May 13, 2026
If you’ve been following along recently, you probably saw our recent post on regenerative organic agriculture. You may even know that the Regenerative Organic Alliance is now offering certified organic businesses that are committed to further prioritizing soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness the opportunity to become Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC™).
At Ace, we’re all for this and are proud to be partnering with Farmer Ground Flour, a mill that recently gained its ROC™ certification. Bill Hilferty, Farmer Ground’s Marketing Representative, gave us the scoop. Read on to hear it in his own words…
Farmer Ground Flour was built to support our neighboring farms. We wanted to connect people to where their food is grown, and by doing so, support those farmers financially for making good choices on their land. Every choice we make as a business is weighed against our values: supporting a regional grain economy, stone milling to retain the nutritional value of the flour, protecting the grain and the finished flour from any harmful chemicals in the field or at the mill, and protecting the most precious natural resources related to our business—our water and our soil.
Our farmers are really thoughtful people who have followed the written standards of organic agriculture for many years. But, more importantly, they are passionate about the spirit of organic agricultural practices that existed long before: To grow healthy food with fewer harmful externalities, and manage and replenish their land rather than mining it for calories.
Greg Russo, our managing partner, has always felt really strongly about the impact good annual crop farming practices could have on our ecology, and he was very interested to learn that the folks at the Regenerative Organic Alliance were creating this new certification. He was particularly drawn to their soil health pillar because it so closely aligned with our beliefs.
After the certification launched in 2020, Greg began discussing the idea with our farmers and our agronomist to make sure we could grow enough ROC™ grain to support this mission. Any challenges with getting the farmers on board had very little to do with the farming practices, which our core group of farmers had been using long before this certification was created. There were just a few, but important changes they needed to make. They now have to document every time they use a tillage implement that disturbs the soil microbiome, and they can no longer use Chilean nitrate, which is an organic-approved, quick-acting fertilizer. They also have more of an incentive to use practices like no-till planting, which only works for a handful of crops, but is important to incorporate and plan for in the rotation.
The ROA certifies both growers and processors. If you’re considering pursuing certification, they have a lot of great resources available on their website. I think the best thing to do is to reach out for a consultation with them directly and maybe ask for a site visit, depending on your business. We would highly encourage any business to embrace these principles because of the positive impact they have on our food system and our ecology. It takes a global effort to educate consumers and create markets where sustainable food and products are in demand.
It takes more than just responsible farmers and processors to make change in our food systems happen. Having values-based distributors who are willing to bring this type of sustainable food to local and regional markets, as well as doing the hard work of creating these markets, is so important. Farming happens in rural places, and Ace Natural is integral to getting this fresh and healthy food to a population that often doesn’t have easy access to these things.
Thank you so much, Bill! For more info, check out Farmer Ground Flour’s new ROC™ page!
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