Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP)

OCCSP provides cost share assistance to producers and handlers of agricultural products who are obtaining or renewing their certification under the National Organic Program (NOP). Certified operations may receive up to 75 percent of their certification costs paid during the program year, not to exceed $750 per certification scope.

For more information on organic certification and regulations, visit the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s organic website.

Applying for OCCSP:

Producers and handlers may submit OCCSP applications to FSA county offices or they may apply through participating State agencies.

To apply through FSA, you can find an FSA county office near you with the Service Center Locator. The FSA OCCSP application form is available at USDA's eForms site, by selecting "Browse forms" and entering "OCCSP" in the "title or keywords" field on the search page.

The States listed below are also accepting OCCSP applications through their State departments of agriculture or other State agencies. Please note that State agencies may have a different application process than FSA; applicants should refer to their State agency's requirements and ensure they are using the correct application form before submitting their applications. Applicants cannot receive duplicate benefits from both FSA and a State agency.

 State

Contact Information

Alabama

Hassey Brooks & Johnny Blackmon
Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries
1445 Federal Drive, Richard Beard Building
Montgomery, AL 36107
P: (334) 240-3877
F: (334) 240-7190
Email: Hassey.Brooks@agi.alabama.gov; Johnny.Blackmon@agi.alabama.gov

Alaska

Mia Kirk
Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Agriculture
1800 Glenn Highway, Suite 12
Palmer, AK 99645
P: (907) 761-3853
F: (907) 745-7242
Email: Mia.Kirk@alaska.gov

Arizona

Ed Foster
Arizona Department of Agriculture
1688 W. Adams Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
P: (602) 542-0947
Email: efoster@azda.gov

Arkansas

Christian Olson
Arkansas Agriculture Department
1 Natural Resources Drive
Little Rock, AR 72205
P: (501) 219-6324
F: (501) 219-1697
Email: Christian.olson@aad.ar.gov

California

Sharon Parsons
California Department of Food and Agriculture
1220 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
P: (916) 900-5202
F: (916) 900-5347
Email: Sharon.parsons@cdfa.ca.gov

Connecticut

Jaime Smith
Connecticut Department of Agriculture
165 Capitol Street, Room G8-A
Hartford, CT 06106
P: (860)713-2559
F: (860)713-2516
Email: Jaime.Smith@ct.gov

Florida

Joshua Johnson
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
407 South Calhoun Street
Mayo Building, Room 412
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0800
P: (850) 617-7340
F: (850) 617-7331
Email: joshua.johnson@freshfromflorida.com

Hawaii

Hideki Yamane, Marci Clingan, & Sharon Hurd
Hawaii Department of Agriculture
1428 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814-2512
P: (808) 973-9593\...9576\...9465
F: (808) 973-9590
Email: hideki.yamane@hawaii.gov; marci.clingan@hawaii.gov; sharon.k.hurd@hawaii.gov

Kansas

Kellen L. Liebsch
Kansas Department of Agriculture
1320 Research Park Drive
Topeka, KS 66502
P: (785) 564-6726
C: (785) 564-6777
Email: Kellen.liebsch@ks.gov

Kentucky

Karen Morgan & Megan Clark
Kentucky Department of Agriculture
111 Corporate Drive
Frankfort, KY 40601
P: (502) 782-4121\(502) 782-4112
F: (502) 573-2543
Email: Karen.Morgan@ky.gov; Megan.Clark@ky.gov

Louisiana

Jeremy Hendrix
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry
5825 Florida Boulevard, Suite 1023
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
P: (225) 952-8155
F: (225) 925-3760
Email: JHendrix@ldaf.state.la.us

Maine

Debbie Davis
Maine Department of Agriculture
28 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
P: (207) 287-3891
F: (207) 287-7548
Email: Debbie.Davis@maine.gov

Maryland

Deanna Baldwin
Maryland Department of Agriculture
50 Harry S. Truman Parkway
Annapolis, MD 21401
P: (410) 841-5769
F: (410) 841-2750
E-mail: Deanna.Baldwin@maryland.gov

Massachusetts

Mary Jordan
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
251 Causeway Street, Suite 500
Boston, MA 02114
P: (617) 626-1700
F: (617) 626-1850
E-mail: Mary.Jordan@state.ma.us

Minnesota

Cassie Dahl
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
625 Robert Street North
St. Paul, MN 55155-2538
P: (651) 201-6134
F: (651) 201-6120
Email: cassie.dahl@state.mn.us

