Certified Naturally Grown
INGREDIENTS
CONFIDENCE MEDIUM · ANALYSIS ONLY, NOT AN AUDIT OR CERTIFICATION
Our read
CNG is a participatory guarantee system, and the peer-review inspection is both its defining feature and its defining limitation. The written standard is close to USDA organic. The produce standard uses the same three-year land history and the same NOP allowed and prohibited substance lists, and CNG is stricter than NOP on one point, refusing to certify hydroponics. What differs is who checks. The inspector is another local farmer chosen by the applicant, unpaid, with no accreditation behind them, and CNG itself is funded by dues from the producers it certifies. That structure buys accessibility at roughly a tenth of the cost of NOP certification, and it produces genuine knowledge transfer between farms, but it provides no independent assurance in the sense an auditor or analyst would use the term. The point readers most often miss is legal, not technical: CNG is not USDA-accredited, so a CNG producer above the small-scale exemption cannot lawfully market product as organic. The mark is a credible signal of practice within a local direct-market relationship. It is not a substitute for accredited certification in a wholesale or retail supply chain.
What it covers
- No synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers, using the NOP allowed and prohibited lists at 7 CFR 205.601 and 205.602
- Three years free of prohibited substances on the land immediately preceding harvest, the same land-history rule as NOP
- Genetically engineered seeds and crops prohibited
- Defined boundaries and buffer zones to prevent drift and runoff contamination
- Soil fertility managed through rotations, cover crops and plant and animal materials
- Annual on-site inspection, first inspection before certification, then once per calendar year
- Separate standards for Produce and Flowers, Livestock, Apiary, Mushrooms and Aquaponics; apiary, mushroom and aquaponic standards written by CNG rather than adapted from NOP
- Hydroponic operations excluded, a deliberate divergence from NOP which does certify hydroponics
What it leaves out
Not a criticism of the scheme. A standard is a scope, and this is where this one ends.
- No USDA accreditation, so the mark carries no legal standing and members may not market product as certified organic
- No independent auditor: the inspector is another local producer and the applicant chooses their own inspector
- No accreditation body oversees the inspectors and no inspector qualification or competence standard is published
- No greenhouse gas, energy or emissions requirement
- No labour, wage or worker-safety standard
- No packaging requirement
- No published register of suspensions or decertifications
- Lighter record-keeping than NOP: receipts and an input folder rather than a full audited Organic System Plan and multi-year traceability
- No residue testing programme comparable to the NOP sampling requirement
The scheme
| Issued by | CNG |
|---|---|
| Where it applies | United States, concentrated among small direct-market farms; approximately 600 certified producers as of 2025, down from a peak near 800 in 2018 |
| Audit and renewal | Annual: inspection once per calendar year plus annual dues. Certified producers are also required to conduct one peer inspection of another farm each year. |
| Cost | Recommended dues of USD 300 or more per year, minimum USD 250, with the option to pay less and monthly payment plans available. No minimum dues for apiary certification. Independent reporting puts this against USD 2,000-3,000 for USDA organic on comparable small farms. |
What we read
CNG Produce and Flowers Standards, current web text as published at naturallygrown.org, retrieved July 2026. No version number or revision date is printed on the standards page.
- what_it_covers, land history and prohibited substances — Have had no prohibited substances, as listed in 205.105, applied to it for a period of 3 years immediately preceding harvest
- what_it_covers, GMOs and buffer zones — Genetically engineered seeds and crops are prohibited... Have distinct, defined boundaries and buffer zones such as runoff diversions to prevent the unintended application of a prohibited substance
- independence_score, peer inspection model and inspector selection — The first inspection is due prior to becoming certified, and then inspections are due annually, once per calendar year... inspectors are local producers and agricultural professionals, rather than paid inspectors... you are responsible for
- independence_score, reciprocal inspection requirement and its limits — Certified producers are required to conduct a peer review inspection annually... The work requirement is waived if there is no CNG producer within an hour's drive who needs an inspection.
- what_it_omits, cannot be called organic — To market your farm products as organic without breaking the law, you'll need to be certified by an agency that is accredited by USDA's National Organic Program.
- standards basis and hydroponics divergence — Our standards for Produce and Livestock certification are based on the standards of the National Organic Program... CNG has chosen to diverge from the National Organic Program (NOP) and does not certify hydroponic operations.
- cost_range — Members are recommended to pay $300 or more per year but have the option to pay less... There is no minimum dues requirement for apiary certification.
- geographic_scope, farm numbers and cost comparison — CNG peaked at approximately 800 certified farms around 2018 but has declined to 600... CNG certification costs $250 annually versus $2,000-$3,000 for USDA organic.
- programme scope — an affordable, accessible means of certification for farmers using ecological production methods
What we could not establish
The CNG standards pages carry no version number or revision date, so the version read cannot be pinned precisely. No published register of CNG suspensions or decertifications was located, and CNG's complaint and revocation procedure was not retrieved; enforcement is scored 2 on that basis and would move to 3 if a documented suspension process exists. Whether CNG publishes individual inspection reports on member profiles was not confirmed. Whether CNG certifies producers outside the United States was not confirmed. The web search budget was exhausted before the CNG Livestock and Apiary standards could be read, so the covers and omits lists are drawn from the Produce and Flowers standard plus CNG's own FAQ.
If you hold this certification, it is already on your record. What a buyer cannot see there yet is the evidence behind the parts this standard does not reach.