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*ORGANIC CERTIFICATION COST SHARE FUNDS NOW AVAILABLE -* *BOTH PRODUCERS AND HANDLERS ARE ELIGBLE FOR UP TO $750 - direct reimbursement for 75% of certification costs * * * *THANKS TO ALL YOUR HARD WORK ON THE FARMBILL, USDA HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS TO THE STATES FOR 2008. This money will also be available again in 2009 and each year for the next 5 years.* * * * * *Please contact your certifier or your State Department of Agriculture for more information as to how to access these funds. * * * *See the full press release below* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ USDA Makes Available Organic Certification Cost Assistance to Eligible Producers and Handlers AMS 172-08 Joan Shaffer (202) 720-8998 *[log in to unmask]*<[log in to unmask]>; Billy Cox (202) 720-8998 [log in to unmask] WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2008 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that $22 million in federal funds are available for organic certification cost assistance. The funds are available for producers and handlers of organic agricultural products in any state of the United States of America, its territories, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (hereinafter called states). The National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program, authorized by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 6523), will allocate funds in proportion to the number of organic producers and handlers within each state. The states in turn, will reimburse each eligible producer or handler up to 75 percent of its organic certification costs, not to exceed $750. To be eligible for reimbursement, an organic production or handling operation must be located within a qualified state, comply with the USDA National Organic Program regulations for organic production or handling and have received certification or continuation of certification by a USDA-accredited certifying agent. Applications by states for federal assistance and cooperative agreements must be requested from and submitted to: Robert Pooler, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, National Organic Program, USDA Stop 0268, Room 4008-S, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC 20250-0264; tel. (202) 720-3252 ; fax (202) 205-7808. Additional information is available on the National Organic Program's home page: www.ams.usda.gov/nop. -- Reba Richardson - Field Organizer National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture 1133 Finntown Rd Warren ME 04864 207.273.3044 [log in to unmask] If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser address bar http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html