You say MOSA, I say MOO-SA

After much ado about something, another  inspection has come and gone and we remain very truly yours...certified organic for another year. Yes, I stressed a little. It is my calling and my husbands cross to bear. Someone must worry about all the little stuff or that last bolt will not get screwed into the bridge project on Rt 24 in Forrest and civilization as we know it...will come a fallin' down.

So we are three for three, organic inspections that is. The first year was the worst, weather speaking. Cold and rainy our elderly inspector left no blade of grass unturned. The process lasted ALL day and he ran us over the coals. Still I felt he was fair and that we had indeed earned our certificate.

Last year was another year of not knowing what to expect as we added swine production onto our application which the year before dealt only with land and dairy cows. Our inspector Doug was thorough but very realistic. He shared great ideas from other organic farmers and we came away in good standing. As is my compulsive nature I took notes throughout the day (only about 5 hrs) and was able to use those notes to quiz Keith in prep for this year. Yeah, I heard that. You all are just wishing YOU were the ones married to me are you not ?

Last Friday we had the same inspector as last year. Piece of cake huh ? Well, not so much. Oh, he was fair and reasonable but he focused on a few areas he did not focus on the year before (trickster) and at the end of the inspection, we had THREE areas where he was recommending improvement . I was unhappy (with myself.) I should have KNOWN he would need proof our straw being organic being as that was a new standard as of June 2011. A couple of weeks ago I started looking for that growers organic certificate, I had it but misplaced it and then I forgot all about it. DANG IT ALL THE WAY TO SALLYNOGGIN AND BACK !

In fact, I was so ticked at myself I called a realtor and put the farm up for sale. Oh yes I did. Two months ago I did. Still waiting for that group of young healthy motivated folk to make us an offer. Waiting...waiting...
Be sure to click here if you want to see our bedroom clean for the one and only time this year
http://home.lyonssullivanrealty.com/32796750-NorthCHATSWORTHIllinois/104586/LCBOR

So yes, its true. We need to improve in three standards out of  a total of over 200. If MOSA gave out percentage grades that would put us at about a 98.5. Think I could be satisfied with that ?  Well at the time, no, I was not. Today, I am very thrilled with it and very happy we can get on with the business of farming.
But, as I promised myself last year, I will keep up with the paperwork so there will be no surprises.

                                                        Sure I will.

Frustrated Scupltor

The problem with a public blog is that the public feel they can just make any kind of comment they want. Take for example Mr Cro , as I call him. After my last post

he had the unmitigated gall to say this about my recent soap creations, "You're really a frustrated sculptor, aren't you!" Now why would an individual who has never even met me, say something so personal ?!?

What evidence does he have that I ever wanted to be a sculptor at all ? Did we ever sit together (with spouses of course) in a wee cafe sipping Jamison or Guinness or heaven forbid some cheap red wine and discuss my dreams of artistry ?

Has Mr Magnon, AKA Cro, ever even read that test they give you in HS where they measure your aptitude for future life success based on your favorite colors and foods and desire to organize all your desk pencils by order of eraser size.? I think not

So, where he gets this bare-brained idea that I am a frustrated sculptor want-to-be whose life is empty and unfulfilled since all she does all day is scratch pig ears, boil a little pig lard and call it soap and write a few pages in her soon to be released novel (if you call "soon" about 3 years away)...I just don't know.

Made over one week, pouring several different batters over several
different pieces of old soap or "imbeds" scented with cassia, clove
and orange EO's All colors made with natural plant materils or clays.
I imagine that if Picasso had made soap...
it wouldn't look like this at all.

Meanwhile back at the farm, our MOSA inspection (Midwest Organic Sevices Association) went very well. I can say that now but 24 hrs ago I was a pit of frustration because I could not find two organic certificates needed , one for the straw we bought and one for calves we bought 9 months ago, AND I forgot to write the cow ID number on one of our locker slips.

That means of the over 200 organic standards we must meet, our inspector was writing recommendations for improvement on just 3 of those standards. I should have been giddy with relief over how well we did, No, I was upset with the lack of perfection. Will I ever learn to be satisfied ?!?!?

Today, I feel much better. Might have something to do with the beautiful weather, the family who toured with their 2 year old son who was more delighted with a single peacock feather than I have been all year with all good things that have come my way, and the GK's who are at this moment giggling hysterically over the antic of Mike Myers as Cat in The Hat.

Mike Myers always makes me smile too. I should've asked HIM to be at our inspection yesterday. Might have spared my husband from that grumpy wife he so often deals with. Or at least given him a cat mobile driven by a mouthy fish to escape in.

