Demeter Association January Newsletter

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Demeter Newsletter -- January 2025

Greetings from Demeter!

In this issue:
+ Certification Cycle Update and Renewal Schedule

+ Feature: Arizona Muse and Sustainability in the Fashion Industry

+ Organic Funding removed from Farm Bill

+ Join a Working Group to determine Biodynamic Policy

+ In the News: Organic Wine Market Analysis

+ World Soils Day

+ Sauerkraut Juice in Remediation of Glyphosate - Contaminated Soils

+ Announcements of upcoming Conferences

+ Staff Corner -- Attending the Virginia Biological Farming Conference

Please send newsletter content suggestions or questions to: [email protected]

Welcome to 2025!

DEMETER BIODYNAMIC® CERTIFICATION

YEARLY TIMELINE

A look ahead at the year to come

Demeter Renewal Announcement:
- Please be on the lookout for the 2025 Renewal Announcement, this will be coming late February via email.
- Renewal documentation IS DUE BY APRIL 1^st, 2025
Certificates – Farms and Processors
- Once payment is made for the 2025 year and all Findings from your 2024 inspection have been resolved, an updated certificate will be issued good through June 30, 2026.
Certificates – Traders
- Once payment is made for the 2025 year you will receive a brief request for completion of your annual desk audit. Once finished, Demeter will issue your new certificate good through June 30, 2026.
Inspection – Farms and Processors Only
- Annual inspections can occur for each operation around the same time each year , but the schedule can vary, based on the availability of the operation and the inspector.
- Inspectors will be reaching out to schedule inspection with operations directly.
  - We ask operations to respond to the inspection requests as soon as they can as inspectors are busy trying to plan inspection trips to make them as cost effective as possible.
Findings Report: After the inspection, the inspector submits a report to the Demeter office. A Certification Specialists then reviews the report and issues a Findings Report to the operation based on the findings at the inspection.
- Inspection Report Submission: Due within 30 days of inspection.
- Review of Inspection Report: We are aiming to have the Final Review of your Demeter inspection report sent to you 60 days after report submission by the inspector.
- Findings Report: Response is requested within 15 days, however if more time is needed, we are happy to extend this due date.

~ Peace, Blessings and Gratitude to all ~

Sarah Rhynalds

Questions about certification?

Please contact Sarah: [email protected].

Notes from the Field...

We are reserving a spot in each of our newsletters to feature a farmer or other certified business owner. If you'd like to write a brief article about your experience with Biodynamic Production, Processing, or Marketing, or answer some interview questions about your operation, we'd love to share it with our readers!

Please contact Nell at [email protected] for more details.

Arizona Muse Focuses on Establishing

Demeter Certification for the Fashion Industry

As a model and founder of DIRT, a foundation working on creating sustainability in the fashion industry, Arizona Muse has spent years taking a critical look at the industry, its significant environmental impact, and the potential for implementation of sustainable practices. Her 2023 Tedx Talk takes her listeners through the production of one dress, looking at the steps involved from the origin of each component (agriculture, mining, factory production), and the environmental impact of each process. The human costs are also detailed, as the workers in each stage of production of one of the billions of garments reaching our shores each year are often grossly underpaid and exposed to many negative health impacts during the manufacturing process. She also notes that the eventual disposal of these products has become a massive waste problem. The only truly sustainable method of disposal would be if the fabric was manufactured in such a way as to allow natural breakdown, returning to soil at the end of its usefulness as a garment.

Muse’s talk focusses on the role that Demeter and Biodynamic certification can play in the industry. Demeter’s holistic approach to certification is crucial if a transformation toward sustainability in fashion is to occur. Demeter’s certification covers the agricultural production, processing, packaging, and also eventual disposal of these products.

While a full Biodynamic Standard for textile growing and manufacturing has not yet been established worldwide, Muse and her organization DIRT has been working with Biodynamic Federation Demeter International (BFDI) to establish all of the components of this standard. A section on Dyes has now been completed, covering both agricultural production and processing standards. She writes, “Nine more standards to go! Cotton, wool, silk, cashmere, leather, basts (hemp and linen), tree fibers, feathers, and mushroom leather.”

