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OSU/OARDC Organic Food and Farming Education and Research Program
(OFFER) Policy for Organic Farming Operations on Wooster Campus
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Purpose
The OARDC’s OFFER Program has developed this policy in an effort to define services and
costs that are provided to investigators who conduct field research on certified organic research
fields at OARDC Wooster, and to define responsibilities of investigators and the OFFER funded
organic farm management staff.
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Rationale
This policy describes the centrally provided services which are provided by the organic farm
management staff and those which are the responsibility of the investigator.
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Current Infrastructure
The OARDC OFFER Program provides certified organic land and organic farm management
infrastructure to support OSU/OARDC faculty and staff in carrying out organic research projects
at Wooster. Basic services will be provided as detailed below. Additional services will be
provided with direct financial support for the organic farm management staff as time allows.
Financial support can be in the form of direct grant support for salaries and supplies, or through
direct payment to the OFFER program at the rate of $30 per hour.
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Definitions
OFFER Farm Management Staff includes one 1.0 FTE Organic Farm Manager whose current
support is 0.5 FTE OARDC and 0.5 FTE from various other direct and indirect sources. A part-
time Program Assistant, responsible for maintaining organic certification paperwork and annual
application and budget management for the program, is funded at 0.35 FTE from OARDC and
0.35 FTE from other direct and indirect sources. In addition, one or two seasonal field operators
may be hired on grants and/or crop proceeds to assist the Organic Farm Manager as funding
allows.
Basic Services are those non-project specific farming operations necessary to maintain the field’s
certified organic status and the basic infrastructure for specific research projects. OFFER’s
Basic services are described in detail in Sections V and VI below. Basic services will be
provided at no charge to investigators, provided there are sufficient budget resources, so that
certified plots are put into ecologically sound rotations that allow marketing of agronomic crops
when plots are not used for research.
Project Related Operations are those which are specifically defined in a research protocol to meet
experimental objectives. These operations and costs are the responsibility of the investigator.
Project related operations include project specific supplies, treatment materials, equipment, and
labor for project related data collection in order to meet experimental objectives.
Investigator is an OARDC or OSU Extension faculty or staff member who provides leadership
to a research or demonstration project. This term also refers to post doctoral associates, graduate
students and technicians associated with an investigator or project.
Grant Funds are monies granted by a funding agency or company to an investigator to support
the costs associated with conducting a research or demonstration project. Grant funds generally
cover project related expenses.
Direct Financial Support includes funds directly written into grants to support a specific project
(i.e., salaries, supplies, mileage, etc.) or paid directly to the OFFER program from another
department account to cover labor (at the rate of $30 per hour), mileage, and materials and
supplies. Direct financial support also includes the return to the program of proceeds from sale of
agronomic crops from certified organic fields per agreement with OARDC administration.
Financial Support from grant overhead includes money from indirect grant overhead allocated
to the OFFER program through special agreement with OARDC Administration. This support
is used to maintain the organic infrastructure including organic certification costs, basic farming
operations (defined above), equipment maintenance, repairs and replacement, OFFER program
vehicle expenses (maintenance, repairs, general mileage), baseline soil sampling and testing
(every three years) and all other costs associated with maintaining an organic research program.
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Organic Crop Management
- Staking and Experimental Plot Layout
OFFER Basic services: The organic farm manager will be available to consult with investigators
on measuring research plot boundaries.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators are responsible for measuring research plot
boundaries within a field in consultation with the organic farm manager in order to ensure
sufficient space is allowed for operation of farming equipment. Investigators will provide wire
flags, garden markers or other identification markers to mark replicate boundaries and individual
treatments.
- Tillage
OFFER Basic services: The organic farm management staff will provide general tillage
operations to provide an acceptable seed bed to establish agronomic or horticultural crop
research fields.
Investigator responsibilities: Treatment-specific tillage equipment which is not in OFFER’s
inventory must be provided by investigator, or investigator must cover expense of renting
treatment specific equipment. The investigator will cover all costs associated with transporting
borrowed or rented equipment, including labor and transportation costs, either through direct
grant support or reimbursement from other funds.
