Indiana Administrative Code
Title 375 - INDIANA STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Article 1 - INDIANA ORGANIC CERTIFICATION STANDARDS
Rule 3 - Farm Certification Standards
Section 3-3 - Soils and plants
Universal Citation: 375 IN Admin Code 3-3
Current through September 18, 2024
Authority: IC 15-15-8-17
Affected: IC 15-15-8
Sec. 3.
(a) The following methods and organic materials are approved for use on certified organic farms; all manure sources and management techniques must be clearly documented as a part of the certification process:
(1) Composted manure, preferably produced on
the farm or, if imported, free of contaminants.
(2) Uncomposted manure that has been turned
and free from internal frost for at least one hundred eighty (180) days prior
to application, preferably produced on the farm or, if imported, free of
contaminants.
(3) Fresh, aerated,
anaerobic, or sheet composted manures for use on perennials or crops not for
human consumption, or when a crop for human consumption is not to be harvested
for at least one hundred twenty (120) days following application. At
application, the soil must be sufficiently warm (about ten (10) degrees
Celsius) and moist to ensure active microbial digestion.
(4) On radishes, leafy greens, the beet
family, and other known nitrate accumulators, fresh, aerated, anaerobic, or
sheet composted manures may not be applied less than one hundred twenty (120)
days before planting. At application, the soil must be sufficiently warm and
moist to ensure active microbial digestion.
(5) Green manures, crop residues, peat moss,
straw, seaweed, and other similar materials.
(6) Composted food and forestry byproducts
that are free of contaminants.
(7)
Agricultural limestone, natural phosphates, and other slowly soluble rock
powders. Fluorine content of the natural phosphates should be balanced with
application rates so that total fluorine applied does not exceed an average of
five (5) kilograms per hectare per year in the field, or ten (10) kilograms per
hectare in the greenhouse.
(8) Wood
ash, langbeinite (sulpomag), nonfortified marine byproducts, bonemeal,
fishmeal, and other similar natural products.
(9) Cottonseed meal and blended products
containing these substances are permissible only if free of prohibited
materials.
(10) Potassium sulfate,
borax (solubor), sodium molybdate, and sulfate trace mineral salts are
permitted where agronomically justified. Application rates and distribution
should be controlled by applying these products in solution with a
well-calibrated sprayer.
(b) The following methods and materials are prohibited for use on organic certified farms:
(1) Use of sewage sludge and septic waste is
prohibited.
(2) Genetically
engineered organisms are prohibited for use in organic production and
handling.
(3) Highly soluble
nitrate, phosphate, and chloride nutrient sources, natural or synthetic, are
prohibited from use on soil or foliage.
(4) Ammonia and urea products are
prohibited.
(c) The following methods and foliar materials are approved for use in certified organic farms:
(1) Liquid or powdered seaweed
extract or other nonfortified marine byproducts.
(2) The use of materials, which
coincidentally furnish plant nutrients, such as the use of phosphoric acid to
hydrolyze fish emulsion, is a normal aspect of the industrial process. This is
not to be considered fortification for purposes of this rule. Products that are
added to the process in order to boost the analysis, as in the addition of
potassium nitrate to fish emulsion, are prohibited.
(3) Plant or animal based growth regulators
and other plant and animal products.
(4) Synthetic adjuvants, wetting agents, and
similar substances.
(5) Mineral
suspensions, such as silica.
(d) The following methods concerning seed, seedlings, grafting, and root stock are approved for use in certified organic farms:
(1) Horticultural crops and
nonperennial field crops must be produced from seed that has not been treated
with any prohibited or nonapproved product. Temporary exceptions may be made if
untreated seed is not available.
(2) Annual transplants must be grown
according to Indiana organic standards. Perennial transplants may be from any
source, but crops labeled or sold as certified organic must be from plants that
have been under organic cultivation for at least twelve (12) months prior to
harvest.
(3) Vegetatively
propagated plants, such as garlic and other bulbous plants, are to be
considered as transplants and fully respected subject to this title.
(e) The following additional methods and materials are approved for use in certified organic farms:
(1) Assorted plant and/or animal
preparations, biodynamic preparations, microbial activators, bacterial
inoculates, and mycorhizae.
(2)
Microbes used in the production of certified crops or agricultural products
must be naturally occurring (not the result of genetic engineering).
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Indiana may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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