Organic Certification; The Great Debate

The calf died. (Not the calf above. That one is just a stunt double) I'm telling you the ending now to save you the time of scrolling to the bottom of this post, I'm sorry to ruin the suspense but that's just how I am. I often start a book at the last sentence of the last chapter. I read the last sentence of a poem before I read the first word and I don't give a hoot if someone tells me how a movie ends before I see it. They are sadly all so predictable anyway, except for Sixth Sense, Even now, year later, the ending still surprises me.

So that's why I'm telling you the calf died. In a minute I'll tell you the rest of his story but first I must comment about some comments left in the comment section of my last post. They require more than the obligatory "Thanks."

To Lana who is the middle of planning for organic certification right now. Her questions were fantastic and deserve more attention than I can give in my blog so Lana...I will be contacting you very soon via email to hopefully help . I am no expert but I can share my mistakes and hopefully keep you from making the same ones.

To Cro, who wondered about the insanity of having to sell over $5000 worth of organic product before you were required to complete the inspection process prior to LABELING your products organic. Yes, its one of the most ridiculous parts of the United States National Organic Program (NOP). It has nothing to do with your economic status as you can be filthy rich, say as a GMO seed salesman, yet sell only $4900 worth of organic product in a years time thus exempting you from any legal action against you for selling products labeled organic without having completed the inspection. You do however have to follow all the NOP standards. BUT if no one is inspecting you what assurance do your customers have that you are following the standards ? The answer is none. Frankly I have yet to meet one single person who truthfully follow the standards, but elects to sell less than $5000 worth of product in order to avoid the inspection requirement. I HAVE MET several folks who label their products organic, knowing that they can legally do so as long as they sell less than $5000 worth but have no idea or interst in what any of the other standards say or mean.

Confused ? You should be.

Now to Chris who asked, "My chickens are fed 'organic' layers pellets, organic corn, and organic veg and are free range. They don't have a label and haven't passed any tests, certification boards or climbed the sheer rock-face of legislation (even if the produce they consume has).



Question is - are they laying 'organic' eggs even if they don't have a label?

Chris, the answer here in the US is...No, they are not legally organic unless your pellets, your corn and your veggies have all been CERTIFIED organic. In addition , unless you are selling less than $5000 a year you can not label them as organic until you have successfully completed the inspection. Now, if you feed them only certified organic feed and you follow all the organic standards and you sell less than $5000 then you can label them organic, but not CERTIFIED organic until you have submitted all the paperwork, paid all the fees and completed the inspection every single year.

AND if you were my neighbor, Chris,  I would buy your eggs in a heartbeat because it sounds like you are raising some fine chickens and I bet those eggs taste fantastic.

Still confused ? Well read on.

The calf story. Last week one of our calves (6 weeks old) began to scour. (loose stools). We began adding an electrolyte supplement (approved by MOSA, our organic surveyor) to its milk bottles. A couple days later it began to lose its appetite so we started offering it extra water with supplements in between feedings, several times a day. It remained active with nice shiny coat, bright eyes. Next day, no better so we cut back on the milk offering it hay and grass which was hand fed. Each day my husband would move its hutch so the calf had clean ground and fresh grass underneath him. Another day after that we saw streaks of blood in its stool a sure sign of the parasite coccidiosis. Appetite poor, fluid intake poor so we began to tube feed it. (Fluids directly into its stomach via a feeding tube passed down its esophagus)

We discussed calling a vet. The next day it died.

Today we lamented that we should have called the vet sooner. We also reviewed everything we did and re-read important chapters in the book " Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals" by Paul Dettloff D.V.M.  Seems we did many things right. Seems we also did many things wrong, Seems we really missed the boat on prevention.

It is rare for a calf to get sick on our farm so we did not have a good treatment plan in place. Instead we scrambled behind each symptom rather than working to avoid the next one.

We should have called the vet.

The NOP standards are very clear that you are not to use antibiotics or other non approved treatments UNLESS the animals life is in danger. We missed the rapid decline of this calves health and if we had sought professional help sooner we would have lost organic certification for that calf (not a big deal) but probably would have saved its life.( A much bigger deal)  After a full recovery we could have sold her as a family milk cow or even had her slaughtered for our own meat supply.

Being certified organic is a whole lot more than a little extra dirt on a few carrots. It takes education, research and commitment. It requires eating crow publicly and admitting when you made a animal husbandry mistake allowing suffering when it possibly could have been avoided.

Next time we'll do better.

Labels I have Known

Its been awhile since my last organic label rant, so here goes. Overheard recently was this less than informed statement, "The only difference between organic and non-organic is that organic food is dirtier."

If it were that simple folks, most all your food labels would say  certified organic as that generally brings in more revenue but the fact is, less than 5% of all grocery store food is labeled organic.

