National Organic Standards Board 

Crops Committee 

Sunset 2012 Proposed Recommendation 

Sodium Nitrate 

March 7, 2011 

Current listing 

§ 205.602 (g): Sodium nitrate—unless use is restricted to no more than 20% of the crop's total 

nitrogen requirement. 

Committee Summary

Sodium nitrate was originally reviewed by Johnson, Spencer, Sachs, and Jeffrey, in 1994/5. 

The Crops Committee (CC) at that time determined it to be non-synthetic. The NOSB then 

determined that this material is unacceptable for use in organic crop production; voting it down 

4-9-1 on April 27, 2005. Subsequent NOSB vote on November 1, 1995 prohibited sodium 

nitrate with exception as specified in annotation--Prohibited unless use is restricted to no more 

than 20% of crop’s total nitrogen requirement. This percentage was a common restriction 

found in CCOF and other private party standards prior to the implementation of the NOP. In 

the previous sunset vote on November 17, 2005, the CC voted 5-0 to relist and the NOSB 

voted 14-0 to relist. 

Production needs have been reportedly variously for some crops needing nitrogen for growth 

in cold or cool conditions, typically ascribed as necessary for leafy greens or cruciferous crops 

early in the season. However, use has in fact not been limited to these crops and is often 

found used in onions, carrots, potatoes, and other crops, but is, generally speaking, used in 

cooler conditions. 

Human health concerns have generally been considered as minimal. Environmental/Ecological 

concerns focus on it being a mined, non-renewable resource and that it contributes sodium to 

soil. Being a foliar feed, it also does not support soil fertility through other tactics, such as 

additions of compost or the use of cover crops. Disposal concerns have generally been 

considered as minimal. 

The Crops Committee discussed the Action Memorandum from the National Organic Program 

regarding sodium nitrate of September 21, 2010 at their regularly scheduled weekly crops 

committee meeting on September 27, 2010. The discussion was full and extensive, noting that 

the crops committee had already requested a TR for this material in the context of Sunset 

2012. At that time, annotation change within sunset review was not an accepted policy of the 
Sunset 2012 Review 

Sodium Nitrate 

July 14, 2010

Page 2 of 3

NOSB. Additionally, the Committee wanted to use information the TR would presumably 

provide and full input from the organic community regarding this material and its use. 

The Committee noted that there were no existing NOSB policies or precedents for changing 

annotations or prohibiting a material without a petition from the organic community and that 

equivalency agreements or ease of trade were not included among the NOSB’s review criteria. 

The Committee felt that all work should be done within our established process with full input 

from the public considered and did not feel that it would be appropriate to treat the memo as a 

petition without an established protocol for doing so. Since sodium nitrate was already being 

considered as part of the 2012 sunset process, the Committee decided to deal with this issue 

within that context. The Committee agreed that it is appropriate to consider during our regular 

sunset deliberations the principles that underlie the impediments to equivalency and did so. By 

virtue of the summary above and the discussion below, it is the Committee’s intention for this 

sunset review to also serve as the response to the request from the NOP for review of sodium 

nitrate through its Action Memorandum of September 21, 2010. 

Based on the controversial nature of sodium nitrate and the lack of international harmonization 

of standards regarding this material, the Crops Committee deferred the sunset deliberations 

and vote pending more up to date technical information and allowance for additional public 

comment. In reviewing this material, the Committee considered information from technical 

sources, past committee and board recommendations, public and comment, transcripts of past 

NOSB board meetings, and prior Committee and Board deliberations. 

Sodium nitrate is highly soluble, generally having an analysis of around 16-0-0, and it tends to 

be used in support of crop production is cool conditions and in crops needing a quick boost of 

nitrogen, whether that be leafy greens or to promote leaf growth that will later support fruit, 

stem, tuber or root growth. It is used alone and also compounded in commercial fertilizer 

product formulations. The 2002 TAP indicates that it leaches into groundwater, is regulated as 

a contaminant, and has contributed to the decreased earthworm populations. 

Use and dependence on sodium nitrate also can tend to producers to put off the need for 

strong soil-building practices, consistent with §205.203, since it behaves similarly to 

conventional synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Organic producers that want to use highly soluble 

products do have alternatives in the form of agricultural byproducts and food processing 

derivatives, which are in far greater supply than when the material was first placed on the 

National List and are in forms more comparable and effective to use than in years past. The 

Committee noted that while producers may use of mined substances as per §205.203(d)(3), 

producers must manage crop nutrients and soil fertility through rotations, cover crops, and the 

application of plant and animal materials, as per §205.203(b) and the Committee wished to 

remind the NOSB as a whole and organic community of that distinction. 

In general, there appears to be a common perception that the material is used primarily in the 

western US and not in the eastern US; however there are some notable and documentable 
Sunset 2012 Review 

Sodium Nitrate 

July 14, 2010

Page 3 of 3

exceptions in both cases. Public comment has been mixed and more is anticipated at the April 

2011 NOSB meeting, but there was consensus among the Committee that there is significant 

industry support to remove the existing annotation and the Committee concurred with those 

rationales. 

Current listing: 

§ 205.602 (g): Sodium nitrate—unless use is restricted to no more than 20% of the crop's 

total nitrogen requirement. 

With no action, the material would sunset from § 205.602, which would result in unrestricted 

use. Removal of the annotation would result in prohibition of the material. Relisting as is 

would result in maintaining the status quo. 

Two proposed recommendations are provided, consistent with other sunset recommendations, 

in the event that there is an unforeseen impediment to implementing the first recommendation, 

there is a default recommendation to rely on. 

Committee Recommendation

Relist sodium nitrate § 205.602(g) without annotation. 

Committee Vote 

Motion: Jeff Moyer Second: Tina Ellor 

Yes: 7 No: 0 Abstain: 0 Absent: 0 

Committee Recommendation 

Relist sodium nitrate § 205.602(g) with annotation: “—unless use is restricted to no more than 

20% of the crop's total nitrogen requirement.” 

Committee Vote 

Motion: Barry Flamm Second: Tina Ellor 

Yes: 7 No: 0 Abstain: 0 Absent: 0