Mississippi

Michael Lasseter & Joette Pickle
Mississippi Department of Agriculture & Commerce
121 North Jefferson Street
Jackson, MS 39201
P: (601) 359-1120 and (601) 359-1131
F: (601) 354-6001
Email: MichaelL@mdac.ms.gov

Missouri

Jennifer Hentges
Missouri Department of Agriculture
1616 Missouri Boulevard
P.O. Box 630
Jefferson City, MO 65102
P: (573) 751-1199
F: (573) 751-2868
Email: Jennifer.hentges@mda.mo.gov

Montana

Georgana Webster
Montana Department of Agriculture
303 North Roberts Street
Helena, MT 59601
P: (406) 444-7804
F: (406) 444-7336
Email: gwebster@mt.gov or agrorganic@mt.gov

Nebraska

Steve Martin
Nebraska Department of Agriculture
301 Centennial Mall South
Lincoln, NE 68509
P: (402) 471-4876
F: (402) 471-2759
Email: Steve.Martin@nebraska.gov

New Hampshire

Jennifer Gornnert
NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food
25 Capitol Street
P.O. Box 2042
Concord, NH 03302-2042
P: (603) 271-7761
F: (603) 271-1109
E-mail: Jennifer.Gornnert@agr.nh.gov

New Jersey

Anne Marie Ference & Nichole Steward
New Jersey Department of Agriculture
369 South Warren Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
P: (609) 984-2224 & (609) 292-5576
F: (609) 984-2508
E-mail: annemarie.ference@ag.nj.gov; Nichole.steward@ag.state.nj.gov

New York

Anne St. Cyr
NY State Department of Agriculture & Markets
10B Airline Drive
Albany, NY 12235
P: (518) 485-9974
F: (518) 457-2716
E-mail: Anne.St.Cyr@agriculture.ny.gov

North Carolina

Heather Barnes
North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
1020 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1020
P: (919) 707-3127
F: (919) 715-0155
Email: Heather.Barnes@ncagr.gov

North Dakota

Emily Edlund
North Dakota Department of Agriculture
600 E Boulevard Ave - Room#604
Bismarck, ND 58505
P: (701) 328-2191
F: (701) 328-4567
Email: edlund@nd.gov

Ohio

Lori Panda
Ohio Department of Agriculture
8995 East Main Street
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
P: (614) 466-8798
F: (614) 466-7754
Email: Panda@agri.ohio.gov

Oregon

Agricultural Development & Marketing Program
Oregon Department of Agriculture
1207 Northwest Naito Parkway, Suite 104
Portland, OR 97209
P: (503) 872-6600
F: (503) 872-6601
Email: agmarket@oda.state.or.us

Pennsylvania

Jordan Stasyszyn
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
2301 North Cameron Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408
P: (717) 787-6901
F: (717) 787-5643
E-mail: jstasyszyn@pa.gov

Rhode Island

Matt Green
RI Department of Environmental Management, Division of Agriculture
235 Promenade Street, Room 370
Providence, RI 02908-5767
P: (401) 222-2781 Ext.4516
F: (401) 222-6047
E-mail: Matt.Green@dem.ri.gov

Texas

Brenda Tharp
Texas Department of Agriculture
1700 North Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78711
P: (512) 463-6695
Email: grants@TexasAgriculture.gov

Vermont

Marcey Hodgdon
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
116 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
P: (802) 828-3567
F: (802) 828-3831
E-mail: Marcey.Hodgdon@vermont.gov

Virginia

Bill Scruggs
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Conservation Services
102 Governor Street, Room 241
Richmond, VA 23219
P: (804) 371-6098
F: (804) 225-4434
Email: Bill.Scruggs@vdacs.virginia.gov

Washington

Brenda Book
Washington State Department of Agriculture
1111 Washington Street Southeast
2nd Floor
Olympia, WA 98504
P: (360) 902-1805
F: (360) 902-2087
Email: organicadmin@agr.wa.gov

Wisconsin

Angie Sullivan
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
2811 Agriculture Drive
P.O. Box 8911
Madison, WI 53708
P: (608) 224-5095
F: (608) 224-5107
Email: angie.sullivan@wisconsin.gov

Wyoming

Ted Craig
Wyoming Department of Agriculture
2219 Carey Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82002
P: (307) 777-6651
F: (307) 777-6593
E-mail: Ted.Craig@wyo.gov