Thursday, September 16, 2010

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Organic Certification

Why did you choose to be certified organic, despite the constraints?

Being certified organic is not an easy choice. Due to the location where we are, the certification was not necessary. Many gardeners in direct sales have a relationship of trust with their customers and we could grow "as organic," without imposing the straightjacket of certification.
It is of course not use synthetic pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers, and this is part of the core beliefs that have led us to choose this mode of culture. If the organic stop these simple principles, perhaps to benefit producers of "reasoned" leap (though ... a little weeding from time to time, it reassures ...).
But in addition to the scope of the certification, you should know that one can buy only organic seeds (or not treated if they are not available in organic) that are much more expensive than conventional seed. It also means that we can not retrieve the seeds of a grandpa uncertified, and therefore, fills in history, many old varieties are not used in bio because not available.
So why engage in bio?


Certification is for us a true recognition of our commitment to our future customers. Today, agriculture "rational" is very fashionable and producers would claiming to hide everything and anything going on "almost organic" we respect very much, even those who consider that reason their products, because "given the price it costs, we will not squander , we simply put the right dose, it is not stupid anyway! " So it's true that we could just trust our customers but for us it is a guarantee that we will be able to provide, which will also help justify the price a bit higher that in conventional.
The second reason is financial (some would say "they are deceitful these farmers!"). Being in organic, we can benefit from additional state aid (in addition to aid installation), that is to say access to a scale a little higher subsidies and tax deductions. But do not worry, we are very far from CAP subsidies of grain!

The choice of certifier and the exemption reduction of conversion time


The organic certification can be done with several awarding bodies. Is the main certifier Ecocert. We estimated it was more interesting to work with Agrocert, for one simple reason: the price of membership for the first year.

On a normal year, the rates are roughly equivalent (and even slightly lower for Ecocert). However, as a host of other procedures that we discuss later, the timing of our facility falls very ill.


To be certified organic, it generally takes two years to go through conversion. Under certain conditions, it is still possible to benefit a waiver to be directly certified organic. The land that we cultivate not worked for a number of years and few sheep graze there. So we return to the conditions for exemption.


view plots still grazing


To qualify for this exemption, we must commit ourselves to perform any operation on land, and await the passage of a controller to establish the fact. We So committed to the month of July. In Ecocert, the levy was payable on the whole year, then qu'Agrocert us pay in proportion to months of employment.

How does the certification?
We first received an estimate, together with commitment papers, regulatory texts and a table identifying the parcels to be converted. From the moment the certifier receives our commitment, the controller must pass within a month. Otherwise, it is possible to start work the fields, leaving a grass strip and taking photographs in evidence.
We then received our certificate of commitment and we have notified our activity with the Agence Bio.
In early August, the controller is passed to implement the first visit and issued a positive opinion about our claim. Our request is then passed in committee, and we still await the answer ...



Thanks to those who had the courage to read this message until the end ... hoping it will have been more instructive than just annoying. To improve the quality of this blog, please send us your advice or criticism.
We still have many issues to address, more photos are coming, but you'll understand that time is running out ...
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