Organic Handling Operations

On-Farm Value-Added Processing & Organic Certification

For many certified organic producers, the path to better margins runs through value-added processing: bagging and branding your own grain, pressing organic oils, making dried goods, producing jams or sauces, or offering custom milling. Processed organic products often command significantly higher premiums than raw commodities — and the USDA Organic label on a finished product can be a powerful brand asset. But the moment you process, package, or label your own organic products for commercial sale, you move from the NOP's crop certification framework into the handling certification framework — or you may need both. Understanding what on-farm processing requires from a certification standpoint is essential before you invest in processing infrastructure or begin marketing value-added products. The good news: if you are already certified organic as a crop or livestock producer, adding a handling scope to your existing certification is a manageable process.