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MOSES pleased with organic segments of Farm Bill

The director of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) says their goals for the 2018 Farm Bill line up well with the final version.

John Mesko tells Brownfield MOSES spent more than a year advocating for increased funding through the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative segment of the farm bill.

“We wanted to bring that up to a $50 million level so it would become (an) ongoing program that would be funded annually, and we got that and were very excited about that.”

He says additional public dollars are important to maintaining the integrity of the organic label and to make sure organic farming practices are at the cutting edge of how farming is done throughout the world.

MOSES was also pleased to see increased funding for beginning and veteran farmers.

“Veterans are coming back and repopulating in rural areas, and looking to start farm businesses and join rural communities and food and ag businesses.  We’d like those businesses to have a proportionate number of organic businesses as part of them.”

Mesko says he hopes the new farm bill will help organic supply catch up with demand.  The U.S. continues to be a net importer of organic food and feedstuffs.

 

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