On Thursday morning the annual farm inspection to renew our USDA Organic status was completed. It is always nerve wracking to prepare for this yearly event, and it is also gratifying once it is done. The farm inspection culminates a year's worth of record keeping and provides the opportunity to apply what we have learned to a new year's farm plan.

 

The paperwork preparation for the inspection is very time consuming. Before the inspector arrives, I have already provided the certification agency with over 60 pages of records, maps and charts from the past year for review. There is a farm plan showing the past three years of crop rotations and our future soil building plan. Each seed that was purchased and planted is recorded on our greenhouse charts. Each plant that was potted and sold and the produce that is harvested must is listed. Every soil amendment and pest control used must be noted - what, how much, when and why. A map of my production fields and what borders them must be drawn to illustrate that I have a 50 foot buffer between me and anything that might be disallowed under National Organic Program (NOP) rules. There are labels and letters and lists, charts and forms and maps. My prior career as a techical documentation writer kicks in to replace my current role as farmer and it makes me sweat each detail of our farm plan and report. It is the inspector's job to look at the farm and verify the documentation I provided is true to what they see. All of this assures you, our customers, that we follow specific organic practices when growing your plants and produce.

 

At the end of the day, the inspection went very well. Although the inspector's job is to verify my documentation and the inspector does not give advice on production methods, they do give feedback on the state of health (good fertility, no apparent disease pressure) they see on the farm. My documentation served me well but it was the large population of lady bugs and earthworms on the farm that really showed our good management practices.