Kirk,
Here in Washington State, Yucca used to be on
the WSDA Generic Approved Organic Materials list (about a month ago),
but now is brought in under Wetting Agents as a Saponin. Of course,
it would be excluded if it contained Sodium Benzoate as a preservative.
For Organic Growers, WSDA lists CT as acceptable as
long as it doesn't contain prohibited items. The WSDA also says they are
in full compliance with NOP.
As I was reviewing the WSDA info again, I did see something
that would be a glitch for Washington State Organic Growers who desire to use
CT... it involves using chelated minerals. The rule is that chelated
minerals can not be used by Organic Growers in Washington State unless they
first do a tissue test or a soil test to demonstrate that one or more of
the chelated minerals was low and therefore needed. A
lot of tea ingredients include humic and fulvic acids and trace
minerals. Those teas could pose a problem for Organic Growers.
Full disclosure of ingredients is needed by CT manufacturers or their
products need to be registered as Organic products with WSDA before Organic
Growers can use them in Washington State.
For example: If a manufacturer puts something like
Humisolve TM7 in their tea ingredients and doesn't tell anyone and
tells organic growers in Washington State their tea meets Washington State
Standards, that Grower could be at risk of losing his organic certification
if he uses such a tea without first doing tissue or soil tests to show
that a mineral which is chelated is needed.
Washington State organic growers have three lists for
materials they can use: the National List (NOP), the WSDA Generic
Materials List, and the WSDA Brand Name Materials List
(BNML).
If, as you say, if a product is registered with OMRI and OMRI
is 100% compliant with NOP, then quite likely that product is okay to
use by Organic Growers in Washington State.... except for rules like no
chelated minerals unless the grower does tissue or soil tests first.
So, this might be a good question for Dr. Ingham, can it
be guaranteed that a properly brewed CT will not have any chelated minerals
present in that tea? If that can not be guaranteed, the Organic Growers
in Washington State could be at risk of loosing their
organic certification if they use CT without first doing tissue
or soil tests.
Another question, If humus material is used in CT,
or even worm castings, can it be guaranteed that CT will not contain
chelated minerals? i.e., humic, or fulvic acids and minerals?
--Thomas Giannou
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