An Organic Producers’ Resource Guide to the Four Corners States
Guide provides organic farming information online.
The Southwest Marketing Network (SWMN) is proud to announce
the publication of an Organic Producers’ Resource Guide to the Four
Corners States. The SWMN works with farmers, ranchers, food and
fiber processors, and agricultural organizations in Arizona, Colorado,
New Mexico, and Utah. Its goals are to ensure that new, existing, and
prospective Southwest agricultural producers, especially small-scale,
alternative, and minority producers, connect to others by having access to
risk management tools, business and marketing strategies, technical and
financial assistance, crop insurance information and assistance, and peer
examples needed to improve their marketing success.
In 2005, inspired by requests from farmers, ranchers, and service
organizations in the Four Corners Region, the SWMN proposed the
creation of a guide that could help provide organic producers, and
those interested in transitioning to organic agriculture, with contacts
and other resources relative to organic production in each of the Four
Corners States. The guide, created in collaboration with Colorado State
University and the National Center for Appropriate Technology, contains
the latest information on the United States Department of Agriculture’s
National Organic Program; how to get started in and/or transition to
organic production; links to regional organic producer organizations; a
list of regional inspection agencies; reasons to become certified; some of
the costs and benefits of being organic; organic educational, marketing,
and business resources; testimonials and stories from organic farmers
and ranchers in the SWMN; listings of analytical labs and services;
appropriate extension and other publications; and contact information
for Land Grant University faculty with expertise and or interest in the
production and marketing of organics.
The resource guide is available on the SWMN’s website: www.swmarketing.ncat.org.
Katy Pepinsky,
recent M.Ag. graduate in
Extension Education