Good News for Organic Farmers

[S.Annadana]

Good News for Organic Farmers
Staying Green: Flooded-Out Growers and Dairies Expected to Keep Certification
Posted Dec 21, 10:54 am. E-mail this article to a friend.
By Aaron VanTuyl
For The Chronicle

Local organic farmers hit by this month’s floodwaters shouldn’t have much trouble keeping their organic certification.

Miles McEvoy, manager of the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Organic Program, said WSDA workers have already been out evaluating fields in the floodplain.

“Flooding events happen very often, so it’s not unusual for this to occur on certified organic land,” he said.

Inspectors check each field on a site-by-site basis for any potential contaminations that would warrant a further analysis.

Workers had already been checking the Boistfort and Independence valleys, looking for residue and refuse.

Gasoline, diesel, pesticide residues or human sewage, for example, would qualify as contaminants, though he said contamination left from a flood is fairly rare.

“In general, what we see is the volume of water is so much in comparison to the amount of contaminate, that there’s no residues that are left on the land,” he said. “We haven’t found it in the past, but we still evaluate on a case-by-case basis.”

Becoming organic is a long process; land must be kept free of prohibited materials (including synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified organisms) for three years before harvest. The application process takes 105 days, McEvoy said.

After certification, farm plans must be updated regularly and annual inspections are held.

There are 23 certified organic farms in Lewis County, he said, but only about half are in the flood zone. That figure includes organic dairies, and there are three other local organic farms in the Rochester area.

“They’re all being evaluated, and we will do crop residue analysis in the spring, when there’s something to test,” he said.

The residue analysis typically takes about 30 days.

The sites are being evaluated but the certifications are, at this point, still intact, McEvoy said.

“We want to ensure that organic integrity is maintained, but there’s no reason to suspect that there’s too many problems out there.”



Boistfort Valley Farms, in the heart of the flood zone, saw their produce inventory washed down the river and barn and greenhouses take on water.

Hannah Johnson, a farm employee and friend of owners Mike and Heidi Peroni, said inspectors should be out to the farm soon.

“We’re high enough in the watershed, very near the top, that we don’t have any concern about it,” she said. “We think it’s all going to be good.”

No debris was left in the field, aside from the mud that covered everything in the vicinity.

“A lot of stuff, supplies, washed out right down the river,” she said. “Everything that we had for the markets for that week was completely destroyed.”

A large, rectangular refrigeration container, used for storing fresh produce, was washed away and found after the water receded balanced atop a car near the Curtis Store.



In Rochester, Helsing Junction Farms’ Web site reported that the farm, which flooded two weeks ago, would keep certification. An inspector toured the farm Tuesday and assured the owners that the fields were fine.

“Flooding is a somewhat common event here on the floodplain (go figure!) and is part of the reason that our soil is so amazing,” the site stated.

Questions about organic farming and the flood should be directed to the Washington State Department of Agriculture, at (360) 902-1805, or online at WSDA Organic Food - Washington State Dept. of Agriculture - WSDA.