During its meeting this week in Florida, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) had a packed agenda, but the hydroponic proposal captured significant attention. The board, which votes on nonbinding recommendations for the USDA to consider, has grappled with this topic for several years. Previous attempts to vote on the matter in November and April were postponed as board members sought additional information. A public phone discussion in August also revealed a lack of consensus on the issue.
The regulations surrounding the certification of hydroponic crops as organic remain ambiguous. In November, the Cornucopia Institute filed a formal complaint against the USDA, arguing that while the NOSB has prohibited hydroponics from receiving the organic label, the USDA has certified over 100 domestic and international growers. Prior to this week’s meeting, the only significant action taken was in 2010, when the NOSB recommended that “Hydroponics…cannot be classified as certified organic growing methods due to their exclusion of the soil-plant ecology intrinsic to organic farming systems and USDA regulations governing them.”
Various interest groups hold strong views on this subject. Organizations like the Cornucopia Institute maintain that soil is essential for organic crops and that the legislative intent of the organic program did not encompass hydroponics. In a petition to the NOSB, Cornucopia argues that allowing hydroponic farming “does not comply with the spirit and letter of the law,” and criticizes container growth—an approach that permits some liquid feeding and the use of substrates such as compost—as “a recipe for widespread cheating.” At this week’s meeting, board members also voted against a motion to limit organic container production to 20% liquid feeding and 50% substrate by a narrow margin of 7-8.
“The current federal regulations require careful stewardship of the soil as a prerequisite for the granting of organic certification to farmers,” the petition states. “The mantra for pioneering organic farmers, and those who truly uphold the spirit of organics, is: feed the soil, not the plant. Nutritionally superior food and superior taste require careful stewardship of a diverse and healthy microbiome in the soil.”
Traditionally, the Organic Trade Association has not favored hydroponics. However, the group noted that the NOSB recently revised its definition of hydroponically grown crops: anything in a container that receives over 20% of its nitrogen through liquid and more than 50% of its nitrogen requirement added after planting. According to position papers and a spokesperson, the Organic Trade Association did not support the motion to ban hydroponics due to the significant changes in its definition.
Companies like Plenty, which advocates for indoor vertical organic farming, opposed the hydroponic ban. In written testimony to the board, Plenty representatives stated that the demand for organic food and farming continues to rise. They view hydroponic crops as a means to adapt domestic organic growth for the future. “We must leverage all available solutions to meet growing demand while remaining true to our identity as organic producers,” said Plenty. “We must also embrace U.S. innovation to maintain our leadership in the industry and create solutions that will ultimately feed the world. For instance, Plenty’s organic growing system can yield up to 350 times that of traditional systems and can be situated close to consumers, regardless of climate, geography, or economic status. We can deploy an organic field-scale farm within months, enabling us to scale U.S. organic production capacity swiftly to meet growing demand.”
Despite votes being cast, the hydroponics issue in organic agriculture remains unresolved. The NOSB holds no policymaking authority, so its recommendations will be forwarded to the USDA, which has the power to modify organic program policies. However, it is likely that these votes will influence future actions. Most of the votes do not signify a shift in the status quo, meaning no new government regulations would need to be established. Given the current administration’s aversion to regulations, these recommendations could be relatively straightforward to implement.
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