Overview
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) offers funding assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to organic producers and handlers of agricultural products who have received organic certification through a USDA-accredited certifying agent.
Certified organic operations may receive reimbursement of up to 75 percent of their certification costs paid between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018, not to exceed $750 per certification scope. There are up to four eligible certification scopes (crops, livestock, wild crops, and handling), which must be individually inspected for organic certification to be eligible for reimbursement.
Who is Eligible?
Certified organic producers and handlers who have paid certification fees to become newly certified or re-certified for specific scopes under the National Organic Program (NOP) are eligible for cost-share reimbursement. Reimbursement for organic transition is not currently available. If you are an operation that is not currently certified organic but would like to learn more about the process, or if you would like to learn more about the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) organic certification reimbursement opportunity, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/organic
How to Apply
We will update this page when the application for the 2018–2019 growing season is available. Download the 2017–2018 application for an example.
We encourage you to apply early, as reimbursements are made on a first-come, first served basis until all funds have been disbursed. This is a non-competitive financial assistance program to help reimburse the organic certification costs incurred on eligible scopes. Documentation may be required for reimbursement.
More Information
For more information about the program, see USDA’s Organic Certification Cost Share Programs webpage.
