By Jamie Martin
Senators have reintroduced the Organic Science and Research Investment (OSRI) Act to expand research and support for organic agriculture.
The bill is led by Senators John Fetterman and Adam Schiff, with backing from other lawmakers and over 80 farm and food organizations.
The OSRI Act responds to the growing U.S. organic market and the need for better data and innovation. It focuses on USDA-funded research, aiming to reduce organic imports and ensure American farmers benefit from growing consumer demand.
Key provisions include -
- Doubling Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) funding from $50 million to $100 million.
- Creating a USDA research initiative to coordinate and grow organic research.
- Authorizing and renaming the Organic Transition Research Program to better assist farmers shifting to organic practices.
- Doubling support for organic market data collection to boost transparency and guide better investments.
- Evaluating the full impact of organic agriculture through USDA’s Economic Research Service.
A major goal of the act is to ensure that research is farmer-led and science-based. “The OSRI Act requires researchers to collaborate directly with farmers,” ensuring results that are practical and effective.
By boosting research, the act promotes farming methods like cover cropping and crop rotation—known to improve soil and reduce costs. It also highlights Traditional Ecological Knowledge, integrating Indigenous practices into USDA science.
With only 2% of USDA research dollars currently going to organic agriculture—despite organic sales accounting for over 6% of U.S. food sales—this act seeks to correct that gap and strengthen the U.S. food system.
Photo Credit: usda
Categories: National