Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP)

OCCSP provides cost share assistance to producers and handlers of agricultural products who are obtaining or renewing their certification under the National Organic Program (NOP). Certified operations may receive up to 50 percent of their certification costs paid during the program year, not to exceed $500 per certification scope.

View the 2020 Notice of Funds Availability (August 10, 2020)
View the 2019 Notice of Funds Availability (April 29, 2019)
View the Organic Certification Cost Share Program Fact Sheet (August 10, 2020)
View the News Release USDA Accepting Applications to Help Cover Costs for Organic Certification (August 10, 2020)

For more information on organic certification and regulations, visit the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s organic website.

Applying for OCCSP:

Producers and handlers may submit OCCSP applications to FSA county offices or they may apply through participating State agencies.

To apply through FSA, you can find an FSA county office near you with the Service Center Locator. The FSA OCCSP application form is available at USDA's eForms site, by selecting "Browse forms" and entering "OCCSP" in the "title or keywords" field on the search page.

State agencies may apply to administer OCCSP for 2020 through Grants.gov (Opportunity numbers USDA-FSA-SND-NOCCSP-2020 and USDA-FSA-SND-AMA-2020). Participating State agencies will be posted on this page once grant agreements are in place. Please note that State agencies may have a different application process than FSA; applicants should refer to their State agency's requirements and ensure they are using the correct application form before submitting their applications. Applicants cannot receive duplicate benefits from both FSA and a State agency.

Producers may apply for cost share assistance for organic certification expenses paid between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2020. Applications are due the next business day after Oct. 31, 2020.
State agencies may apply for grant agreements to administer the OCCSP program in FY20. FSA will accept applications from state agencies from Aug. 10, 2020 through Sept. 9, 2020.

OCCSP Reports to Congress

The annual reports to Congress provides a state-by-state overview of:

Funds used by each state
Funds reimbursed to certified organic farms and businesses
Number of certified organic farms and businesses served

View the annual reports:

Listing of State Department of Agriculture's participating in the 2020 Organic Certification Cost Share Program along with their Contact Information and/or Website.

