A review by the Keller Heckman law firm as published in Lexology considered the status of hydroponic produce. During March, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in favor of the USDA to certify as organic crops cultivated using hydroponic technology.  The Center for Food Safety and other plaintiffs claimed that only crops grown on soil could be eligible for organic certification.  This contention was based on a fallacious interpretation of requirements issued under the Organic Foods Production Act.  Although conventional organic crops, if grown in soil, should comply with a crop production plan, the regulations assumed that all crops would be grown on soil and accordingly did not contain provisions for an organic plan applying hydroponics.

The plaintiffs appealed to the Ninth Circuit.  In a ruling on September 22nd, the Court upheld the finding of the District Court and rejected the position of the Center for Food Safety and other organic producer plaintiffs that hydroponic cultivation was incompatible with organic status.