DRAFT ******OEFFA Certification Board Meeting, January 25, 2009*****DRAFT

Attendance: Chalie Frye, Carol Goland, Darren Malhame, John Sowder, Larry Wright, Harv Roehling, Steve Edwards, Mike Laughlin (non-voting), Trevor Clatterbuck, Steve Daugherty (for Julie Kline) *****DRAFT

OEFFA c-5 Board President John Sowder called the meeting to order at 10:04am.

September 28, 2008 meeting minutes: Accepted by consensus as amended below:

Last line Steve Edwards raised concern– (1) that the Certification Advisory Board have adequately diverse representation of viewpoints among members, (2) that Board have a written vehicle for publishing and circulating decisions to stakeholders.

Director’s Report:

John S. - Canadian Org. standards – Carol, the possibility of a Canadian equivalency with NOP is decreasing. Therefore, OEFFA’s organic growers (grain) may be barred from markets serving the Canadian market if OEFFA does not take action. Carol posed question of, in days of globalization, whether OEFFA should move to protect interest.

Harv, how complex to get accredited by Canada. OCIA certification meets international standard IFOAM but it is (expensive to do). And OEFFA may not have OCIA as an option soon. Ed Snavely highly recommends OEFFA look into Canadian accreditation.

Cost shares – no one on the board has received money yet.

NOP auditors – Janie Marr received call from auditor who wanted to postpone re-audit until June.

Treasury Report:

Cash reserves - certification executive committee will weigh interplay of revenue and costs, to determine what amount in reserves is necessary. Dollar figure or number of months? Considerations: Look at expenses for the year - How much money is necessary to keep program director in place for a year with printing etc? How much money is necessary if budget is wrong?

New Policy Proposal – the Board discussed the new policy, RE: Because of administrative capacity and Board’s desire to conduct regular integrity checks, OEFFA will accept no new applications from anyone falling outside of core area of Ohio and five contiguous states while preserving relationships to existing clients. History, the c-5 was created as a service to the members of OEFFA. Approved by consensus as proposed.

2009/2010 Budget/Proposed New Fee Structure:

Language of “net profit” changed to “net income” or “net surplus”.

Steve asked how travel costs are estimated given how off they were last year. Wants to know that staff is keeping an eye on travel costs. Either OEFFA builds enough padding into budget or costs are reliably known ahead of time.Recommendation - charge“excessive costs” outside of core area back to grower. Approved by consensus as proposed.

Discussion: How can OEFFA c-3 gain the support of OEFFA certified growers?

OEFFA c-5 board meeting adjourned at 11:23am.