NH organic farmers adjust to end of state certification program

Seth Bent of Mink Meadow Farm washes mixed young lettuce on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Etna, N.H. In 2023, New Hampshire organic farmers were notified that the state program might have to raise fees. Instead, the program for fruit and vegetable farmers disappeared suddenly in late February 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Seth Bent of Mink Meadow Farm washes mixed young lettuce on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Etna, N.H. In 2023, New Hampshire organic farmers were notified that the state program might have to raise fees. Instead, the program for fruit and vegetable farmers disappeared suddenly in late February 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Valley News photographs – Jennifer Hauck

Sarah Herr of Mink Meadow Farm harvests the last of their scallions on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Etna, N.H. New Hampshire organic farmers were notified that the state program might have to raise fees. Instead, the program for fruit and vegetable farmers disappeared suddenly in late February 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Sarah Herr of Mink Meadow Farm harvests the last of their scallions on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Etna, N.H. New Hampshire organic farmers were notified that the state program might have to raise fees. Instead, the program for fruit and vegetable farmers disappeared suddenly in late February 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Sarah Herr of Mink Meadow Farm harvests bok choy on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Etna, N.H. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Sarah Herr of Mink Meadow Farm harvests bok choy on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Etna, N.H. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Leonid and Maria Grilikhes browse produce for sale at the Mink Meadow Farm stand in Etna, N.H. on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. The couple, from Brussels, are visiting family in Etna. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Leonid and Maria Grilikhes browse produce for sale at the Mink Meadow Farm stand in Etna, N.H. on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. The couple, from Brussels, are visiting family in Etna. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Valley News photographs – Jennifer Hauck

By KATE ODEN

Valley News Correspondent

Published: 10-22-2024 5:31 PM

ETNA — For years, the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture ran one of the most affordable programs for organic certification in the country.

In 2023, New Hampshire organic farmers were notified that the program might have to raise fees.

Instead, the program for fruit and vegetable farmers disappeared suddenly in February of this year, leaving other regional certifiers to pick up the ball.

“We knew it was coming and were willing to pay the fee if it came to that, but no dice,” said Sarah Herr, 40, who operates Mink Meadow Farm in Etna with her husband, Seth Bent, 36.

“We were expecting (the certification program) to be in place through 2025, but then they just abruptly ended it,” Herr added.

Certified organic farmers must adhere to U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, standards to ensure practices that avoid synthetic chemicals and fertilizers common in conventional agriculture. Certified farms undergo yearly evaluations to ensure they are in compliance with the standards.

When the New Hampshire program ended, Herr and Bent had already submitted their application for 2024 to the disappeared organic program and had to adjust on the fly.

There were 66 fruit and vegetable farms in New Hampshire’s organic program in Fall 2023, state Rep. Peter Bixby, D-Dover, said. The number now, of course, is zero.

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The New Hampshire Department of Agriculture used to charge $100 for the organic certification service, which included a lengthy paper application and site visits for soil and tissue (plant sample) tests.

Now, Mink Meadow Farm is certified with Vermont Organic Farms, which reached out to Herr and Bent after the news of the New Hampshire program’s demise.

Their new Vermont certificate costs upwards of $1,000. Herr and Bent have applied for a reimbursement to cover up to 75% of that from the USDA Organic Certification Cost Share Program, but as of mid-October have yet to hear back.

Despite the higher cost and increased benchmarks, Herr and Bent are glad for the switch to Vermont certification.

“We know and have worked with people at the University of Vermont Extension. So the communication was there,” Bent said. Vermont Organic Farms “made it easy,” added Herr.

After New Hampshire’s program ended, Herr and Bent received calls from other organic certifiers who had heard about the end of the New Hampshire program. In addition to Vermont, Baystate Organic Certifiers in Massachusetts and Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association put out feelers.

Claremont organic vegetable farmer, Jonathan Hayden, 37, of Winter Street Farm, said finding certification elsewhere turned out to be easier than expected. He found the transition to certification with Baystate Organic Certifiers of Massachusetts ran smoothly.

“Baystate just took (our 2024 New Hampshire application) and input most of the things they needed. We just worked with them to fill in the holes,” Hayden said in an email. By May of this year, Hayden had a new inspector out in his fields.

The Maine organization hired a new staff inspector and two additional contract inspectors to help certify new applicants from New Hampshire this year, Chris Grigsby, director of certification services, said. The Maine group certified 36 New Hampshire organic farms in 2024. 

Still worth the effort

Having worked the soil with organic practices since 2020, Herr and Bent of Mink Meadow were no strangers to higher costs. Everything costs more when farmers grow organic, from seeds to potentially different machinery.

There’s also “a ton of hand labor,” said Bent. Instead of using chemical pesticides, Herr and Bent develop “more of a direct relationship with the plants” to control pests and diseases, they said. That might mean setting out and maintaining netting and traps.

Herr and Bent, like other organic farmers, have opted for these more costly methods in order to reduce exposure to synthetic chemicals used in conventional farming, which can cause cancer, DNA mutations and neurological disorders in agricultural workers, according to the National Institute of Health. In addition, organic farming can preserve ecosystems and biodiversity, including essential pollinator populations.

Geof Smith, 68, of Etna picks up vegetables weekly as part of Mink Meadow Farm’s community-supported agriculture (CSA) program. He appreciates the farm for its organic practices but also that it’s supporting “good people within walking distance.”

“We can get chemically induced food at Hannaford. I think it’s important to support local agriculture,” Smith said.

Smith said he would continue to buy a CSA share even if Mink Meadow had dropped its organic seal. It’s a sentiment Beth Vesley-Gross, 64, of Hanover Center — another CSA member — echoed succinctly: “I worry about what they’re actually doing and not the certification.”

“My guess is that the smallest operations chose to use organic methods but not label as such,” Bixby said in a phone interview. These small farms can maintain direct communication with consumers at farmers’ markets and farm stands.

Some farmers could not complete the application requirements for a new certifier, according to Nikki Kolb of the Organic Farmers’ Association of New Hampshire, or NOFA-NH.

“There were a small number of farms that were previously certified through (the New Hampshire program) that did not transfer their certification to another (certifier) in 2024,” Kolb wrote in an email. “Some farms decided to delay their transfer for a year due to the timing.”

In spite of the end of the state’s certification program, Kolb said a New Hampshire program continues to help existing farms transition to organic practices. NOFA-NH is a “core partner” in this USDA mentorship program, which this year has helped five farms meet organic standards for the first time.

“Despite the changes to certification services in New Hampshire this year, certified organic production is growing in the Granite State,” Kolb said.

As for Bent and Herr at Mink Meadow Farm, they’re still looking to increase their CSA members, up from the current 140. During the growing season, the couple rises at 4 a.m. for 12- to 14-hour days.

Despite the long days, maintaining their land organically is not a question.

“Having this farm, tons of support — it feels like it has a sense of place,” Herr said.

Kate Oden is a freelance writer. She can be reached at odenk06@gmail.com.