With support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program, Oregon Tilth developed a series of farmer-to-farmer case studies on best practices in recordkeeping. The records of a certified organic farm’s operations and activities demonstrate where promise and practice meet for an inspector and certifier. An annual mandatory inspection examines the integrity and accountability an organic operation, from pest management to soil conditions to contamination prevention and more. Learn about recordkeeping from the inside look at different recordkeeping systems from four different farms.
An inside look at
Wholesome
Harvest Farm
On the top shelf of the bookcase in Wholesome Harvest’s office,
two well-labeled binders lean against each other: “Organic Inputs”
and “Organic Controls.” The two binders document the farm’s
organic practices from past to present, containing a library of
records for Wholesome Harvest’s staff as well as for their organic
inspector. Wholesome Harvest’s office administrator, Lindsay,
created the binders as part of a recordkeeping system for each
material input that is purchased and applied on the farm.
M aterials us ed on th e farm are categ or i z e d as:
Controls
foliar applications and
pest/disease controls
applied to the soil
or plants
OR
Inputs
compost, minerals
and amendments
added directly to
the soil
Recordkeeping Case Study: Documenting Material Records
Using Maps to Capture Additional Information
Each binder has identical maps of
every field on Wholesome Harvest
Farm. Whenever a material is
applied, Lindsay makes a note of it
on the corresponding field map by
writing down the material name,
application amount, coverage area
and date. The farm team uses maps
to create a visual history of material
applications, enabling everyone to
look up input records quickly when
requested by an inspector. Maps are
instrumental in helping farm owner,
Chris, make informed decisions about
what to apply to his fields from one
year to the next. “We color code each
material that we use,” says Lindsay.
“If Chris applies compost to a certain
field, I’ll shade that area on the map
purple. Then next year, if Chris
needs to look up when he last added
compost to a field, he just opens the
binder and looks for purple shading
rather than having to sift through a
log of written notes.”
pond
Material Records
Season: 2014
Wholesome Harvest Farm – Wisconsin
Section E
Veggies Plus
300 LBS | ACRE
5/1/14
Compost
1 0 TO N S | AC R E
5/ 1 0/ 1 4
Chicken PELLETS
woods
Section a
100 LBS | ACRE
5/11/14
VITAL MATERIALs INFORMATION
FOR YOUR INSPECTION:
Wholesome Harvest’s
Best Practices for
+ Product Name
Documenting
Materials
+ Manufacturer Name
+ ORIGINAL OR PHOTOCOPY OF Label with
Ingredients
+ purchase receipts
+ quantity and location of material applied
+ Compliance documentation
(OMRI certificate or certifier approval letter)
Categorize
your records
Create separate binders or folders
for the different types of records
you need to keep. “We keep our
material receipts in separate folders in our filing cabinet, making
them easy to pull out for an
inspector,” says Lindsay.
Organize
by date
Write dates on purchase orders,
receipts, and input records so you can
archive all records chronologically
by year. Reviewing the sequence
of material applications on your
farm will help you anticipate the
nutrient needs of your fields and
crops, plan crop rotations and
purchase materials.
Document
your materials
Inspectors may ask for documentation on any of your materials to
verify approval for use. Always
document and save the product
label complete with brand name,
manufacturer and ingredient list
for all the materials that you use
on the farm.
Resources: Approved Material Databases
Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI): http://www.omri.org
Washington State Department of Agriculture Approved Materials List:
http://agr.wa.gov/foodanimal/organic/materialslists.aspx
GET CO NNECTED
W W W. TI LTH . O R G
confirm
with certifier
Always contact your certifier
prior to purchasing and applying
a non-OMRI listed material to
verify that it is approved for
use. The inadvertent application
of a prohibited substance can
take whole fields out of organic
production for three years.
This product was developed with support from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural
Marketing Service, National Organic Program.
(5 0 3 )3 7 8 – 0 6 9 0
@O RE G ON T I LT H
All Regions
PDF
4019, 4019, OT_RecordKeepingSeries_Materials_2016.pdf, OT_RecordKeepingSeries_Materials_2016.pdf, 948796, https://cms.organictransition.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/OT_RecordKeepingSeries_Materials_2016.pdf, https://cms.organictransition.org/resource/recordkeeping-case-study-documenting-material-records/ot_recordkeepingseries_materials_2016-pdf/, , 1, , , ot_recordkeepingseries_materials_2016-pdf, inherit, 4018, 2024-01-08 08:10:20, 2024-01-08 08:10:20, 0, application/pdf, application, pdf, https://cms.organictransition.org/wp-includes/images/media/document.png
2016