REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
Status: GOAL / DEVELOPING — RLF is not currently Certified Organic.
RLF intends to maintain organic-ready records from the beginning and pursue organic certification where it is practical, economically justified, and compatible with responsible animal care.
Certification is a legal claim
“Regenerative,” “pasture-based,” and “organic” are not interchangeable terms. Organic certification has specific land-history, feed, input, health-treatment, recordkeeping, inspection, and traceability requirements.
Until certification is granted for applicable land, animals, and products, RLF will not use the USDA Organic seal or describe products as Certified Organic.
Prepare before the application
The farm plan calls for documenting land history, approved inputs, feed sources, livestock identity and health records, treatments, grazing, production, storage, handling, and sales in a way that can support an Organic System Plan if and when the operation is ready to apply.
Animal welfare comes first
Organic status is not more important than medically necessary care. Animals that require treatment should receive appropriate treatment even when a particular treatment affects the organic status of that animal or product. Records should preserve the distinction rather than withholding necessary care.
Certification will be enterprise-specific
The economics and management burden of certification may differ across poultry, livestock, apiary, land, and future value-added products. RLF will evaluate the actual costs and benefits rather than using certification solely as a marketing label.