Organic Path microsite

This project was funded through the New Opportunities and Business Development Investment Initiative (NOBDI) under the Renewal Chapter of the Canada-Nova Scotia Agricultural Policy Framework Agreement.

Canada

Nova Scotia

Maintaining an audit trail

In organic certification, an ‘audit trail’ is required. This refers to the path a product takes from the field to the consumer. When someone buys an apple at a store, it should be possible to track that apple back to the specific orchard it came from (as well as the storage bin and truck it was in, etc.). It’s also important to be able to demonstrate that the amount of organic product sold is correlated to the amount you harvested.

Maintaining a clear audit trail is particularly critical if you are growing or selling both organic and non-organic crops. Diligent recordkeeping is the key to a clear audit trail.

You might consider the complications of the audit trail when planning your future operation. For example, if 90% of what you sell will be grown organically on your own farm, and 10% is non-organic from another farm, you might question whether the revenue generated by that 10% is worth the extra time and paperwork required to show that there is no contamination or co-mingling.

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