The University of Arkansas, in collaboration with The Organic Center and the University of California Cooperative Extension, has been awarded nearly $500,000 through USDA’s Organic Research and Extension Institute (OREI) to help undertake a three-year project studying the challenges and opportunities for organic rice production and usage in the United States.
Currently, consumer demand for organic rice exceeds domestic supply, and leads to significant import competition. Meanwhile, research is needed to determine whether domestic organic rice production can be competitive and sustainable, and what attributes consumers consider desirable in the rice they eat.
The long-term goal is to facilitate the growth of organic rice production in the U.S. and foster the growth of the domestic market. Specifically, researchers will focus on identifying and assessing the economic impacts of different production practices used in domestic organic rice production. To expand domestic consumption of organic rice, researchers plan to study consumers’ preferences. In addition, researchers will develop a multi-state outreach program to disseminate the findings of the research.
“It will be important to assess producer and consumer attitudes about organic rice production and consumption, and then identify any barriers that need to be overcome to improve the market opportunities” says Dr. Alvaro Durand-Morat of the University of Arkansas who is lead Project Investigator.
The research will include using discussions with farmer focus groups and surveys, as well as studies of consumer behavior and attitudes concerning desired attributes of rice they buy and consume. Findings and results will be disseminated through many channels, including interactive extension tools, presentations, and journal and newspaper publications, to reach targeted audiences.
During the first year, The Organic Center will issue press releases and grower group announcements to publicize the planned research. It will also provide a web portal to post description of the project, updates, and other information. Meanwhile, it will launch a social media campaign about the research via The Organic Center and Organic Trade Association Facebook and Twitter accounts. This campaign will continue throughout the full four years of the project to disseminate information gathered at farmer and industry group listening sessions, requests for stakeholder input, research findings, and stakeholder meeting conference sessions and workshops.
During the second and third years, The Organic Center will increase its outreach to allow wide dissemination of on-farm research findings and recommendations. Included will be webinars, and publications explaining research results.
“We are thrilled to be a part of this monumental research,” said Dr. Jessica Shade, Director of Science Programs at The Organic Center. “This project will fill a critical need to help increase the domestic supply of organic rice.”
OREI helps support wide ranging research projects that specifically address the most critical issues impacting organic growers. The 2018 Farm Bill approved increasing funding for OREI to $50 million per year by 2023, thus establishing permanent funding for the program. For the current 2021 funding round, this amount increased from $20 million to $25 million. In 2022, the amount will increase to $30 million. In 2023, the program funding amount will be capped at annual distribution of $50 million.
This project is funded by USDA NIFA# 2021-51300-34910.
Tag: OREI
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New Grant Advances Research on Domestic Organic Rice
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Grant Takes on Organic Challenges with Third-Party Certifications
Although all food producers are subject to food safety rules, organic farmers face unique challenges in trying to also work out incongruities between National Organic Program standards and third-party food safety requirements. For instance, organic farmers must support biodiversity, yet some food safety organizations pressure them to limit habitat and wildlife on or near their farms despite a lack of evidence connecting food safety and biodiversity. To date, little data has been collected on synthesizing current conditions and specific research needs challenging the organic community on the juxtapositioning of organic practices and some food safety requirements.
To address these concerns, USDA’s Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (OREI) has awarded a $50,000 planning grant for the University of Rhode Island in collaboration with The Organic Center and a diverse team of researchers, organizations, and farmers.
The planning grant will help fill the current data gap by conducting a needs assessment using a national survey and convening a multi-stakeholder summit to pinpoint the most challenging incongruities between food safety and NOP policies. These activities will determine which producers are most impacted, which food safety requirements are most difficult to synchronize with NOP standards, and which research opportunities can best address these conflicts. In the effort, The Organic Center and University of Rhode Island will collaborate with organic farmers, certifiers and researchers to develop a full OREI research proposal for 2023 submission.
The long-term goal of the project is to provide organic growers and industry members with cost-effective and organic-compliant tools to mitigate food safety risk and retain third-party certification.
“While organic food does not have as many contamination events as conventional crops, it is more difficult for organic farmers to meet the demands of third-party food safety certifications, because those third-party standards don’t incorporate sustainability goals such as maintaining biodiversity. Our goal is to identify these tensions, and develop a research program to address them,” says Dr. Jessica Shade, Director of Science Programs at The Organic Center.
“Today’s farming systems must meet a wide array of demands for safety, health, and sustainability—and that’s on top of the need to simply stay in business. Organic farmers already know and grapple with this truth—they’ve been at the forefront of innovations to reduce the environmental and health impacts of industrial agriculture for decades. I’m excited that USDA is investing in this research to help our regulatory systems better recognize and support the organic sector’s need to harmonize consumer safety and sustainability goals,” says Dr. Patrick Baur, lead Project Investigator from the University of Rhode Island, Johanna Mirenda, Farm Policy Director for the Organic Trade Association, is participating in the project’s Advisory Board. In her role at the Organic Trade Association, she develops policy strategy through producer engagement, and is primary staff for the trade association’s Farmers Advisory Council. She is an expert in organic regulations, and was the technical director for the Organic Materials Review Institute and policy director for Pennsylvanian Certified Organic prior to her current role.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Vanderzyl, Director of Technical Services at Organic Trade Association member Duncan Family Farms, is a co-investigator on the project.
“This project will address a critical area of need within the organic sector, and will be the first step in providing organic growers and industry members with organic-appropriate tools and strategies to mitigate food safety risk while retaining third-party certification viability,” says Vanderzyl.
OREI helps support wide ranging research projects that specifically address the most critical issues impacting organic growers. The 2018 Farm Bill approved increasing funding for OREI to $50 million per year by 2023, thus establishing permanent funding for the program. For the current 2021 funding round, this amount increased from $20 million to $25 million. In 2022, the amount will increase to $30 million. In 2023, the program funding amount will be capped at annual distribution of $50 million.
The Organic Center’s mission is to convene credible, evidence-based science on the health and environmental impacts of organic food and farming and to communicate the findings to the public. The Center is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) research and education organization operating under the administrative auspices of the Organic Trade Association.