COG Pro is closing. Here is how to move your organic records.
If you keep your organic records in COG Pro, you need to export them before the end of the year. This guide explains what was announced, what to do first, and how to choose a replacement, including the parts Trazo does not cover.
What COG Pro announced
COG Pro's own signup page states that they are no longer accepting new subscriptions, and that:
“The COG Pro Notebook will cease service on December 31, 2026”
They attribute the closure to actions by their web hosting provider. We are not affiliated with COG Pro and have no inside knowledge of their plans; this page simply reflects what is published on their signup page. Check it yourself before making decisions.
First: export your records, wherever you go next
Do this before you decide anything else. Once a service stops, your history may stop being reachable, and 7 CFR 205.103(b)(4) requires you to keep records for five years. Your certifier can ask for them in an inspection covering years you can no longer open.
Export everything to CSV
COG Pro's reports support an Export option that downloads your records as CSV files. Export every year you have, not just the current one, and keep the files somewhere you control: your own drive, not a vendor's. Save the generated PDFs of your past regulatory reports too; they are the version your inspector already saw.
This advice stands whether you move to Trazo, to another tool, or back to a binder. Get your data out first. The full migration checklist covers field mapping and the questions to ask any vendor.
Why the timing is awkward
The shutdown lands in the middle of certifier renewal season, which is the worst possible overlap:
- Early November: renewal packets and annual-update forms go out. CCOF sent its renewal packages on November 3 last year; Oregon Tilth posts renewal forms at the start of November.
- December 31: COG Pro stops. The same day the USDA Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) application deadline falls, for reimbursement of up to 75% of your certification costs, capped at $750 per scope.
- January–March: annual updates are due. CCOF January 1, PCO January 15, WSDA March 1.
Practically: if you are going to move, moving in October or November is much easier than moving in January with a deadline on top of you.
Choosing a COG Pro alternative
Be honest about which COG Pro modules you actually used, because that decides your options:
- Crops only: you have the most choices, Trazo among them.
- Crops + Livestock: Trazo does not do livestock. Look at Quick Organics or ask your certifier what their other clients use.
- Crops + GAP: GAP is food safety, not organic certification, and it is a separate audit. Trazo does not replace a GAP module.
It is also worth asking your certifier directly. Some certifiers provide or subsidize a recordkeeping tool for their own clients, which may be the cheapest path for you regardless of what we would prefer.
If you are considering Trazo
Here is the plain version, both halves.
What Trazo does
- Crop recordkeeping: planting, harvest, inputs, cultivation, tillage, compost, equipment cleaning
- NOP audit PDF with inline 7 CFR Part 205 citations
- A link your certifier opens to review records online, with your permission
- Organic System Plan (7 CFR 205.201), including the Common OSP § 11 records section and its four required attachment forms as Excel workbooks, filled in from your records
- Input checks against OMRI, WSDA, CDFA OIM and the National List
- California Pesticide Use Report data, compiled from the events you already logged
- Phone-first logging with voice entry, in English and Spanish
- A public page your buyer can open from a QR code on the box
What Trazo does not do
- Livestock records: COG Pro's livestock module has no equivalent here
- GAP / food-safety audits: if you bought COG Pro's GAP module, Trazo does not replace it
- Handler or processor certification scopes
- Filing your PUR for you: Trazo compiles the data; you submit it in CalAgPermits
Trazo is a recordkeeping and documentation tool. It does not certify farms, and using it does not guarantee any certification outcome; your certifier makes every compliance determination.
We will move your data for you
Send us your COG Pro CSV export and we will import it into a Trazo account for you, free, and without a card on file. You look at your own records in the new system and decide from there. If you decide against it, you keep the export and we delete the account on request.
The Starter plan is free permanently, not a trial that expires, and you can log a whole season on it. Importing your COG Pro CSVs costs nothing. And leaving is not a favour you have to ask us for: on every plan, including the free one, one click in Documents downloads a ZIP of plain CSV files with every activity record, production, parcel and sale in your account. The certifier documents built from those records (audit dossier, OSP renewal packet, PUR export) are the part that is Compliance.
How to send your COG Pro files
- Export your records from COG Pro as CSV files.
- Email the CSV files as attachments to oscar@trazo.io. Include the farm name in the email.
- Oscar runs a dry import first and sends you back what would come in and what would be skipped. Nothing is written to an account before that.
There is no upload button on this site, and the contact form cannot take attachments, so the files have to come by email.
Trazo is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to COG Pro or Certified Organic Business Solutions. Statements about COG Pro on this page are quoted from their public website as of August 2026 and may change; verify directly with them. Certifier deadlines are as published by each certifier and can differ for your operation; confirm yours with your certifier.