Washington, D.C.--Members of the Organic Trade Association’sFarmers Advisory Council are heading to Washington to meet with members of Congress on February 5-6. Twenty-two farmers from 11 states will participate, including dairy farmers, grain and specialty crop growers, and egg and livestock producers.
The goal: To familiarize the freshman lawmakers with organic and to discuss the implementation of the organic provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill, according to a press release from the OTA. “The 116th Congress has 101 new members of the House and 10 new Senators, and many of these new lawmakers aren’t familiar with organic,” said Laura Batcha, executive director and CEO of the Organic Trade Association. “It’s important that we help our members get connected to these freshmen Congressional members so they can educate the new policy makers about the benefits of organic agriculture, the unique challenges that organic producers and businesses face, and the importance of federal policies that advance American organic agriculture and the organic sector.”
Regarding the Farm Bill, Batcha said, “The Organic Trade Association and its members worked hard to get top organic priorities included in the Farm Bill, and now we want to ensure that this bill--and all of its gains for organic--is implemented in a timely manner.”
The OTA's Farmers Advisory Council is a national coalition of organic farmers and organic farming organizations representing nearly 8,000 organic farms. Member organizations include California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), Georgia Organics, Organic Egg Farmers of America, Montana Organic Association, Oregon Tilth Certified Organic, Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative, Pennsylvania Certified Organic, Western Organic Dairy Producers Alliance and Tilth Alliance of Washington.
