Give with confidence.
GiveDirect.

News & Alerts
FLAG News
FSA News & Notices
Federal Register
Comments to Rules
Case Summaries

Litigation
Pork Checkoff
Organic Agriculture
Amicus Briefs

Special Sections
Disaster
Shared Appreciation
Contracts

Publications
Publications List
Newsletter

About FLAG
Opportunities at FLAG
FLAG Focus Areas
History & Mission
Methods
Accomplishments
Staff & Board
Contact Us

Links
Online Ag Resources
Farm Law Research

GoodSearch for FLAG.
Every search earns FLAG $0.01

---

Get Adobe Reader to view documents on this site.

Organic and Sustainable Farming

Back to Main List

Hushed Up: Confidentiality Clauses in Organic Milk Contracts
(April 2008)

Some contracts for the sale of organic milk require farmers to agree not to disclose the terms of the contract with any other party. These contract clauses can discourage farmers from seeking legal advice, or from discussing farming or financial concerns with other farmers or financial advisors.

Download the complete article

Back to Top

When Your Processor Requires More than Organic Certificatition: Additional Requirements in Organic Milk Contracts
(April 2008)

This guide reviews contracts for the sale of organic milk that were used in 2007. All of these contracts required that farmers have organic certification. But all of the contracts also included farm practice requirements that went beyond those required for organic certification. For example, requirements related to access to pasture are often spelled out in greater detail than is currently included in National Organic Program regulations. Additional requirements are generally lawful. Farmers should be sure that they understand how to comply with the additional requirements, and how they will show that they have complied.

Download the complete article

Back to Top

Disaster Readiness and Recovery: Legal Considerations for Organic Farmers
(September 2007)

This article is a supplement to Farmers’ Guide to Disaster Assistance. It focuses on aspects of federal disaster assistance that are of particular relevance for organic farmers. The first part of the article discusses steps that organic farmers may take to plan for natural disaster. Advance planning may enable organic farmers to prevent or reduce the effects of natural disaster on their farms, prepare for the agronomic and financial impacts of natural disaster, and improve the resilience of their farms following a natural disaster.

The second part of the article discusses federal programs that provide assistance to farmers in order to recover from natural disaster. In large part, these are the same programs discussed in greater detail in Farmers’ Guide to Disaster Assistance. However, organic farmers face some barriers to full participation in federal disaster assistance programs. These materials are aimed primarily at helping farmers to understand and participate in the programs as they exist now. But improving the accessibility and effectiveness of federal disaster assistance for organic farmers is important to individual organic farmers, and may be crucial to restoring local and regional food systems when natural disaster strikes.

The article concludes by addressing questions farmers may have about how natural disaster and disaster recovery may affect their organic certification status. Most organic farmers have invested a number of years in achieving their “certified organic” status, and a loss of that status could have financial consequences for the farmer well beyond the loss of a single year’s crop.

Download the complete booklet

Back to Top | Go to Disaster Page

If Your Farm Is Organic, Must It Be GMO-Free?
Organic Farmers, Genetically Modified Organisms, and the Law
(September 2007)

Most organic farmers are aware that they may not plant genetically modified organisms (GMOs), or seeds developed through genetic engineering, if they wish to market their crops as organic. Yet many organic farmers have questions about their legal rights and responsibilities with respect to the unintended presence of GMOs. These questions relate to two basic interests of organic farmers: maintaining their organic certification and meeting the requirements of their buyers.

This article examines requirements to avoid the use of genetic engineering that affect crop and livestock farmers who are certified organic, or who wish to become certified organic. The article also briefly addresses handling requirements as they apply to organic farmers. The article is concerned primarily with issues related to organic certification, but it concludes with a brief discussion of the ways in which sales contracts may impose responsibilities upon farmers that differ from the requirements for organic certification.

Download the complete booklet

Back to Top