The Organic Science and Research Investment Act: What It Is and How It Benefits All Farmers
What Is the Organic Science and Research Investment Act?
The OSRI Act would strategically identify and expand the USDA’s investments into organic research and data programs. Key provisions include:
- Coordinating and Expanding Organic Research Initiative – Directs USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics agencies to catalog and strengthen organic research, ensuring coordination and growth across programs.
- Increased funding for Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) – Steps up funding from $60 million in 2026 to $100 million by 2031, while expanding priorities to include climate change, organic alternatives to prohibited substances, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
- Authorization of Researching the Transition to Organic Program (RTOP) – Provides Congressional authorization for the RTOP, currently known as the Organic Transitions Research Program (ORG), with $10 million annually from 2026–27 and $12 million from 2028–31.
- Doubling funding for the Organic Data Initiative (ODI) – $10 million over the life of the Farm Bill to improve data for risk management and market development, while directing ERS to conduct a comprehensive study of the economic impacts of organic agriculture.
These policies directly respond to the reality that organic agriculture currently represents over 6% of U.S. food sales and 15% of produce sales, yet the USDA’s investments into organic-applicable research are less than 2% of research budgets. Importantly, organic agricultural research is applicable to all farm operations, while research into more efficient use of synthetic inputs, or compatibility of genetic engineering with chemistry applications can never apply to an organic farm.