Butler County farmers and food processors seeking federal organic certification for their products have until Friday to apply for partial reimbursement of the certification cost.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has secured $189,000 from the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program and $149,000 from the Agricultural Management Assistance Organic Certification Cost Program to reimburse farmers and processors up to 75 percent or $750, whichever is less, for the cost of obtaining organic certification for livestock, crops and wild crops.

Both cost share programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which hires inspectors to inspect farms and processing facilities to ensure that products marketed as organic meet federal standards.

“You know you’re getting a product that meets a pretty specific set of guidelines. If it’s USDA certified organic, it meets a very rigorous set of standards,” said Shannon Powers, a spokeswoman for the state agriculture department.

Brenckle’s Organic Farm and Greenhouse has obtained organic certification for the vegetables grown on its small farm in Zelienople for more than 10 years and sometimes obtains cost sharing. The last time was 2016 when the farm received $750 toward the $1,500 cost of certification.

The Brenckles use fertilizer made from chicken manure and organic pesticides, and document everything they apply to their fields to maintain their certification.

“The certification gives a record of accountability and assurance to your customers,” said Chris Brenckle, who helps run the family farm. “Organic is anything derived from a natural source. We do not use any conventional products. We use fertilizer that is derived from plants or animals, such as pelletized chicken manure. We use organic or untreated seed. It’s not treated with stuff to stop bugs from eating them. We do not use herbicides. We only use organically approved pesticides. They are more expensive than conventional products.”

Organic pesticides are made from plant oil or fermented bacteria protein. They are not absorbed by plants and wash off in the rain, he said.

Conventional pesticides are made from petroleum-based products or other synthetic materials and are absorbed by plants, he said.

If organic seeds are not available, farmers must verify that they checked at least three sources before they can buy untreated seeds, Brenckle said.

He said he documents fertilizing, applications of pesticides, crop rotation and everything else done to the fields to show the inspector.

“Anything done in the field has to be documented,” Brenckle said.

Obtaining the certification requires a lot of paperwork, but the Brenckles and their customers like the results.

“We like farming this way. The customers appreciate it. The ones that are looking for organic appreciate the effort we put into our produce,” Brenckle said.

Sweet corn is the Brenckles’ only produce that is not organic, but it is treated with organic pesticide, he said.

From 2015 through 2017, the Department of Agriculture reimbursed 1,258 agriculture operations a total of $1.06 million to defray the cost of organic certification.

In September, Gov. Tom Wolf announced $5 million in grants available to dairy producers transitioning to organic operations, as part of the Pennsylvania Dairy Investment Program.

Applications for the Organic Cost Share program and other programs to support sustainable farming can be found at pagrows.pa.gov under “Grants” or call 1-888-PA-GROWS for more information.