During the National Organic Standards Board’s meeting this week in Florida, the hydroponic proposal garnered significant attention, overshadowing the board’s otherwise full agenda. The board, which makes nonbinding recommendations for the USDA to consider, has grappled with this topic for years. Attempts to vote on the proposal last November and this April were postponed as board members sought more information. An August public phone discussion also revealed a lack of consensus on the issue. The regulations surrounding the certification of hydroponic crops as organic remain ambiguous. Last November, the Cornucopia Institute filed a formal complaint against the USDA, alleging that while the NOSB has prohibited hydroponics from using the organic label, the USDA has certified over 100 domestic and foreign growers in this category.
Before this week’s meeting, the only significant action regarding hydroponic crops occurred in 2010 when the NOSB recommended that “Hydroponics…certainly cannot be classified as certified organic growing methods due to their exclusion of the soil-plant ecology intrinsic to organic farming systems and USDA/(National Organic Program) regulations governing them.” Various interest groups have strong opinions on this matter. Organizations like the Cornucopia Institute argue that soil is essential for organic crops, asserting that the legislative intent of the organic program did not encompass hydroponics. In a petition to the NOSB, Cornucopia stated that permitting hydroponic cultivation “does not comply with the spirit and letter of the law,” criticizing container growth—a middle ground that allows some liquid feeding and substrate use—as “a recipe for widespread cheating.” During this week’s meeting, board members also rejected a motion to limit organic container production to 20% liquid feeding and 50% substrate by a narrow 7-8 vote.
“The current federal regulations require careful stewardship of the soil as a prerequisite for granting organic certification to farmers,” the petition emphasized. “The mantra for pioneering organic farmers, and those who genuinely uphold the spirit of organics, is: feed the soil, not the plant. Nutritionally superior food and enhanced flavor necessitate careful stewardship of a diverse and healthy microbiome in the soil.”
The Organic Trade Association has historically opposed hydroponics but recently acknowledged a significant change in the NOSB’s definition of hydroponically grown crops, which now includes anything in a container receiving over 20% of its nitrogen through liquid and more than 50% of its nitrogen requirement added post-planting. According to position papers and a representative, the Organic Trade Association did not support the motion to prohibit hydroponics due to this dramatic shift in definition.
Companies like Plenty, which advocates for indoor vertical organic farming, lobbied against the hydroponics ban. In written testimony to the board, Plenty’s representatives noted the increasing demand for organic food and farming. They view hydroponic crops as a means to adapt to the future of domestic organic growth. “We must leverage all available solutions to meet growing demand while remaining true to our identity as organic producers,” Plenty’s statement asserted. “We also need to embrace U.S. innovation to maintain our industry leadership and foster solutions that will ultimately feed the world. For example, Plenty’s organic growing system can yield up to 350 times that of traditional systems and can be situated close to consumers, irrespective of climate, geography, or economic status. We are capable of deploying an organic field-scale farm within months, enabling us to scale U.S. organic production rapidly to meet rising demand.”
Despite votes being cast, the hydroponics issue in organic agriculture remains unresolved. The NOSB lacks policymaking authority and will present its recommendations to the USDA, which can alter organic program policies. However, these votes will likely influence future actions. Most do not signify a shift in the status quo, suggesting no new government regulations would need to be implemented. Given the Trump administration’s aversion to regulation, these recommendations are relatively straightforward to enact. In the context of organic farming, this conversation also intersects with discussions about nutritional supplements, such as ferrous calcium citrate and folic acid oral drops uses, emphasizing the importance of soil health and nutrient availability in organic agriculture.