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SCOAR is a collaboration of producers and scientists whose mission is to plan and promote research and information exchange for understanding and improving organic agricultural systems.

Former OFRF Board members attain influential positions at USDAThe 2008 Farm Bill and the inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States in Jan. 2009 have led to changes in the structure of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and in its priorities. OFRF is pleased to note the appointment of two former Board members to prominent positions at USDA.

In a remarkable gain for organic and sustainable agriculture, President Obama appointed Kathleen Merrigan Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. Merrigan’s Senate confirmation hearing was held April 1 and she was sworn in on April 7, 2009.

Merrigan served the Clinton administration as head of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service from 1999 to 2001. There she was instrumental in writing the national organic standards and shepherding them through the implementation process. As an aide to Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, she helped write the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act. Most recently, Merrigan was an Assistant Professor at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

In Nov. 2008, Jill Shore Auburn was named Division Chief, Agricultural Systems and Technology, in USDA’s Research, Education and Extension Office (REEO). REEO is a new office established by the 2008 Farm Bill to coordinate USDA science activities.

USDA conducts national organic farmer survey
Edited from USDA press release
In a follow-up to releasing its 2007 Census of Agriculture results, USDA will conduct its first survey of the more than 20,000 organic farmers counted in the most recent census.

“The survey will look at many aspects of organic farming during the 2008 calendar year – from production and marketing practices to income and expenses,” according to a USDA press release. “It will focus not only on operations that are currently engaged in organic production but also on those making the transition to organic agriculture.”

USDA hopes to receive completed surveys from all U.S. organic producers by June 17. Results will be published this winter and will inform policy decisions and resource allocation.

Growers can complete the printed version that has been mailed to them or fill out the survey online at USDA Organic Survey.

While this is the first USDA organic survey, the Organic Farming Research Foundation has published four national organic farmer surveys, the most recent in 2004. OFRF survey results are available at OFRF surveys.

USDA Research & Extension funding static in the Obama budget
Commentary by Mark Lipson, OFRF Senior Policy Analyst
President Barack Obama’s proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2010 arrived on Capitol Hill last week with little good news for agricultural research programs, but no big cuts either. Overall it reflects what is now a long-term trend, with food and agriculture research winding up at the bottom of the heap as increased science dollars flow to health, energy, and other government research efforts.

In the President’s budget, the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) retains its allocation of $20 million from the 2008 Farm Bill. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program remains level at $19 million. The Organic Transitions research and extension program is also held constant at $1.8 million.

There is a slight overall increase proposed for the Agricultural Research Service. Under Obama’s budget, the approximately $17 million in annual expenditures for the 40 ARS projects with “direct organic” objectives would stay level in 2010. (This represents about 1.4% of ARS’s total $1.2 billion annual budget.)

Disappointingly, the Organic Production and Market Data Initiative does not receive any proposed funding in the administration’s proposal, though the 2008 Farm Bill allocated $5 million one-time funding to it. Collecting and reporting organic market data is crucial for many purposes, including fairness in crop insurance, disaster payments, and financial credit for organic growers.

OFRF is advocating for increases for each of these programs. To see our recommendations, go to OFRF approps.

To find out how you can help take action to increase organic research funding, see OFRF action.

National Organic Standards Board seeks farmer, handler, environmentalist members
The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) advises USDA’s National Organic Program on implementing the organic standards. It is comprised of volunteer members representing various sectors of the organic industry. There are currently five vacancies on the NOSB. This is a great opportunity to seat grassroots and farmer advocates on the NOSB, which is well-populated with industrial agriculture interests. The five vacancies are organic producer (2 positions), retailer (1 position), organic handler (1 position), and an environmentalist (1 position). For details on applying, see the Federal Register announcement at NOSB seats.

The National Organic Program seeks new director
As the Director for the National Organic Program (NOP), the incumbent participates fully with the Transportation and Marketing Deputy Administrator, Associate Administrator, Administrator, and other key officials of the Agency, Office of the Under Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory Programs, and Department in planning, developing and administering programs and services for which the NOP is responsible.

Candidates must possess senior level management and technical experience. Candidate's experience must have been at a high level of difficulty to show clearly that the candidate possesses professional and technical, as well as program knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Position is located in Washington, D.C. Salary range is $117,787- $177,000/year. Applications must be submitted by June 30, 2009. Full details and instructions on applying at NOP Director.

Chavas, J.-P., J.L. Posner, and J.L. Hedtcke. 2009. Organic and conventional production systems in the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial: II. Economic and risk analysis 1993-2006. Agronomy Journal 101:288-295. Abstract available online at Chavas et al. 2009.

This paper is one of a series reporting on the long-term Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (WICST). The trial compares three cropping and three forage systems at two sites in Wisconsin. Two organic systems are part of the comparison, one a diverse crop rotation and the other a diverse forage system. Chavas et al. present an economic analysis of the trial results that incorporates an estimate of risk in each system. The “risk premium” is calculated using a model that takes into account variance and skewness of economic returns.

The authors found that the organic systems were more profitable than the conventional systems with one exception: the rotational grazing system at one location.

Including organic premiums in the analysis was a crucial factor contributing to the profitability of the organic systems; without organic premiums, the organic systems were not economically competitive. The authors state, “…this shows the importance of organic markets in rewarding and stimulating a move toward more diverse cropping systems.”

Organic dairy manure better for soil, water than conventional manure
Adapted from press release written by Ann Perry
A recently published Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study shows that manure from organic dairy cows had higher levels of phosphorus, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and magnesium than manure from conventionally managed dairy cows.

