What Certified Farmer-Owned actually requires.
This is the institutional home of the mark — the standard, the governance, and the documents behind it. Built the same way trusted marks like Regenerative Organic Certified and Non-GMO Project Verified were built: a published standard, an independent auditor, and governance that answers to farmers, not to any single company.
What stands behind the mark
A Published Standard
Ownership and active farming are verified through records you already keep: tax filings, farm-registration records, and co-op membership, adapted to your region or country (in the U.S., FSA records and Schedule F). If you own and control it, this mark was built for you.
Farmer-Governed
The Standards Council will be farmer-majority. Once seated, it guides how the Standard evolves, approves program guidance, and oversees consistent application. Until then, our Board oversees the Standard.
Independent Certification
An independent Certification Body will verify farms against the Standard. It does not own or write the Standard. Farmers and the Standards Council do.
A Certification Mark
Certified Farmer-Owned is built as a certification mark under the federal Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1054): the nonprofit owns it, certified farms license it, and a brand that has not been verified has no right to use it.
An Independent Nonprofit
The Farmer-Owned Project is its own independent nonprofit, separate from any single company. Its Standard is built to answer to farmers through a farmer-majority Standards Council, not to a company or an investor.
A Proven Structure
The same trusted structure behind marks like Non-GMO Project Verified: an independent nonprofit that owns the standard, independent third-party auditors who do the actual verification, and governance held above any single company's control.
A farmer-majority Standards Council will hold binding authority.
The Farmer-Owned Project is its own independent nonprofit, separate from any single company. Once seated, the Standards Council, not any single company, Certification Body, or investor, has binding authority over what the Standard means and how it evolves.
Standards Council
Individual Standards Council member names and bios will be published here once the inaugural Council is seated.
The paper trail behind the mark.
Certification Standard
PublishedVersion 3.4, effective October 12, 2026. What Certified Farmer-Owned requires, who qualifies, and how certification works.
Donation Terms
PublishedThe terms that apply to a donation: recognition, refunds, tax status, and independence.
Independence and Governance
PublishedWho founded The Farmer-Owned Project and how we keep certification independent.
Standards Council Charter
PendingCouncil composition, farmer-seat minimums, nomination process, and voting authority. Published when the inaugural Council is seated.
Certification Mark Usage Guidelines
PendingHow the seal may be used on packaging, marketing, and digital properties. Provided to certified businesses with their mark license.
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