GETTING STARTED WITH ORGANIC CERTIFICATION
Becoming a certified organic operation requires adherence to the USDA NOP rules and regulations found in 7 CFR Part 205. These include requirements for production practices, prohibited inputs, recordkeeping, and inspections. The NOP has developed detailed educational guides covering organic practices, certification, and regulations for each type of organic producer:
For an overview of organic certification requirements and resources, please see KDA’s Organic Certification Handbook (PDF document) and Flowchart (PDF document). Please contact organic@ky.gov with any questions.
Required Forms
The following forms are required for all initial and renewal applicants. Forms can be found on the right side of the page under Forms and Documents.- Organic Certification Application: Includes general operation information, history of organic certification, if any, and products to be certified. Required for all scopes every year.
- Fee Schedule for Organic Certification: Outlines annual certification fees for each scope, payment worksheet and instructions for payment.
- Materials Input Listing (MIL): Lists all inputs used in crop, livestock, or processing scopes, their purpose, and current allowed status. Required for initial applicants and updated as needed when new inputs are added.
- PLUS the required forms for your requested certification scope. Forms can be found on each scope’s subpage. See our Forms Glossary for a quick reference to the required and as-needed forms for each scope.
EXEMPT OPERATIONS
Operations with less than $5,000 in annual organic product sales may be exempt from organic certification. Exempt operations must still follow all organic regulations and recordkeeping requirements, but they do not have to maintain an Organic System Plan with a certifier. Exempt operations may represent their products as organic but are not allowed to use the USDA organic seal.