News

Thanks to support through the USDA’s Transition to Organic Partnership Program, CT NOFA has made available this Organic Poultry record keeping checklist. This checklist is intended to provide a framework for management of records that are required when a farm or food production operation is preparing to certify organic, or a current organic farm or production facility is preparing for recertification.

Even while midterm Federal elections are heating up for Congressional races, and state elections for all of the legislators, the Governor, and all of the other constitutional officers are also rolling along, behind the scenes coalitions are building for legislation to be introduced next year.

CT NOFA is proud to announce that we'll be returning to Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, for our 45th annual winter conference on March 6, 2027. Save the date!

CT NOFA is proud to announce the launch of our Equipment Share Program. In partnership with The Hickories in Ridgefield, Connecticut, this program aims to provide both commercial farmers and home gardeners free access to both specialized equipment and expertise in a shared environment. Equipment Share days at The Hickories will include free soil analysis, seed winnowing services, nut cleaning, compost tea brewing workshops, and much more.

The Good News: CT Senator Chris Murphy has introduced a bill (bipartisan and bicameral) to increase funding for Agricultural Management Assistance to $30 million and to expand the eligible uses for these funds to include “soil health improvements, composting, implementing organic farming, and food safety certification in addition to existing authorized uses such as water management structure and soil erosion control.” Let’s thank Senator Murphy for introducing this bill! The Bad News: The Farm Bill passed the House of Representatives on April 30, despite 320 food, farm, and conservation organizations, including CT NOFA, voicing our opposition to a bill that does not fix SNAP, does not support new and beginning farmers, and does not adequately support conservation programs or organic agriculture. Now it goes to the Senate and we need to urge both of Connecticut's Senators to reject this Farm Bill.

In concluding its annual retreat, the Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council (NOFA IC) reaffirms the values that have grounded our work for 55 years. Our vision is that every person is able to live their life with healthy food, clean water and air, community, livelihood, dignity, and purpose within the means of our life-giving planet. We seek that vision on every level, from our households and farms to our communities, states, bioregions, nation, and world. For that vision to be fulfilled, every person, no matter their origin or circumstances, must have all their basic human needs met without degrading the air, water, soil, ecosystems, and climate which we have been given and on which we depend for our lives.