Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF)

The goal of the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), a non-profit organization founded in 1990, is to advance organic agriculture through scientific research. As a champion of organic farmers across the U.S., we work to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems by cultivating organic research, education, and federal policies that bring more farmers and acreage into organic production. Through these efforts, we are working to create a more resilient and sustainable agricultural system that values healthy environments and healthy people.

OFRF grant funding advances scientific knowledge and improves the practices, ecological sustainability, and economic prosperity of organic farming. To date, OFRF has invested over $3M and awarded 355 grants. Research results from OFRF-funded grants are provided for free.

Providing educational resources is also an important part of our mission. Our recent Soil Health and Organic Farming series of guidebooks and webinars provide an analysis of decades of research related to building soil health and organizes it by topic for greater accessibility and ease-of-use. All of our educational materials online and available for free.

Our third core area is advocating for federal programs and policies that support the unique needs of organic agriculture and working to ensure the voices of organic farmers and ranchers are heard in Washington, DC. In 2002, OFRF was instrumental in securing the first dedicated USDA funding for organic agriculture of $3 million annually. In the 2008 Farm Bill, OFRF worked to secure $78 million for organic research, a historic five-fold increase from the $15 million allocated in the expiring 2002 legislation. Now in the 2018 Farm Bill, we can proudly say that USDA’s funding for organic agriculture research became permanent, steadily increasing to $50 million annually by 2023.