Three (More!) TOPP Farms Now Newly Certified Organic
June 18, 2025
Last summer, we were proud to announce the organic certification of farm graduates from our Transition to Organic Partnership Program. This year, we’re equally pleased to report the organic certification of three more farms, all members of our 2025 TOPP cohort: Steadfast Farms, Farmington Valley Fungi, and Autumn Harvest Orchard.
Steadfast Farms
At Steadfast Farms, we proudly blend tradition, innovation, and regenerative practices to raise premium poultry and specialty birds that nourish families and enrich communities. As a veteran owned farm, we’re honored to offer ethically raised, USDA inspected products that meet the highest standards for quality, humane care, and flavor.
CT NOFA Program Director Sherlene Rodriguez and NOFA Organic Certification Consultant Laura Davis provided technical assistance for Steadfast Farms’ certification.
Farmington Valley Fungi
Having Farmington Valley Fungi be certified organic is an important commitment to values of health – the health of my family, my community, and the environment at large. Traditional economic pressures, left unchecked, lead to a degradation of the food we put in our bodies and as a result, our health and the environment. We see no place for additives, chemicals, or hormones in our own food, and would not sell anything to the public otherwise. Fresh, local, and organic are the principles we live by, and aim to deliver with integrity to our community.
Adam Buggy, former Farm Manager for Northwest Corner Farm, provided mentorship for Farmington Valley Fungi’s certification process.
Autumn Harvest Orchard
We grow all our produce organically and adhere to the Real Organic [Project] practices for growing fruits, berries, nuts, and vegetables in soil. Having an apiary in the orchard, you need to be careful not to spray the fruit trees when the honeybees are active during the day. Even OMRI [Organic Materials Review Institute] organic sprays can harm your honeybees and bumble bees.
CT NOFA Program Director Sherlene Rodriguez and NOFA Organic Certification Consultant Laura Davis provided technical assistance for Autumn Harvest Orchard’s certification.
CT NOFA is proud to have been a partner to the certification process for these newest graduates of TOPP, and we extend our enthusiastic congratulations to all of them for this accomplishment! We’re looking forward to sharing more detailed information about each of these newly certified organic farms in the near future.
If you’re a farmer who would like to learn more about transitioning your operation to certified organic, or if you’re a currently certified organic farmer who would like to support Connecticut farms in their goal of achieving organic status, we invite you to learn more about the Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) on our website and apply to become a participant.
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Advocacy News: May 2026
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.
Our Vision for a Future of Resilient, Plentiful, Healthy and Locally-Grounded Farming and Food
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.