On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:35:56 -0500, Bill Truesdell <bhfarms@SUSCOM-
MAINE.NET> wrote:

>But they do meet the USDA label standards for organic, and so do I.
>
>To be able to label your product USDA Organic you need meet the following:
>
>Farmers who gross less than $5000 from organic products and sell direct
>to consumers or retailers are exempt from the certification requirement.
>Those farmers may call their product organic, but they can't use the new
>USDA seal.

No one else has responded to this comment, so I’m going to stick my neck 
out, if only to get corrected and thereby clear things up.

My wife did some extension work with organic certification issues back when 
she was getting her degree, and I thought I was pretty sure that using the 
word “organic” was very complicated.  My understanding is that 
certification isn’t required under $5000 gross revenue, but that all the 
same standards (including flight radius/wood preservative/wax foundation 
restrictions) apply if you want to use the word “organic”, and you could be 
subject to auditing (by whom, I don’t know) if you use the word.  I think 
you’re also responsible for keeping all the same records and paper trails 
as if you were going to be certified.  Maybe the loophole is just a lack of 
enforcement, but by the books I don’t think there’s anything easy about 
using the word “organic” at any level.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Eric

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