Reason being...it is difficult to be CERTIFIED organic. It takes time, money, knowledge and oh yeah, effort. But before I go too much farther I need to be clear on something. I understand that all things with a carbon base are indeed, organic. This discussion has to do with the National Organic Program (NOP) and the labeling of food items as organic. I frankly do not care if you, yourself eat organic, grow organic, breathe organic, snort organic or wrap your shitzsadoodle puppy in an organic silk caftan. Its your decision to ingest what you like, it is your decision to grow your food however you like.

My beef (pork and chicken) lies with folks who falsely advertise the items they sell, as organic, when they are not. Federal law states you cannot label your products as organic UNLESS

1. They have been through the organic certification process and successfully passed an annual inspection completed by a qualified surveyor OR
 2. You sell less than $5000 a year of product AND follow all the National Organic Program
 rules.

These are the only two legal ways you can label your product organic.

You can call your items several other names though like, "All Natural," for which there is no government definition. You can also simply list on your label the things you DO NOT put in your products such as

    "no antibiotics"
    "GMO free"
     "chemical free"
     "no hormones"
     "this product contains certified organic oils"
     " free of squirrel tail and bat teeth"

Why does this bother me so ? Because of the work involved. Every year it takes us many many hours to prepare for our annual inspection by MOSA. (Midwest Organic Services Association) http://www.mosaorganic.org/  Not only do we have to be antibiotic and chemical free in all we do on our farm, we also have to prove it . This is done through livestock tracking records, animal health forms, receipts etc...It is done by paying over $800 each year for the privilege of being inspected in addition to the costs of feeding certified organic hay and grain. It is done by maintaining the standards all year long not just at inspection time.

Recently the NOP passed the rule requiring that even the bedding we use must be certified organic. The reason being, animals tend to chew on their bedding at times so it best be organic as well. Locating certified organic straw in our area is not easy, nor is it cheap. We recently paid $4 for each bale. At that price we are now storing it in our bedroom, giving authentic meaning to the country decorating look.

So please, if you choose not to be certified organic, then be proud of that decision.  Don't climb up on the back of those who have worked so hard to maintain our organic certifications. Don't say goofy things like "I'm beyond organic I just don't have the fancy label"  How can you be beyond the standards when you've never even picked up the manual and read all its rules ?

So with all my gripes..why do we do it ?

We believe in it. We believe that animals raised without hormones and routine antibiotics, animals who must be outside on pasture at least 120 days of the year,  produce tastier, healthier meat and milk. We could raise our meat this way without the certification but paying customers deserve farmer accountability and they demand it. If they CHOOSE to buy certified organic meat than they should have some way to ensure that the meat they buy is indeed raised according to the standards that are important to them.

That's all I'm saying.

In my next post , I'll talk about some of the methods we used, all approved by NOP, for treatment of a sick calf. It does not include voodoo or purple koolaide. Stay tuned.

Organic Smorganic Year 2

Its all over...

Our second organic inspection is complete and we have survived. Mostly Keith has survived his wifes  nagging about "write it down !" and "where is the date ?" and "I need a tag for that seed pulleeese !" and of course his favorite "You can't use that, its not approved."  The fact hat I was taking about his donuts from Daves makes it even more irritating I am sure. The facts are, obtaining and keeping organic certification is not easy, nor should it be. But on the other hand it does not have to be as painful as I make it out to be either.

As with any government program , paperwork is required. Lots of paperwork. Keith and I follow the National Organic Progarm Standards all year but sometimes get behind on the paperwork, the reciepts, the tags , the proof of certification from those who supply us with grain and hay and soon even straw. Yes, straw. Soon all straw used on certified organic farms will have to certified organic as well since animals do have a tendency to snack on their bedding. Not that I am above that. I've dropped a few really good cookie crumbs in the bed  that I did not want to see go to waste. I wasn't going to let some silly pillow case get between me and my Oreos. Stop frowning. I always drink the non-organic Oreos with organic milk. But I digress.

I will say this about organic surveyors...or at least the ones we've had from MOSA. They are reasonable. logical, practical, sensible, (Wait, that was the rock and roll surveyor from Supertramp...never mind). Back to MOSA. Our survey was evenly split between paperwork and outside work. Our surveyor spent time walking the farm and actually LOOKING at the animals. Proof is in the pudding.

So with another year of organic production behind us I am once more committed to keeping up with all the documention in order to avoid the last minute hoopla of ripping through files and piles on desks, barn walls, floors and more in order to find the organic molasses receipt from July 2009. It was stuck to the bottom of one of the grandkids Dora plates. Must've been that time we ran out of syrup for the pancakes and substituted a little sweetness from that huge molasses tote in the machine shed.