Organic Orchard Resources

Resources for Organic Growers

  • OrganicA Project: A research and demonstration project housed at the University of Vermont to provide information for New England apple growers interested in organic apple production.
  • Applenet is an online discussion group for alternative methods of commercial apple production.

Organic Apple Certification

For growers with over $5,000 annual sales, products can only be called “organic” if they have been USDA organically certified. Essentially (with only rare exceptions) only products that either:

  1. Have organic approval statement on their EPA label
  2. Appear on either the OMRI Organic Spray Materials List (Organic Materials Review Institute website)
  3. Or appear on the Washington State Organic Materials Lists & Material Registration page (Washington State Department of Agriculture website) are allowed to be applied to crops if they are going to be labeled organic.

The registered certifying agency in Maine is MOFGA Certification Services. Certifying agents from other states can also be used in Maine.