The Farmers’ Legal Action Group (FLAG) has just recently released their highly-anticipated guide to written organic agriculture contracts, Farmers’ Guide to Organic Contracts, and it’s now available, for free, right at your fingertips (scroll down, its under “Publications and Articles”).

According to FLAG, “One major goal of the Farmers’ Guide to Organic Contracts is to encourage an organic marketing system in which organic producers and organic buyers can thrive together.” (from their press release) The publication will give organic farmers independent, credible information on how to manage, negotiate and evaluate written contracts. The guide includes:

•  An overview of contract laws important to farmers
• A Quick Organic Contract Checklist and practical toolkit farmers can use to review and negotiate contract offers
• Highlighted sections illustrating how federal organic regulations interact with organic contracts
• Examples and discussion of over 100 types of organic contract provisions
• Detailed information about solving the types of contract disputes that commonly arise in the organic market

The Guide was, first and for most, designed to be a handy reference tool for contracts serving farms under the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP), but can be used to answer farmers’ questions on all sorts of written contracts. However, special sections are included for problems specific to organic farmers.

You can also download it here, if you’re not into the whole visit the website thing.