Organic Transition Pilot Program (OTP)

California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) Organic Transition Pilot Funding

The OTP grant program is designed to provide direct financial assistance for eligible expenditures and improve access to knowledge and technical assistance, including business planning, for farmers and ranchers with land under transition to organic (pre-certification). Farmers & ranchers can receive up to $60,000 in financial assistance for qualifying costs associated with becoming organic certified.

VCRCD was awarded funding Spring 2024, started accepting applications Summer 2024, and closed applications Summer 2025.

Applications are Closed

Eligibility Requirements

Must be over 18 years of age
Must be engaged in commercial agriculture or have a plan to market their agricultural products for profit after organic certification
University, research and non-profit organizations’ farms are not eligible for assistance
Must have an Organic System Plan (OSP) developed, or have a plan to develop one
Must show that you lease, own, or otherwise have stable tenure or access to the fields where project activities are proposed to occur for the entirety of the project duration. If leasing land, you must provide written approval from the landowner.
This VCRCD OTP Program will prioritize Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (SDFRs)
The Farmer Equity Act of 2017 defines “Socially Disadvantaged Farmer or Rancher” to mean a farmer or rancher who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group. “Socially disadvantaged group” means a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities. These groups include all of the following: (1) African Americans (2) Native American Indians (3) Alaskan Natives (4) Hispanics (5) Asian Americans (6) Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

Funding Structure to Farmers and Ranchers

Maximum $30,000 available for applicable costs to each selected farmer and rancher, including:

Equipment and repairs suited to organic practices or processing produce
Inputs for transitioning acres, included animals and their feed for ranches
Fees and services: Certifications, Trainings, Consultant fees

$1,000 per acre available for soil building or land preparation, up to 30 acres, including:

Custom services for soil preparation or planting
Organic inputs including IPM
Organic soil amendments or their source material
Ecosystem enhancements including supplies and equipment

Total potential award of $60,000 per farmer or rancher

Eligible Farm Costs

Allowable Costs for financial assistance to farmers, General Award ($30,000 maximum per farm):

Organic livestock, poultry, and related expenses, such as animal health management required by organic standards
Organic feed
Educational materials, training on organic certification and production, or meeting attendance, in addition to services offered by the block grant recipient organization
Inspection and certification fees
On-farm water or soil testing fees
Outside consultant fees if desired, as for development of an Organic System Plan (OSP)
Farming supplies to be applied to organic farming on the transitioning acres, such as organic-approved plastic mulch
Farm equipment and repair to that equipment, where equipment is specific or widely preferred for organic farming of the type expected to occur on the transitioning acres
Qualifying equipment must be drawn from the following list, or authorized by CDFA: (1) Compost production, storage or spreading installations and equipment; (2) Weed management tools such as flamers or tines, tarps, row cover; (3) Transplanting or direct seeding equipment; (4) Intercropping equipment and modifications; (5) IPM-aligned equipment; (6) Other cover-cropping equipment
On-farm processing and distribution equipment (e.g., peelers, coolers, produce washing, sorting and sizing bins, refrigerated vehicles for transporting whole or minimally processed food) where it is applicable to the products expected from transitioning acres.

Eligible Land Costs

Field-preparation Award (additional) ($1,000 per acre for up to 30.0 acres, $30,000 maximum)

These costs must be applied directly to specific acres undergoing transition. Such costs can also be covered by the General Award if the farmer or rancher
wishes:

Organic seeds and starts, including cover crop seeds
Organic fertilizers
Organic pest control inputs;
Ecosystem enhancement supplies and equipment (e.g., hedgerows, owl
boxes, riparian area protection)
Compost, compost building materials, and similar organic amendments
“Custom farming” operations (e.g., contracting out to perform planting).

Unallowable Costs

Examples of unallowable costs for financial assistance to farmers and ranchers include but are not limited to:

Property or land rent or lease
Taxes
Owner or employee labor
Inputs for land outside the defined transitioning field(s), or for animals not
dependent on the transitioning field(s)