An overview of certification for small farms

The opportunity to run your own business and be your own boss is full of appeal. Farming is a great way to make your own hours, and approach life on your terms. So when someone tells you to follow rules and regulations, it’s not always an easy thing to accept.

Although certification might seem like a lot of work, however, the benefits outweigh the hassle. The most important benefit to being certified is access to certain markets. For example, the Good Agricultural Practices certification often means a farmer can sell to grocery stores or other large-scale consumer markets. Without the Good Agricultural Practices certification, a farmer can rarely expand beyond private or food service buyers.

Even if a grocery store or other client doesn’t explicitly ask for certification, it might affect your reputation and re-purchase rates with your existing customers.

Certification is a broad term containing a number of different vetting processes that are provided by state, federal, and private organizations. These processes usually have the aim of regulating or safeguarding particular industries from legal liability or commercial monopolies.

For farms, certification will often focus on ensuring crops are safe to eat, pesticides are applied correctly, or that a farm won’t pose a safety risk to water or living conditions of nearby communities.

Read more at Upstart University