Certifiably Organic

Certifiably Organic

Medina, North Dakota

The Northern Plains, and North Dakota in particular, have been at the heart of both. Maintaining as much acreage in organic production as any other state in the country, North Dakota has also been home to visionaries in a movement that continues to inspire producers and consumers around the globe. International Certification Systems, Inc. (ICS), a North Dakota-based premiere certifier in the global organic industry with operations in several countries, was created to address a cornerstone in the organic movement: fostering strong relationships and trust between the producers and consumers of our food.

Now run by Annie Kirschenmann, ICS was started over twenty years ago by her father Fred, now a revered leader and visionary in national and international agriculture circles. At that time, Fred and other producers in the region were just becoming established as organic growers and were having trouble finding markets for their products. But while there was no domestic market for organic goods, the European market was rapidly growing. As Fred and others began communicating with potential customers in Europe, they discovered that the European market required a set of standards that no certification company in the U.S. was at that time equipped to meet.

Partnering with colleagues in Europe, an organic grain trader, and several producers from the plains, Fred began building the first-ever U.S. organic certification company to meet European standards. The company would later become the first U.S. company to be accredited by the International Organic Accreditation Service. Even more unique was that the small group also set up contractual relationships with producers certified through its newly established “Farm Verified Organic” program (the first of what would become ICS’s certification programs) and exported their products directly to clients in Europe. “This helped organic producers in the Northern Plains not only find a stable market for their goods, but get paid a premium for their higher value product,” remembers Fred.

In these early days, European clients would often attend annual meetings of organic producers in the Northern Plains to discuss the upcoming year’s needs. Fred remembers those meetings fondly. “We had this thing they call relationship marketing. Our customers in Europe were interested in a reliable source of products and suppliers, and we were interested in a reliable market. We were truly mutually dependent, and it was really kind of fun,” recalls Fred. “We’d sit at the table and one of the buyers would spark discussion by asking, ‘Well what price do you need for your wheat?’ The buyers would factor in the duty and transport costs and then we would ask what they thought the market could bear. We always ended up with a price that we all could live with.”

Annie, the current President and CEO of the company, joined her father in the company when the business was established in North Dakota. Initially her office was the mobile home on her family’s organic farm. Since that time, Annie has helped continue and renew the founders’ interest in helping producers reach consumers, while positioning the company as a global leader in certification systems. The company recently built new headquarters in Medina, North Dakota, and has more than twenty employees with offices in North Dakota, South Dakota, California, Minnesota, Great Britain, and Mexico. “When I started I knew all the clients personally. Now we certify over 150,000,000 acres in the U.S. and Canada alone.” Reincorporated from Farm Verified Organics to International Certification Services, Inc., the company now maintains steady growth and offers a wide variety of certification services for growers, processors, and manufacturers alike. Their flagship program, however, remains the Farm Verified Organic certification program.

Today’s certification programs continue to build consumers’ confidence. “There is a lot more awareness amongst consumers. They are increasingly concerned about environmental quality, health, and safety in our food system. Producers are watching this and also learning,” explains Christina Dockter, ICS’s Director of Corporate Operations. While debates over standards for food production continue, an FVO label indicates to consumers that the product has been grown according to the highest standards.

Twenty years since its inception, ICS also continues working to better accommodate producers’ ability to meet these goals. Recently, ICS pushed back the timetable for producers, allowing them more time after harvest and before the spring planting season to submit their production plans. Now, farmers are expected to submit their production plans to ICS before the end of the year. By February of the next year, ICS will have reviewed the plan and provided comments so that producers know what changes must be made before the planting season.

Inspectors, accredited through the Independent Organic Inspectors Association, then survey the farm from June through August. They verify that producers are growing products based on a core set of organic principles, including reducing inputs that may have a negative impact on the environment, maintaining long-term soil fertility, fostering on-farm biological diversity, recycling nutrients and resources efficiently, maintaining the integrity and nutritional value of food, and developing new technologies. Livestock producers must additionally prove they provide care that meets the health and behavioral needs of the animal. While these principals have been added to slightly over time, they still closely reflect the standards Fred and other regional producers agreed on years ago.

In the fall, while producers are preparing their production plans for the following year, ICS runs organic processor and manufacturer certification. Processors that are organic or want to label a line of products as organic bring ICS in to conduct regular inventories of what comes in and out of the facilities and how well organic and non-organic products are segregated. For example, Dakota Growers Pasta in Carrington, North Dakota, recently launched an organic pasta line which ICS certifies, enabling the plant to receive market premium for their products.

Annie continues to see great opportunity for organic production in North Dakota. “For ten years it has continued to grow at roughly twenty percent a year, far faster than any other sector,” she says. “A lot of producers are looking for a way to add value to their system, and organic is a great way of doing so.”

As the business accelerates alongside the organic industry, Annie works to balance smart business development with her original mission of helping producers reach new markets and gain value for their products. She recently launched a non-profit company called FARRMS (Foundation for Agricultural and Rural Resources Management and Sustainability), which is housed in the ICS ?offices. Responding to increasing requests for education and advice that come to ICS, FARRMs will offer education and training services to producers interested in making the transition to organic agriculture. “One of the biggest barriers to making the shift is changing one’s mind about the way to farm and just knowing where to start,” notes Annie.

Both visionary and savvy businesswoman, Annie is integral to ICS’ continuing success. Reflecting on the changes in the industry she notes, “As the organic market becomes less and less of a side show and more mainstream, it attracts a lot of players. Organic products coming out of some countries are becoming increasingly cheaper and more competitive with American organic production. People are increasingly thinking about what’s beyond organic agriculture.”

“Some are thinking about regionalism and ‘food miles,’” Annie continues, referring to the distance food travels to market. “[These ideas] may be an opportunity or challenge for the northern plains where farms are often distant from market centers.” She further emphasizes, “In whatever we do, we want to see our business continue to grow responsibly and in a way that creates a stronger and stronger bridge between consumers and producers.”