Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 5/25/18

The organic lobby is adjusting its game plan after losing out on some big-ticket policy items at USDA. The past couple of months have been particularly tough for the Organic Trade Association, which represents the bulk of the industry. In March, USDA withdrew an organic livestock and poultry welfare rule, and earlier this month it pulled the plug on an organic checkoff effort — both policies that OTA had championed for years.

"The industry has been built on a public-private partnership that, in many ways, is strained right now," Laura Batcha, CEO and executive director of OTA, told reporters at a media briefing on Thursday. "We're really looking to press ourselves as a private sector to find the places where those frictions create opportunities to move forward."

Leaning into the private sector: Batcha pointed to a new, industry-driven organic fraud prevention pilot project as an example of organics "shifting more weight" to the private sector side of the equation — and she was upbeat about the industry's ability to advance its interests. But it's clear that organic industry leaders are more than a little concerned about USDA's apparent change in course on organic policy.

Batcha said OTA was blindsided by USDA's decision to terminate the organic checkoff proposal. The department said that its decision, announced last week, was based on "uncertain industry support for and outstanding substantive issues with the proposed program." OTA has sued USDA for pulling the plug on the organic livestock rule.