Arizona Muse serves on the Biodynamic Demeter Alliance Board of Directors and on the Economic Advisory Council. She is a Fashion Sustainability Consultant and the founder of DIRT Charity – Foundation for the Regeneration of Earth. You can listen to her full Tedx Talk here: Turning fashion into a climate solution.

Congress Fails to Fund Organic Cost Share

and Other Organic Programs

By Evrett Lunquist, Director of Certification

When Congress passed the spending package to avert a federal shutdown and extend the Farm Bill for one year, funding was excluded for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program, the Organic Data Initiative, and the Organic Certification Trade and Tracking Program. These programs cost a little over $10 million per year and are a drop in the bucket of Farm Bill spending, yet these programs are fundamentally supportive of the organic industry including those dually certified as Biodynamic. Small producers are especially affected, whose certification expenses are a significant portion of their operating expenses.

While we are shocked by this news, we are also not surprised. Federal funding for organic programs seems to walk a perilous tightrope and has been cut previously. I first learned of this news from the National Organic Coalition: Breaking News: Congress Fails to Fund Critical Organic Programs in Farm Bill Extension.

First, call your federal representatives and senators to share your thoughts and demand that funding for these essential programs is restored. Without this funding, there is the risk that the landscape of organic producers and processors will diminish rapidly. Second, if you are considering dropping organic certification, please know that you can be certified Biodynamic as a stand-alone certification. About one-third of our Demeter certified operations are not certified organic. Demeter will verify the organic requirements during the certification process with no additional charge to you beyond possible additional inspection time charged by the inspector.

Licensees Invited to Participate in a Working Group to

Help Determine International Biodynamic Standards Revisions

Demeter USA works closely with Biodynamic Federation Demeter International (BFDI) on development of the Biodynamic standards. Licensees are invited to have direct involvement with the standards-making process. BFDI has announced three working groups that will meet online to discuss the following topics:

Working group – Extruded Products:

This working group is led by Marc Meli and will discuss the extrusion of products mainly to produce vegan cheese.

Working group – Animals on the farm:

This working group is led by Alysoun Bolger and supported by Ian Henderson. It will discuss the position of animals on the farm with main focus on feed and fodder.

Working group – Copper:

This working group is led by Waala Mohamad and Jim Fullmer. There are several ongoing/expiring/aimed exemptions for the use of copper on different crops.

BFDI has issued an invitation to all producers and licensees to participate in any of these groups, as constituents with valuable knowledge and opinions to share. If you are interested, please email josephine.van-santen@demet er.net for more information. Please also let Demeter USA know about your interest at [email protected].

- Staff Corner -

Natalie Brinkley

Certification Specialist

Visiting Churchtown Dairy with Jennie and Jean-David.

Highlights from the Virginia Biological Farming Conference

The 25^th annual Virginia Biological Farming Conference was held at The Hotel Roanoke, January 10-12. It was marvelous to see the conference well attended, especially with at least three presenters talking about Biodynamic farming in their sessions. There were so many highlights of the conference but for brevity I’ll mention Niaz Dorry, Jon Jackson, Amyrose Foll, and Nigel Palmer, who are doing truly amazing work in the world with and for farmers. It is always lovely spending time with and learning from Jeff Poppen, and Alex Tuchman continues sharing his joy in working with pollinator plants and honeybees.

I attended Nigel Palmer’s pre-conference workshop on “Low-cost, No-Cost Sustainable Farm-Made Mineral Amendments”. He was an aerospace engineer for 36 years and more recently has been asking: What are the effects of your actions [in agricultural practices], what is in the input you’re using, and why are you using it?

He spoke about the many advantages of making on-farm plant ferments. In short, he takes the plants they’re growing, ferments the plant material (preferably during an ascending moon), and turns them into foliar sprays or drenches to return nutrients to plants and soil. Brent Wills, VABF Program Manager and local farmer - who also has a Biodynamic bumper sticker on his trailer - brought an array of ferments he made based on Nigel’s recommendations.

The most fascinating highlight of the weekend was a study Nigel mentioned published in November 2024 which found, “[raw sauerkraut juice], a biological cocktail of glyphosate-degrading microorganisms, or their combination, significantly reduced the level of this contaminating mineral immobilizing phytotoxin in soil and significantly increased crop yield and quality.”

In the News...

Popularity of Organic Wines is on the rise

Driven by younger buyers, the organic wine market is predicted to nearly triple in value by the year 2030.