ARS Research Chemist Zhongqi He also found that organic dairy manure contains forms of phosphorus that dissolve slowly, gradually releasing nutrients. This increases the probability that the nutrients will be taken up by the crop rather than being leached out of the soil and into ground or surface water.

The difference between organic and conventional dairy manures may originate in the feed. “This organic management, in turn, may significantly affect how easily nutrients are converted in soil into forms readily taken up by crops,” according to an ARS press release on the study.

German study finds antioxidant levels in apples vary more from year to year than between production systems
A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reports that, in two of three years, antioxidant levels in organic apples were 15% higher than in conventional apples. However, year-to-year variation in polyphenol and antioxidant levels was greater than differences between production systems. The authors conclude, “Overall, the production method had a smaller impact on the variation in the polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of apples than the yearly climate.”

Source: Stracke, B.A., C.E. Rufer, F.P. Weibel, A. Bub, and B. Watzl. 2009.Three-year comparison of the polyphenol contents and antioxidant capacities in organically and conventionally produced apples (Malus domestica Bork. Cultivar `Golden Delicious'). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Published online ahead of print, 23 April 2009. Abstract online at apple study.

The Organic Summit
June 3-5, Stevenson, Washington
Co-sponsored by New Hope Natural Media and the Organic Farming Research Foundation, the Organic Summit is billed as “a forum for complex discussion and learning for leaders in the organic industry.” Session topics include the Obama administration’s impact on agriculture; the multiple benefits of organic agriculture; recent organic research findings; and a closing keynote by Nell Newman, co-founder and president of Newman’s Own Organics. Program and registration details are online at Organic Summit.

Northeast Organic Farming Association Summer Conference
August 7-9, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
This conference will feature speakers Will Allen, founder of Growing Power in Milwaukee and recent MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, and renowned mushroom expert Paul Stamets. More than 170 workshops are planned, including special sessions for teenagers and children. For more information go to NOFA Summer Conference.

Cornell releases organic production guides for processing vegetables
Abby Seaman, Vegetable IPM Extension Area Educator for Cornell University, is the coordinating editor of four new organic production guides for processing vegetables: beans, carrots, cucumbers and squash, and peas. The guides offer numerous practical suggestions for growers and demonstrate an excellent understanding of the organic standards. They contain useful reference tables of fertilizer nutrient analyses and recommended application rates for each crop. Information on common diseases and pests for each crop and suggested prevention and management practices are also provided. Links to each guide can be found at Cornell Organic Vegetable Guides.

New Organic Center report documents environmental benefits of organic dairy
The Organic Center has just released a report on the environmental advantages of organic dairy compared with conventional dairy. Among the benefits: 761,000 acres dedicated to organic pasture production; 40 million tons of synthetic nitrogen not applied; and more than 785,000 pounds of pesticides, mostly herbicides, not applied. The report also offers a companion tool allowing users to calculate fertilizer and herbicide savings when dairy herds are converted to organic. Read the full report by Charles Benbrook, Shades of Green: Quantifying benefits of organic dairy, at Shades of Green.

Economic Research Service releases updated organic farm statistics
Edited from press release
Complementing release of findings from the 2007 Census of Agriculture, USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) released new data on organic production. Data tables include the number of certified operations by state for 2000-2007. ERS also included tables on U.S. organic acreage and livestock numbers from 1992-2005, with data from 1997 and 2000-2005 presented by state and commodity. While only small proportions of many field crops are grown organically, 6% of carrots, 4% of lettuce, and 3% of apples were grown organically in 2005. All data are available at ERS Organic Data.

Western SARE graduate student grant proposals due May 29; additional funds available for farm tours, farmer/rancher projects, research, and professional development
Edited from press release
Western SARE has released its requests for proposals in six funding categories: Research & Education (pre-application), Professional Development, Farmer/Rancher, Ag Professional + Producer, Graduate Student, and Sustainable Ag Farm Tours. Graduate student proposals are due May 29. The next deadline is for the Research & Education Grant Pre-Application, due June 12, 2009. Grower proposals will be due in December and sustainable ag tour proposals will be accepted through next year.

Visit the western SARE website for other proposal deadlines and additional information on each program: Western SARE.

Western SARE, phone 435-797-2257, email wsare@ext.usu.edu, https://wsare.usu.edu/.

North Central Region SARE invites Research and Education preproposals
From press release
North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Research and Education grants range from $10,000 to $175,000. North Central Region SARE expects to fund about 9-13 projects in the twelve-state North Central Region. The 2010 Call for Preproposals is now available online at North Central SARE. Potential applicants can contact North Central Region SARE at phone 612-626-3113, email ncrsare@umn.edu.The deadline for preproposals is June 10, 2009.

New funder enters the organic grantmaking world
Edited from press release
The Ceres Trust has announced that it will make grants for organic research totaling $500,000 to organizations, universities, and other nonprofit institutions in the 12-state North Central Region.

A Request for Applications (RFA) will be posted for the new organic research initiative on the Ceres Trust website the first week of June. Applications for the competitive grants initiative are due September 1, 2009, with grant decisions announced in late November. The Request for Applications will be posted at Ceres Trust.

Grants of up to $60,000 per year for up to three years will be made. Applicants submitting grant proposals must be based in the 12-state region to be eligible. The states in the region are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

This is the 25th in a series of occasional bulletins providing selected information on organic research programs, positions, funding, and reports, as well as news about SCOAR itself. Original items may be reproduced with attribution to OFRF. These reports are sent via email to registered SCOAR participants. For previous bulletins, registration and other information about SCOAR, see http://ofrf.org/networks/scoar.html

Please send your research reports and other information for inclusion in the bulletin. Send content and comments to jane@ofrf.org