S. 3717 — Opportunities in Organic Act

This section revises the national organic certification cost-share program (7 U.S.C. 6523), renaming it the Opportunities in Organic program and expanding its scope to provide support and technical assistance for transition to organic production and organic management, in addition to certification cost-share assistance. (As background, the program operates under the national organic production program established by the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.), which sets standards for certified organic farms and handling operations.) The section adds definitions, including for eligible nonprofit organizations (i.e., those primarily serving socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers (as defined in 7 U.S.C. 2279(a)), organic producers or handlers, vulnerable or under-resourced agricultural regions, or smaller nonprofits serving those groups) and transition to organic (i.e., steps to become a certified organic farm). Under the revised federal organic certification cost-share provision, the Secretary pays producers' or handlers' certification costs up to $1,500 per recipient, with payments exceeding that maximum allowed to ensure affordability (e.g., for recipients in high-cost regions or who are members of socially disadvantaged groups). The section further directs the Secretary to award funding to eligible nonprofit organizations for (1) building capacity to support transition to organic and resilience of certified organic farms (e.g., staffing, recruitment of producers, translation services, compliance assistance, financial and conservation planning, fair contracting support, technical assistance on organic practices, training of advisors and industry entities, and paid mentor-mentee relationships between organic and transitioning producers) and (2) directly supporting such transitions.