According to a recent report by InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd., the organic wine market was valued at US$9.84 billion in 2021 and is set to reach an impressive US$25.07 billion by 2030, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 11.3%.

The surge in interest in organic wines appears to relate to the buying power of Millennials, and their preference for sustainable production and high quality, allowing organic and other similar certifications to increase market share with this group.

World Soil Day Celebrated on December 5th

What group of people would appreciate and support the celebration of the earth’s soils more than Biodynamic farmers?

On December 5^th, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) celebrated World Soil Day to highlight the critical role of healthy, biodiverse soil in sustainable food systems.

The 2024 World Soil Day theme was “Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage” and focused on the need for abundant and accurate data to support decision-making related to land management. The event also engaged citizens around the world through soil-related contests, media, and publications for children and adults.

Resources for this event, related to soils and soil conservation can be found here: World Soil Day | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Every year, 10 million hectares (nearly 25 million acres) of arable land are lost due to agricultural practices, deforestation, and other human activities, according to the FAO. Billions of tons of fertile soil are lost each year due to erosion. This is clearly a crisis, as soils are essential for food production, sequestering carbon, maintaining ecosystems, and supporting life on the planet.

In the area of soil conservation, as in so many other areas, Biodynamic farming can serve as a blueprint for methodologies that not only protect soils but also actively work to improve soil biodiversity and organic matter, and to sequester carbon.

To quote from the Biodynamic Farm Standard:

“Bare tillage year-round is prohibited. Soil carbon (i.e., humus) levels must be maintained and ideally increased over time. During the growing season, tillage must be kept at a minimum avoiding bare exposed soil for long periods of time. Frequency and type of tillage will be documented in the Biodynamic System Plan or other form of documentation. Each year at least 20% of annual and perennial cultivated areas must include a soil building crop such as sod, pasture, cover crops and green manures.”

Biodynamic Farming is intended to, “generate inputs out of the life of the farm system itself rather than importing them from outside, the heart of a Biodynamic farm’s fertility system is the sequestering and recycling of carbon. Crop rotation and integration of animal agriculture also assist in reducing petrochemical inputs compared to conventional agricultural practices. These factors, in addition to Biodynamic farming’s focus on improving soil health, water quality and biodiversity, combine to make it one the highest paradigms of sustainable, regenerative agriculture.”

Soil conservation is at the heart of the Biodynamic movement. Through management and use of the preparations, Biodynamic farmers have the tools to generate soils rich in humus and diverse in micro and macro organisms, supporting the metabolic processes which create healthy, nutrient-dense crops. This is something worth celebrating!

Sauerkraut Juice can Remediate Soil Contaminated with Glyphosate

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, has been shown to persist through livestock digestive systems and can contaminate manure to the point of affecting soil nutrient accessibility, according to a study published in November, 2024 in HortScience: Saga of Soggy Sauerkraut

Glyphosate soil contamination from conventional poultry manure was determined to have impaired the absorption of essential minerals by the 2022 cabbage crop, which caused cell wall issues that degraded the quality of that year’s organic sauerkraut, resulting in a soggy product that needed to be discarded.

The study went on to explore ways that glyphosate-contaminated soil can be remediated. Among several compounds tested, raw sauerkraut juice containing Lactobacillus plantarum bacteria, along with two other microbial mixtures, were shown to be effective in reducing soil glyphosate levels by 80% to 90% within 6 to 7 months.

Currently, the USDA Organic Standards allow off-farm manure sourced from conventional farms, as long as the manure can be verified to have not been treated with any prohibited products, or contain prohibited beddings or bedding treatments. It does not require residue testing, or reckon at all with the diets of the source livestock.

The Biodynamic Farm Standard is more restrictive, stressing the use of manure from on-farm livestock, or barring that, nearby organic farms. Regarding conventional manures, the Standard states, “Animal manures from animals fed genetically modified fodder must not be brought in. If proof that the manure is free from GMO’s cannot be given or GMO-free manure is not available, Demeter USA can give an exemption. Criteria for issuing an exemption must include: 1) The manure must be composted for at least a year, 2) must be composted with Biodynamic preparations, and 3) the compost must be identified and processed as a separate pile.”

Testing the use of the preparations in breaking down glyphosate would be an interesting follow-up study!