Powder River Examiner -

The International Organic Inspectors Association, or IOIA, located in downtown Broadus and operated by Executive Director Margaret Scoles, recently signed a contract with the USDA as part of a $250,000 project to provide an apprenticeship program for up and coming organic inspectors.

The project is part of the US Department of Agriculture’s push to improve oversight of the nation’s organic industry, by providing an expanded pool of qualified inspectors.

Margaret and IOIA will work with the University of Kentucky, along with Kentucky State University to provide an intensive apprenticeship program to future crop and livestock inspectors.

Scoles told us that a major reason for the program coming about in Kentucky is because of the large number of small organic farms in that state. Many of the farms had been tobacco farms in the past but took to growing new crops when the tobacco industry faltered.

She continued: “It’s really a major project. Our vision for this project is that it will become an enduring organic hub for the southeastern US and a model for other parts of the country. It has everything - two land grant universities, including a 1890’s school, an extremely effective regional nonprofit, and a department of agriculture that also serves as an organic certifier. IOIA basic inspector training has been the industry default in the US for nearly 30 years. This takes training another step further and makes rigorous, quality apprenticeship accessible so that inspectors are inspection-ready faster and new inspectors can be assured of a reliable career path. It continues the IOIA tradition of highly experienced inspectors as trainers.”

Additionally, IOIA has received funding for several other smaller projects through the USDA program, including working toward additional diversity in the organic professional field, developing cooperative support among organic professionals, and other projects.

Margaret told us the International Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA) was formed in 1991-1992 in Baltimore and started training organic inspectors in 1993, quickly becoming the recognized default trainer of organic inspectors in the US, Canada, Latin America, and much of the Pacific Rim. IOIA moved to Broadus in January 1999 from Minnesota. IOIA is an international membership-based organization of organic inspectors and supporting members, a 501(c)(3) non-profit with more than 200 inspectors in a dozen countries. Even in 2020, a pandemic year, we delivered 60 separate training events, mostly on the web. The 5 events held in-person before COVID shut them down were in 5 different countries (US, Mexico, Thailand, Japan, and Hong Kong, China). After two years of training almost exclusively on the web, IOIA will be delivering in-person basic crop and livestock inspector training in Minnesota, October 18-29.