Organic dairy farmers hope for better days with Biden

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

SACO, Maine (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has been a struggle for much of American seafood, but at least one sector of the industry has found a way to grow during the crisis — the seaweed business.

Seaweed harvesting and farming, based largely along the rocky and chilly coast of Maine, has grown for several years as interest in foods and nutritional products made with the gooey marine algae have risen in popularity. Like many pieces of the seafood industry, seaweed is highly dependent on the restaurant sector, which made the pandemic a potentially major setback.

But that hasn’t been the case, according to state records and members of the industry. Representatives for Atlantic Sea Farms, a Saco company that works with two dozen seaweed farmers and accounts for most of the seaweed aquaculture in the state, said it nearly doubled its harvest this year to 450,000 pounds.

Other growers said they continued harvesting seaweed through the pandemic, though finding workers and buyers was more complicated than a typical year. The industry was able to pivot to selling more of its products via retail locations than restaurants, and that meant it avoided the trouble that befell other seafood industries, such as the hard-hit oyster business, said Tollef Olson, president of the Maine Seaweed Council.

“Almost all the products we put out have been stabilized,” Olson said. “Some of the wholesale business definitely dropped off, but we’re seeing more shelf space, and more online platforms.”

The statewide harvest of farmraised seaweed in Maine grew from about 50,000 pounds in 2018 to about 275,000 pounds last year, state records show. Atlantic Sea Farms alone thinks its farmers will harvest more than 800,000 pounds in 2021. The seaweed is processed into products such as seaweed sauerkraut Organic dairy farmers hope and frozen kelp cubes for smoothies. The state’s seaweed industry also includes a wild harvest of rockweed, for better days with Biden which is used for livestock feed and fertilizers. The pandemic hit Maine right around the same time as the KRISTEN LEIGH PAINTER Star Tribune Organic Valley, a leading voice in the “Collin (Peterson) could be credited with being the driving force in passing the last two to three farm bills because of his ability to broker deals,” said Adam seaweed aquaculture business’s nation’s organic dairy industry, sees an Warthesen, Organic Valley’s director spring harvesting season, said Bri opportunity to regain political ground of government affairs. “His retirement Warner, chief executive officer of that it says was lost over the past four shifts leadership to the South, and Atlantic Sea Farms. Members of the years. that changes the dynamics quite a bit. industry have had to hustle to get A flurry of interest groups are now Ag policy is less about Republican vs. seaweed products in new stores due jockeying to be heard by President- Democrat and more about where you to restaurant closures, and have had elect Joe Biden’s administration and are from.” some success, she said. “Four ounces of a kelp in smoothie cubes is not the same as kelp on are seeking clarity on what new congressional leadership could mean for them. Agriculture is a diverse industry filled Corn and soybeans are prioritized in the North, while cotton and peanuts are in the South, he said. “Dairy is probably not in as strong of a position as it was every salad in Sweetgreen that’s with varying interests, but Bob Kirchoff, before. That’s not to say those leaders going out the door. We’re being very chief executive of La Farge, Wis.-based don’t care, but their familiarity with it creative about how we sell,” Warner Organic Valley, is cautiously optimistic. is probably not as strong.” said. “We feel very good about being “To say there wasn’t a lot of progress And while it “takes time to retrain able to weather the storm.” in the last four years would be an the bureaucracy,” said Kirchoff, both

The seaweed business’s ability understatement. In some ways we took he and Warthesen see Congress as fairly to grow during the pandemic is a step back,” said Kirchoff. “We need responsive to their concerns. an outlier within the U.S. seafood business. Consumer demand for seafood at restaurants dropped by more than 70% during the early to look at this as an opportunity for change rather than be fearful nothing will change.” Organic Valley and its competitors often work together to push for clearer Top of mind for Kirchoff is a normalization of trade relations in Asia, where Organic Valley sees growth opportunity. Even more so, the cooperative and some of its peer months of the pandemic, and that regulatory standards for organic food. organizations are pushing hard for sent troubling economic ripples The U.S. Department of Agriculture consistent enforcement and regulatory through the business, according under President Donald Trump reversed certainty on transitioning or growing a to one study published in the several of those efforts, including herd of organic dairy cows. scientific journal Fish and Fisheries a transitional organic certification USDA certifiers are often interpreting in November. program and animal welfare standards. the standards differently, leaving some The seaweed industry has been limited by restrictions on the amount of people who can work on farms, said Sarah Redmond, one of “The reversal of decades of work on improving and updating the organic standards has led to declining consumer trust in the organic label and has caused economic hardship for U.S. organic farmers who follow the more “true” interpretation of the organic standard at a competitive disadvantage, Warthesen said. The Organic Trade Association the owners of Springtide Seaweed, a farmers,” the Organic Trade Association has made passing a final rule on the Gouldsboro grower. Growers often wrote in a memo to Biden’s transition Origin of Organic Dairy Livestock a top grow the seaweed underwater on team. priority. “While it isn’t Organic Valley ropes in bays, and the work is labor But the tide change in Washington, specifically, it is us vs. them — meaning intensive. D.C., is about more than a new industrialized organic dairy,” Kirchoff

However, the growth in people president. The long-serving chairman of said. “It’s affecting our individual cooking at home, and looking to the House Agriculture Committee, DFL farmers who are doing things right.” experiment with new ingredients, during the pandemic might have helped the seaweed trade, Redmond Rep. Collin Peterson, who represented Minnesota’s Seventh District for 30 years, lost his bid for re-election. In his powerful position, he was responsible for The organic dairy leadership recognizes their issues will be competing against a cacophony of voices trying to win over the incoming administration said. passing a farm bill every five years aimed and congressional leadership. “We are

“We’ve actually seen an increase in at helping rural economies. going to keep going back and asking for demand for our seaweed products,” The Democratic Caucus approved it. We’ve been very persistent and we are she said. “There’s still a demand Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., as Peterson’s going to continue to do so for as long as for healthy food and healthy replacement. it takes,” Kirchoff said. ingredients.” 9 | 2021 Ag Journal - Winter