“I am starting a worm farm and I understand about castings. Can the castings that come from worms be claimed as “organic” if we do not know where the food comes from? Or do the castings have to be organically certified by a government agency? Thanks” ~ Dan
Hi Dan,
The term “organic” when labeling organic products (especially food), is used by the regulatory bodies in certain countries to control its production standards.
Each country has their own governing bodies with their own set of rules for certifying what is organic and what is not.
Usually for a product to be certified organic it need to pass through a stringent set of tick boxes.
With most governing bodies, products cannot be claimed as organic if the source material is not known. It is a big circulatory loop, but in order for the product to be certified organic, the materials it is made from must also be largely be of organically permitted material.
It makes sense since if one source is contaminated; the rest of the products down the chain will be more or less contaminated too.
Is this the end of certifying your castings?
Not necessarily so.
Different to foodstuff, fertilizers can be certified as ‘Suitable for organic farming’. So although the fertilizer itself may not be organic, if used as a fertilizer under certain limitations by the farmer, it may be passable as a fertilizer for organic farming.
Please do NOT label your product as organic, or suitable for organic farming without having it checked by the governing body first.
Check with your Agricultural department to make sure what the application process is and if your product qualifies.
Hope it helps!
