Our Draft Mushroom Standards have been posted for public review. Please take a look and tell us what you think! Find them at: CNGfarming.org/mushrooms

As a farmer, you're fortunate to have amazing visual content before you, from sunrise to sundown. Every day, you greet nature's most beautiful scenes: hillside pastures, chickens pecking, wildflowers blossoming, and at this time of year, striped and speckled squashes of all kinds.

Not everyone lives the farming life, so take out your smartphone and share these scenes! Your friends and customers will appreciate knowing more about the story of your farm and the food they eat. You don't have to have a "good eye," just take advantage of that natural light, your farm's natural beauty, and get inspired by the CNG farmers below!

View of the Appalachians at Endless Mountains Farmstead

We are developing a new aquaponics certification program that will highlight and support aquaponics producers who are committed to high ecological standards. We need your input to help ensure our standards are reasonable and rigorous. Review the draft standards here.

We’ve received some excellent feedback so far, but there is only one week left to comment. We want to hear from everyone interested in giving input, so please share your feedback if you haven't already done so. The deadline to comment is Monday, October 12 at midnight.

Are the standards a good fit for aquaponics producers committed to ecological methods? How can we improve the standards? We're especially looking for feedback on some specific areas, such as...

Certified Naturally Grown gains hundreds of new members every year, thanks mainly to farmers and supporters who enthusiastically recommend CNG to people they know. In 2016, we want to reach an even greater number of farmers and food eaters through our new Ambassador program. 

If you would like to play an official role in helping Certified Naturally Grown reach more people and have more impact, please participate!

We hope fall's arrival has brought bountiful harvests for everyone. Here at CNG, we are happy to see a number of projects coming to fruition. 

Read on to get the full skinny on these happenings: We launched our new website, announced our new CNG Ambassador program, and helped a bunch of farms get logos and videos. Meanwhle, we continue to welcome new members: 97 farmers and beekeepers completed their CNG certification over the past three months! 

Since June of 2014, Certified Naturally Grown staff have been working in consultation with our Aquaponics Advisory Council to develop a new program to certify aquaponics operations. The first step in this process is now complete! We have finished the initial draft of CNG's standards for certification of aquaponic operations - addressing questions such as water quality, allowed and prohibited inputs, and materials used. Now we seek public feedback on these draft standards to help us ensure they are complete and appropriate. The draft aquaponics standards are posted at www.cngfarming.org/aquaponics. Please take a look and share your feedback!

Certified Naturally Grown is offering free marketing support for farmers. Be sure to check out our lessons to help farmers easily tap their farm stories to boost their marketing at StandOutInYourField.org

Laurie and John came to natural farming after years of different jobs and experiences - John served 21 years in the Navy, while Laurie was a teacher. Though John still works his full-time job, they're happiest when taking care of their horses and farm.

Right now the FDA is considering new food safety rules that will have a major impact on local farms for years to come. We have an opportunity to improve these rules - again - during this second comment period. 

FDA is explicitly asking for examples that will help them understand how the rules will impact farmers and the public. Your voice is very important. Be sure to submit comments before the December 15 deadline.

Find more information and instructions at sustainableagriculture.net/fsma.

For an excellent overview of how the proposed rules would impact community-based farms, we recommend this Farmers Market Coalition policy update.

Inspired by their rural childhoods in Upstate NY and the elder farmers they so fondly remember, Erin and Louanna Hughes started their own family farm in the hills of Taylorsville, GA, called Footehills Farm.

Here, the whole family takes part- kids and grandparents alike.