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The New Mexico Organic Commodities Commission is the state agency that regulates organic agriculture in New Mexico. The NMOCC is composed of five commissioners (who are all organic farmers and are appointed by the Governor) and three staffpeople, including a Director. We interviewed NMOCC’s Director, Joran Viers, to get his view of the proposed national organic standards and what they will mean for New Mexico’s farmers and consumers.

CC: What are your thoughts on the new standards coming out of USDA?

Viers: Generally, I’m very favorably inclined toward them. I think the actual production standards are good. There are a couple of areas where the stan-dards need a little more definition but I think by and large they have set a very high bar — higher than some expected… One of the things that caught my eye is that organic seed is now required.

The aspects that I’m con-cerned about are more how we as a certifier and a state agency are going to interface with that process. It is going to require much more on the part of the state in terms of investigation and enforcement. Now, that is some-thing that’s coming anyway.

Another question that gets raised is, how are we going to pay for that? USDA isn’t going to pony up any money; at least they don’t want to. And I’m pretty skeptical that we can go up to Santa Fe and say that we need additional monies for what is actu-ally an optional program [not required by the USDA, which accepts private certifiers]. I think the problem is that legislators in Santa Fe will look at this and say, “Well, here we are faced with a situation where we either have to put more money into it or we can just not have it. Let’s just not have it.”

The danger is that most of the growers in our program are small growers, with fairly limited incomes, who could not afford private certification fees. And without the certification, they would not be able to access the organic market. In my mind we exist in large part to help the small organic farmer in this state. Yes, we charge more than I would like to, but it’s still relatively inexpensive.

CC: Is it true that the New Mexico Organic Commodities Commission, as a state agency, could make stricter standards on some questions?

Viers: Yes, there has to be a distinct cultural, geographic or ecological reason unique to the region. And it requires USDA approval. Now how does that potentially apply to New Mexico? The biggest area I see is in live-stock. Because there seems to be poor definition particularly in the area of housing requirements. I would want to see us more specifically define what constitutes a “temporary variance to confine an animal” — how long that can actually be? That’s one area where we may seek higher standards.

The other area is the ‘excluded’ and the ‘exempt’ category. Who can be excluded or exempt from having to be certified; that includes producers making less than $5,000, retail stores, delis within retail stores, and bakeries that are serving product that is eaten right there on site. [Those falling in the exempt or excluded category must adhere to all the state or federal regulations to use the term ‘organic’ but are not required to be certified.] Most of the states have felt that they do want to have some kind of control over these areas.

And, there are some things the federal standards haven’t addressed yet, such as aquiculture and wild fish, and apiculture.

CC: How do you think these new standards are going to affect organic farmers in New Mexico? Is cost going to be a question?

Viers: Cost will be a ques-tion. The USDA is not going to charge anything directly to the farmers. They are going to charge the certifiers for accreditation. The first round of accreditation is going to be discounted but it’s still going to cost us somewhere around $2,000. So somehow, we’re going to have to cover that cost.

Of course, the ideal situation would be that there would be a tax on the sale of farm chemicals used to support organic certification. Otherwise, we can go to the legislature and say we need an extra chunk to cover our accreditation. That’s a possibility. The key to that option is what the farmers do. If the farmers contact their legislators and say I’m your constituent, I vote, this is an important issue and I want you to support it, it will be supported. The other option, of course, is that we have to figure those costs into our budget and increase either fees or assessments.

CC: Farmers and retailers can only use the term ‘organic’ if a product is certified?

Viers: Correct. Any agricultural product sold in the state of New Mexico that says ‘organic’ needs to be certified. Currently, produce from farmers who gross less than $2,000 per year can be labeled organic if the grower registers with the NMOCC and follows all of the guidelines for organic production… these growers would fall under the new federal ‘exempt’ category. The NMOCC will be reviewing this status after the national standards are adopted.

CC: What should consumers do if they have concerns about labeling?

Viers: They should contact our office. We’re going to spot check at farmers’ markets, in retail stores, and on farms. We’ve had enough experience to tell us that there is a certain percentage of people out there who are going to try to do something funny. The role of a government agency in this kind of process seems to be something of a watchdog.

The other side is that if a consumer has a particular issue with a particular store, they should call the office and demand that we go and investigate it. And we will.

Most of the people who read this are going to be consumers. I want to stress to them that this agency exists to serve their interests. In fact, one of the bottom lines that the commissioners use when they’re reviewing an unclear issue is, “when the consumer pays extra money for something because it says organic on it, are they getting what they pay for?”

In conjunction with that, there’s kind of an obligation that goes the other way.We need consumers to be vocal with their state legislators. If they want this program, if they think this agency can help them in their quest for truly organic food and good farm practices in the state, then they need to let their elected officials know. Those people control the purse strings and we can only do as much as we have the resources for.

We’ve gone directly to the legislators a number of times, the commissioners and myself, and we’ve been very well received. But in order to continue doing what we want to do, and what we need to do, especially in the face of such a tremendously increasing market, it’s going to take more support, and that support is going to have to come from the people