State	Website and/or Contact Information
Alabama	Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries 1445 Federal Drive Montgomery, AL 36107-1123 Contact Information: Johnny Blackmon Phone: (334) 240-7257 Email: Johnny.blackmon@agi.alabama.gov
Alaska	State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Agriculture 1801 S Margaret Dr, Suite 12 Palmer, AK 99645 Website: http://dnr.alaska.gov/ag/Inspection/Org_Cost_Share_Application_2020.pdf Contact Information: Janelle Curtis, Agriculture Inspector Phone: (907) 745-7200 (Main) (907) 761-3881 (Direct) Email: Janelle.Curtis@alaska.gov
Arizona	Arizona Department of Agriculture 1688 West Adams Street Phoenix, AZ 85007 Website: https://agriculture.az.gov/plantsproduce/organic-certification-cost-share-program-occsp Contact Information: Ed Foster Phone: (602) 542-0947 Email: efoster@azda.gov Robert Nick Phone: - (602) 542-0439 Email: rnick@azda.gov
Arkansas	Arkansas Department of Agriculture 1 Natural Resources Drive Little Rock, AR 72205-1539 Website: https://www.agriculture.arkansas.gov/grants/ Contact Information: Karen Reynolds Phone: (501) 529-1630 Email: karen.reynolds@agriculture.arkansas.gov
California	California Department of Food and Agriculture 1220 N. Street Sacramento, CA 95814-0000 Website: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/organicprogram/costshare.html Email: CDFA.ISD_Cost_Share_Program@cdfa.ca.gov
Connecticut	Connecticut Department of Agriculture 450 Columbus Blvd., Suite 703 Hartford, CT 06103-1841 Website: https://portal.ct.gov/DOAG/Marketing/Marketing/Organic-Certification-Cost-Share-Grant-Program Contact Information: Amanda King Email: Amanda.King@ct.gov
Florida	Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 407 South Calhoun Street Mayo Building, Room 412 Tallahassee, FL 32399-0800 Contact Information: Emily Hetherington Phone: (850) 617-7291 Email: Emily.Hetherington@FDACS.gov
Kansas	Kansas Department of Agriculture 1320 Research Park Drive Manhattan, KS 66502-5000 Website: https://agriculture.ks.gov/kda-services/grants-and-cost-share-programs/organic-cost-share-program
Maine	Maine Department of Agriculture 28 State House Station Augusta, Maine 04333-0028 Contact Information: Debbie Davis Phone: (207) 287-3891 Email: Debbie.davis@maine.gov
Maryland	Maryland Department of Agriculture 50 Harry S Truman Parkway Annapolis, MD 21401-7000 Website: https://mda.maryland.gov/foodfeedquality/Pages/certified_md_organic_farms.aspx Email: organic.certification@maryland.gov
Massachusetts	Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources 251 Causeway Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02114-2151 Website: https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-the-organic-certification-cost-share-program
Minnesota	Minnesota Department of Agriculture 625 Robert Street North St. Paul, MN 55155-2538 Website: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/organic-certification-cost-share-program Contact Information: Cassie Dahl Phone: (651) 201-6134 Email: cassie.dahl@state.mn.us
Mississippi	Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce 121 North Jefferson Street Jackson, MS 39201-2804 Contact Information: Susan Lawrence Phone: (601) 359-1196 Email: susan@mdac.ms.gov
Missouri	Missouri Department of Agriculture 1616 Missouri Blvd. Jefferson City, MO 65109-1732 Website: https://agriculture.mo.gov/abd/financial/organic.php Contact Information: Christi Miller Email: Christi.Miller@mda.mo.gov
Montana	Montana Department of Agriculture 302 North Roberts Street P.O. Box 200201 Helena, MT 59620 Website: https://agr.mt.gov/Organic-CostShare
New Jersey	New Jersey Department of Agriculture 369 South Warren Street Trenton, NJ 08625-0330 Website: https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/grants/organiccostshare.html Contact Information: Nichole Steward Phone: (609) 292-5576 Email: OrganicCostShare@ag.nj.gov
New York	New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets 10B Airline Drive Albany, NY 12235-0001 Website: https://agriculture.ny.gov/farming/organic-foods-and-farming#certification-reimbursement Contact Information: Ashley Christopher Email: Ashley.Christopher@agriculture.ny.gov
North Carolina	North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 2 W. Edenton Street Raleigh, NC 27699-1020 Website: https://www.ncagr.gov/markets/commodit/horticul/ncorganics/index.htm Contact Information: Heather Barnes Phone: (919) 749-3337 Email: heather.barnes@ncagr.gov
North Dakota	North Dakota Department of Agriculture 600 E. Boulevard Avenue, Dept. 602 Bismark, ND 58505-0020 Website: https://www.nd.gov/ndda/marketing-information-division/organics/organic-certification-cost-share-program
Ohio	Ohio Department of Agriculture 8995 East Main Street Reynoldsburg, OH 43068-3342 Website: https://certification.oeffa.org/cost-share/ Phone: (614) 421-2022 Email: costshare@oeffa.org
Oregon	Oregon Department of Agriculture 635 Capitol Street, NE, Suite 100 Salem, OR 97301-2532 Website: https://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/MarketAccess/MACertification /Pages/OrganicCostShare.aspx
Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture 2301 North Cameron Street Harrisburg, PA 17110 Website: https://agriculture.pa.gov/agbiz (click on Financial Assistance) Contact Information: Michele Brookins Phone: (717) 787-5319 Email: mbrookins@pa.gov or RA-AgBusiness@pa.gov
Rhode Island	Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management 235 Promenade Street Providence, RI 02908 Website: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/agriculture/orgcert.php Forms: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/agriculture/documents/orgcossh.pdf Contact Information: Matt Green Email: Matt.Green@dem.ri.gov
South Carolina	South Carolina Department of Agriculture P.O. Box 11280 Columbia, SC 29211-1280 Website: https://agriculture.sc.gov/divisions/agency-operations/grants/
Texas	Texas Department of Agriculture P.O. Box 12847 1700 North Congress Avenue, 11th Floor Austin, TX 78701-2847 Website: https://www.texasagriculture.gov/RegulatoryPrograms/ Organics/CostShareReimbursementProgram.aspx Email: Grants@TexasAgriculture.gov
Vermont	Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets 116 State Street Montpelier, VT 05620-2901 Website: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/grants/organiccostshare Contact Information: Terry Smith Phone: (802) 828-5667 Email: Terry.Smith@vermont.gov
Virgina	Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 102 Governor Street Richmond, VA 23219-3126 Contact: Roz Stein Phone: (804) 786-3951 Email: Roz.Stein@vdacs.virginia.gov
Washington	Washington State Department of Agriculture 1111 Washington Street, SE Olympia, WA 98504-2560 Website: https://agr.wa.gov/organic Contact Information: Phone: (360) 902-1805 Email: organic@agr.wa.gov
Wisconsin	Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection 2811 Agriculture Drive Madison, WI 53718-6777 Website: https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Growing_WI/OrganicFarmingAndFood.aspx Contact Information: Kara Kasten-Olson Phone: (608) 224-5112 Email: Kara.kastenolson@wisconsin.gov