Sowing change
The organic seed supply continues growing stronger, even in tough conditions.
S Steven St. John (Andaluz), Rob Cardillo (seeds)
by Ariana Reguzzoni
eeds are the foundation of agriculture and a farm’s most basic input. For generations, farmers provided their own supply, saving them from one season to the next. Isaura Andaluz, a native of New Mexico and a member of the Organic Farmers Association Steering Committee, remembers the days when growers passed their seeds around her community in little handmade cones, preserving the heirloom varieties that were adapted to the unique conditions and tastes there. Today’s certified-organic farmers are the engines of the more than $40 billion organic product industry in the United States, and they need seed and variety options suited to growing crops without agricultural chemicals. The majority of certified-organic growers must rely on nontreated, non–genetically modified conventional sources to fulfill the demand for their crops. That is gradually changing, but for many growers, obtaining a reliable supply of certified-organic seeds still presents complex choices and challenges. Certified-organic farmers are required to plant organic seed if it’s commercially available, but “demand in many cases is in excess of supply,” says Jim Gerritsen, the president of the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association. More than 30 percent of certified-organic farmers surveyed in 2014 were starting with
a greater proportion of organic seeds than they were three years prior, according to “State of Organic Seed, 2016,” a report published by Organic Seed Alliance. About 27 percent sowed only organic seeds—this was an increase from the 20 percent who reported in OSA’s 2009 survey that they used solely organic. “A good number of those responding [to the survey] reported they chose organic because they wanted to invest in suppliers that had their interests as organic growers in mind,” says Kristina Hubbard, the director of advocacy and communications for OSA and a member of the Organic Farmers Association Steering Committee.
GOOD BREEDING The OSA report found a lower percentage of organic seed use among larger growers. Hubbard explains that oftentimes a bigger operation can’t find the quantity it needs, or it is producing under contract with a buyer who dictates which variety to grow. In this latter, all-too-common scenario, it is up to the grower to pressure the buyer to use an organic variety. But this kind of persuasion is unlikely to happen because the farmer doesn’t have a lot of power, says Brett Bakker, a recently retired USDA certifying agent in New Mexico who now is an organic seed grower. All organic farmers need more variety options suited to growing without agricultural chemicals. “[When a seed producer uses] conventional types of crop protectants and organicfarmersassociation.org
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