If you are responsible for organic compliance for your farm or business, we highly recommend checking out the NOP Organic Integrity Learning Center (OILC). Although most of these courses were written for organic certifiers and inspectors, we find that they are just as beneficial for certified organic operations.
These free, fully online courses are an excellent tool for helping you overcome issues, understand the regulations, and improve your organic systems.
OneCert has reviewed all the modules and we suggest the following four courses for all types of organic operations:
- NOP-010 Introduction to the USDA Organic System
- NOP-020 Sound and Sensible Organic Certification
- NOP-140 Recordkeeping
- NOP-150 Organic System Plans
If your operation imports any organic products or ingredients from outside the United States, add:
- NOP-060 Import Oversight Essentials
If your operation applies labels for, or sells products in retail packaging, look into:
- NOP-160 Organic Regulations and Retail Labeling
Organic Livestock operations should also review:
- NOP-090 Organic Dairy Compliance
Organic farms may also want to take these courses:
- NOP-220 Organic Integrity and Energy Infrastructure
- NOP-250 Natural Resources and Biodiversity
For those of you that haven’t yet applied for certification or are considering going organic, we suggest checking out this training: “Is Organic an Option for Me?”