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DEAR NEW FARM:
When will the online classes be available? What will the cost
be?
Judy L
DEAR NEW FARM:
I am a farmer. I want to move over to organic farming, thus
I will require training. Where can you advise that I go for
the training?
Ejimadu Uche
DEAR NEW FARM:
I have a friend who farms conventionally and does not believe
it would be financially feasible to convert to organic, even
though he would love to. How can I convince him?
Debbie Cowger
DEAR JUDY,
EJIMADU AND DEBBIE:
Your three questions came in one after another and provide
a perfect springboard to tell you what we’re up to.
With the help of a generous grant from the Risk Management
Agency (RMA) of the USDA, we are developing an Online Organic
Transition Course for farmers transitioning from conventional
to organic agriculture. Just like all the services we provide—okay,
we do charge for our nifty NewFarm.org hats—this course
will be absolutely free and will culminate in a farm plan
description that will be useful in meeting your certifier’s
requirements. We’ve set a target launch date of January
1, 2005.
This course is designed for U.S. farmers who want to become
certified under the National Organic Program and the new Organic
Rule, which went into effect in October 2002. (This is not
to say there won’t be valuable information for farmers
outside the United States, but the program will be geared
toward U.S. certification.) The New Farm® does have a
Japanese-language version of our site (ww.newfarm.org/japan)
as part of our ongoing partnership with Shumei International
(www.shumei.org).
And, our parent organization, The Rodale Institute®, has
several projects on the ground in Senegal, West Africa. As
these projects move forward, The New Farm will also be developing
a website for farmers there.
Finally, the Economic Simulation Tool—also in development
with RMA grant funds—will provide farmers with answers
they can take to the bank; farmers like Debbie’s friend
who may be on the fence wanting to make the switch to organic
for health and environmental reasons but who are concerned
about the bottom line. This new simulation tool will allow
farmers to enter a wide range of variables and scenarios and
help them evaluate the economic risks and benefits of transitioning.
The tool will also cover the production and marketing steps
necessary to sell certified organic farm goods.
So stay tuned, and please keep your comments, suggestions
and questions coming.
NF
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