program is open to producers and handlers of organic agricultural products in all States and U.S. 

Territories (hereafter known as "States"). To prevent duplicate assistance payments, producers 

participating in the AMA program are not eligible to participate in the producer portion of the National 

program. When the previous Farm Bill expired in 2012, the funded amount of$22 million had been 

almost fully exhausted; therefore, this program did not operate in FY 2013. 

The Agricultural Act of 2014, (20 14 Farm Bill), H.R. 2642, Title X, Section 10004, includes a 

provision for both National and AMA programs. As such, producers and handlers in all 50 States will 

be eligible for FY 2014 organic cost-share assistance. 

AMS invites State agencies to participate in cost-share programs through Federal Register Notices, 

Grants.gov posting$, electronic communications, and phone calls to State contacts. For FY 2013 

funds, a Notice of Fund Availability was published for the AMA program in the Federal Register (78 

FR 52131 ), and the NOP posted the notice and an accompanying newsletter article on its website. The 

funding opportunity was also posted on Grants.Gov. 

1 
B. 2014 PARTICIPATION (FUNDING OBLIGATED in FY 2013) 

AMS allocated $1 ,352,850 to States for cost-share assistance in FY 2013 to be disbursed by States 

between September 30, 2013, and September 30, 2014. Fifteen of the 16 eligible states are expected to 

participate as shown in the map below. All but Utah are participating in the program. The Utah 

Department of Agriculture and Food chose not to submit an application to participate in either costshare program, citing inadequate staff resources to manage it. Detailed enrollment and allocation data 

are outlined in Table 1 in the appendix. 

AMA Cost Share Program: Participating States in 2014 

Legend 

- Agricultural Management Assistance Program 

c=J Not eligible 

t2'ZZ2j Not participating 

C. SUMMARY OF 2013 AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COST 

SHARE PROGRAMS- STATE FUND USE 

• Using cooperative agreements, AMS allocated $1 ,425,000 to States for the AMA program 

using FY 2012 funds; States distributed these funds to producers between September 30, 2012, 

and September 30, 2013. 

• Table 2 lists the total cost-share assistance payments provided by States to AMA-eligible 

organic operations certified between September 30, 2012, and September 30, 2013 (FY 2013). 

• As of January 31 , 2014, AMA program States had provided $1 ,335,595 in cost-share assistance 

to 2,687 organic producers. 

• 12 States provided more funds in cost-share assistance during 2013 than 2012, and 3 States 

provided funding at approximately the same level. Utah did not participate in the 2013 AMA 

program. 

.., 

~ 2 
I 

(u;;\ 

WI 

Table 1: USDA-AMS National Organic Program 

AMA Cost-Share Program 

FY 2013 Allotments to States for Disbursement 

Between September 30, 2013 and September 30, 2014 

State AMA Program Allotments 

Connecticut $29,000 

Delaware 5,000 

Hawaii 50,000 

Maine 205,000 

Maryland 36,000 

Massachusetts 45,000 

Nevada 12,000 

New Hampshire 25,000 

New Jersey 18,000 

New York 450,000 

Pennsylvania 202,500 

Rhode Island 9,000 

Utah 2,350 

Vermont 245,000 

West Virginia 4,500 

w • - 14 500 

TOTAL $1,352,850 

3 
Table 2: USDA-AMS National Organic Program 

AMA Cost-Share Fund Use by States 

Disbursed between September 30, 2012, and September 30, 2013 

Total Start of Year Funds Used Number of Operations 

State Fund Allocation by State Assisted 

Connecticut 

D 

Hawaii 

Maine 

60,000 

12,000 

30,000 

3 00 13 604 

449 999 

202 500 258 

4 348 15 

879 

Total fund allocation and funds used by state totals are rounded figures. All figures are current as of 

February 24, 2014. 

4