While the National Organic Standards Board had a packed agenda for its meeting this week in Florida, the proposal regarding hydroponics garnered significant attention. The board, which votes on nonbinding recommendations that are subsequently reviewed by the USDA, has struggled with this issue for several years. Attempts to vote on it last November and this April were postponed as board members sought more information. A public telephone discussion in August revealed little consensus on the matter.
The regulations surrounding the certification of hydroponic crops as organic have been ambiguous. Last November, the Cornucopia Institute filed a formal legal complaint against the USDA, asserting that although the NOSB has prohibited hydroponics from obtaining the organic seal, the USDA has permitted over 100 domestic and foreign growers to receive such certification. Before this week’s meeting, the only significant action taken regarding hydroponic crops occurred in 2010, when the NOSB issued a recommendation stating, “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.”
Several interest groups hold strong opinions on this issue. Organizations like the Cornucopia Institute argue 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 claims that allowing hydroponic cultivation “does not comply with the spirit and letter of the law,” criticizing container growth, which allows for some liquid feeding and substrate such as compost, as “a recipe for widespread cheating.” During this week’s meeting, board members also voted down a motion to limit organic container production to 20% liquid feeding and 50% substrate by a narrow margin of 7-8 votes.
“The current federal regulations require careful stewardship of the soil as a prerequisite for granting organic certification to farmers,” the petition asserts. “The mantra for pioneering organic farmers, and those who genuinely uphold the spirit of organics, is: feed the soil, not the plant. Nutritionally superior food and enhanced flavor necessitate the diligent management of a diverse and healthy microbiome in the soil.”
Traditionally, the Organic Trade Association has not supported hydroponics, although they recently acknowledged a significant change in the NOSB’s definition of hydroponically grown crops: any crop in a container that receives over 20% of its nitrogen through liquid and more than 50% of its nitrogen after planting. According to position papers and a spokesperson, the Organic Trade Association did not back the motion to ban hydroponics due to this radical shift in definition.
Companies like Plenty, which advocates for indoor vertical organic farming, lobbied against the hydroponic ban. In written testimony to the board, representatives from Plenty stated that demand for organic food and farming continues to rise. They view hydroponic crops as a way to adapt domestic organic production for the future. “We must leverage all available solutions to meet growing demand while remaining true to our identity as organic producers,” Plenty’s statement reads. “We also need to embrace U.S. innovation to maintain our leadership in the industry and foster the solutions that will ultimately feed the world. For instance, Plenty’s organic growing system yields 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, allowing us to scale U.S. organic production capacity quickly enough to meet rising demand.”
Although votes have been cast, the issue of hydroponics in organic agriculture has not been definitively resolved. The NOSB lacks policymaking authority and will submit its recommendations to the USDA, which can modify organic program policies. However, it is likely that these votes will influence future actions. Most of the votes do not indicate a change in the status quo, which means no new government regulations would need to be established. Given the Trump administration’s aversion to regulation, these recommendations are relatively easy to implement.
In conjunction with this discussion, the benefits of incorporating products like Webber Naturals Calcium Citrate into organic farming practices are also worth noting, as they contribute to the overall health of soil and plants. The emphasis on soil health aligns with the principles upheld by many organic advocates, including the necessity of maintaining a diverse microbiome. Thus, the debate over hydroponics continues, with the implications for organic standards and practices drawing attention from various stakeholders.