- Organic Fertility and Soil Amendments
OFFER Basic services: The organic farm management staff will provide uniform broadcast
applications of liming materials, organic fertility and/or other soil amendments. Additional
fertility application needs for research projects will be provided with direct financial support for
labor and the cost of amendments.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators are responsible for informing the organic farm
manager of fertility needs in sufficient time to secure necessary material (60 days for OARDC
compost, 6 months for OARDC manure or NaturePure poultry compost). Specialized
amendments are the responsibility of the investigator, including cost of procurement and delivery
or transportation.
- Planting Operations
OFFER Basic Services: The OFFER farm management staff will perform planting operations
for agronomic crops on certified organic fields that return proceeds from harvested crops.
In addition, OFFER farm management staff will assist with planting operations for research
projects that provide direct grant support to OFFER, or provide compensation to the OFFER
Program at $30 per hour. Priorities for scheduling planting operations will be given to planting
of grant funded projects that return direct support to the OFFER program, or return crop
proceeds from agronomic crop sales. Weather and soil conditions may also dictate the priority
for planting operations.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators are responsible for providing specialized equipment,
supplies and supplemental labor for planting research projects. Investigators should provide
supplemental labor for planting horticultural crops when required. Investigators will schedule
planting operations with OFFER farm management staff with advance notice (minimum three
days recommended).
- Seed
OFFER Basic services: The organic farm management staff will provide seed for agronomic
crops of a uniform cultivar or variety where required across an entire project as long as proceeds
from crop sales return to the OFFER Program.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators are responsible for providing seed for research
projects that require specialized seed varieties, lots, etc. Seed used for research must comply with
the National Organic Standards so as to not jeopardize certification of the research land or have
special permission for use by OEFFA certification staff.
- Cover Crops
OFFER Basic services: The organic farm management staff will provide and plant cover crop
seed of their choice in order to abide by organic certification rules.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators are responsible for providing cover crop seed for
research projects, or for special requests. In addition, investigators requiring specific cover crop
applications or treatments on a certain timetable must work with the farm manager to schedule
such treatments and may be liable for hourly labor charges if additional labor is required.
- Weed Control
OFFER Basic services: The organic farm management staff will provide uniform weed control
for agronomic crops. Horticultural crops require a higher level of weed control, and assistance
will be provided if sufficient direct grant support is available.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators are responsible for experimental treatments
specifically related to weed control. Investigators will provide all experimental materials, labor,
supplies and equipment for weed control experiments.
- Irrigation
OFFER Basic services: The organic farm management staff will assist with set up of irrigation
equipment and application of irrigation water as time allows provided irrigation equipment and
water supply is available.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators will provide materials, labor, replacement supplies
and equipment to apply irrigation water for research projects.
- Harvest
OFFER Basic services: Harvest of grains from agronomic research plots will be provided for
projects with direct grant support. Assistance will be provided for the harvest of horticultural
crops with direct grant support as time permits. The organic farm management staff will harvest
agronomic crops that return crop proceeds to the program. The organic farm management staff
will have jurisdiction over sale and marketing of crops. Crops not fit for livestock or human
consumption or determined to be unmarketable due to substandard quality will be destroyed.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators and staff are responsible for collecting detailed data
on harvest quantity and quality, collecting and managing samples, making selections of breeding
material and collecting seed or seed lots during harvest.
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Organic Livestock Research
OFFER Basic services: The organic farm management staff will be responsible for basic
services to crop fields as described above. Additional services may be available if direct grant
support is provided.
Investigator responsibilities: Investigators and staff are responsible for all animal care.
Investigators and staff are responsible for coordinating needs with the organic farm management
staff for animal movement, field operations, etc. Investigators will manage their experiments
within the scope of NOP rules or receive specific exceptions from OEFFA so as not to
compromise certification of the research lands.
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