August 10, 2004, as reported by just-food.com: The US department
of Agriculture has made one million in funding available
to farmers in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, West
Virginia, and Wyoming to offset organic certification
costs.
For one year only farmers in fifteen states will be
able to defer some of their organic certification costs
to the federal government, according to the USDA. Eligible
producers will be reimbursed for up to $500 or 75 percent
of their certification expenses.
Eligible operations must be located within one of the
designated states, meet USDA National Organic Standards,
and have received certification or update of certification
by a USDA-accredited agent between October 1, 2004,
and September 30, 2005.
The money which is being administered through the Federal
Crop Insurance Act will be distributed in proportion
to the number of organic producers in each state.
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