Who Is Thinking About the Farmer?
Eric Popp on what regenerative certification asks of a working farm - and what it must return
By Chad Walker, Sustainability Coordinator, New Barn Organics
Originally from Virginia, Eric Popp has been working in horticulture since 2004 and farming since 2011. His baseline farming practices have always been organic and regenerative, while incorporating broader ecosystem management such as forestry and habitat repair. This has landed him at Carnation Farms in Washington State, where his role as Director of Regenerative Agriculture involves overseeing 750 diverse acres and balancing the delicate interplay between the local environment and the farm's agricultural production.
At Carnation Farms, a crop rotation can be measured in fractions of a row. Parsley may occupy a full row, half a row, or a quarter row before the next crop takes its place. Eric Popp may be planning those plantings, supervising the crew, maintaining food-safety records, and preparing for an organic audit. A regenerative certification could ask him to reconstruct the same field history again to prove that the parsley did not return to the same ground.
When I asked which part of regenerative certification would require the greatest operational change at Carnation, Eric's answer was immediate: "It's just paperwork." The farm already uses many of the practices a certifier would evaluate. The added work would be reorganizing its existing practices and records for another system.
Eric still expects Carnation to pursue a regenerative certification. He is simply looking at the seal from the side most customers never see. A shopper sees a promise about how food was produced. The farmer sees the records, audit fees, staff hours, and market result required to make that promise credible.
A Promise About Improvement
Eric has worked across organic, biodynamic, and regenerative systems during his career. The terminology around that work has changed more than his underlying approach. "My practices over the course of my career really haven't changed," he told me. "The branding has changed."
He still sees a clear purpose for labels. He wants customers to recognize regenerative agriculture as a commitment to leave land better than it was found. Organic certification gives them a relatively clear signal about synthetic inputs. A regenerative seal could communicate something different: that the farm is improving soil, water, grazing, or other conditions over time.
For a farm changing its management, a certification can provide a useful roadmap. Its requirements can identify what must change, what evidence must be collected, and how progress will be judged. Carnation begins from a different position because much of the management is already in place. "We're going to do the practices with or without the certification," Eric said, "so I think I'll know that it's improved the farm when I see the economic benefit to it."
That benefit could be a dependable buyer, a sufficient premium, meaningful purchasing volume, or access to a sales channel Carnation could not otherwise reach. Each would help pay for the fees, staff time, and recordkeeping behind certification. Without that return, Carnation would provide additional assurance to customers while carrying the full cost of producing it.
Put the Buyer Before the Seal
Carnation is trying to address a larger problem in King County: farmers need more dependable sales channels if food production is going to remain viable on expensive land. One project under consideration is a regional beef cooperative. Eric has already begun talking with a neighboring cattle producer whose animals Carnation may eventually purchase and finish through its rotational-grazing program.
Eric's first request of that producer would be better grazing. Carnation's purchasing relationship would give the producer an economic reason to make the change. Certification could follow after the practice is established and the farmer is ready for the process.
"All I care about is that he's doing the practices," Eric said. "We'll get to that certification eventually when he's ready."
The sequence matters. Carnation's purchase creates immediate value for improving the grazing. Certification can later verify those practices and help the beef reach buyers beyond Carnation's direct market. Asking the producer to finance both the grazing transition and certification before a sales channel exists would place both risks on the cattle operation.
The Same Standard Lands Differently at Each Scale
Eric estimated that Carnation's organic certification costs roughly $2,000 to $3,000 each year before his labor is counted. The vegetable operation generates approximately $100,000 to $120,000 in annual revenue. On those rough figures, the fee alone consumes about two to three percent of gross vegetable sales. Preparing records and responding to the audit add costs that never appear on the invoice.
The burden grows heavier when the same information must be rebuilt for several programs. A large operation may employ someone to manage traceability, audits, and customer requests. On a smaller diversified farm, that responsibility often remains with the person planting crops, fixing equipment, managing employees, and responding to the weather.
Eric favors requirements that reflect a farm's scale, sales channels, and risk. Existing organic or food-safety records should count when they already answer the same question. Smaller farms may need simpler templates or combined audits; larger operations may justify deeper sampling and stronger chain-of-custody controls. A regenerative claim can remain credible without assigning every farm the same administrative load.
This is why Eric can intend to certify and still say, "I will get a regenerative cert eventually, but I'll be honest, I'm not looking forward to it." He is weighing the value of the assurance against the capacity it removes from the farm.
Who Is Thinking About the Farmer?
The programs that have held Eric's attention have done more than send him a standard. Staff have continued reaching out during peak season, learned how Carnation operates, and made participation easier to understand. Farmers he respects have also carried the paperwork themselves and shown that the practices can produce results. Those relationships help him assess whether a program understands the work it is asking farms to perform.
After describing the fees, duplicate records, uncertain market return, and value of personal outreach, Eric stated the issue plainly: "I spend a lot of time thinking about how to give the consumer what they want. It's nice to know that somebody's thinking about what I need."
His favorite certification, he said, is "knowing your farmer," even though it is not a real certification. Direct relationships allow customers to ask questions, see the farm, and decide whether they trust the answer. Most customers will never walk Carnation's fields or speak with Eric, so a credible seal still has an important job: carrying that trust across distance.
For Eric, certification has delivered value only when Carnation can identify what came back: a buyer, added margin, committed purchasing volume, or practical support substantial enough to cover the fees and labor. Otherwise the person planting the parsley, managing the crew, and maintaining the records has been given another spreadsheet and very little that helps the farm continue.
