SCOAR Bulletin #29 |
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April 12, 2010 |
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.
Scientific Society News
Agronomy Society forms new “Organic
Management
Systems” division
Edited from press release written by Kathleen Delate and Pat Carr
Patrick Carr, chair of ASA’s
Organic Management
Systems Division.
Photo courtesy NDSU In an historic development, the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) has approved formation of a division on Organic Management Systems.
The new division is an indicator of the increased prominence of organic agriculture papers, poster sessions, and symposia being presented at ASA meetings over the past seven years. The division is now accepting abstracts for four poster and six oral sessions at ASA’s annual meeting that will be in Long Beach, CA, in November. See calls for papers section below.
Divisions are “professional groups” within the society. They may organize programs to present at each annual meeting. Divisions feed into the structure of ASA by electing a member to represent that division to the society’s Board of Directors.
Kathleen Delate, agronomist and organic specialist at Iowa State University, petitioned the Agronomy Society’s board for approval of the organic division. Late last year, provisional status for this division was approved. Patrick Carr, agronomist at North Dakota State University, is chair of the new division while Delate will represent the division to ASA’s Board. Cynthia Cambardella, soil scientist with USDA-ARS in Ames, Iowa, is chair-elect for 2011.
Over the years, organic symposia have been hosted by ASA and by the two other scientific societies that comprise the “Tri-Societies”: Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America. The goal of the organic division is to have shared leadership among all groups in the Tri-Societies. For now, it is housed in the ASA.
Carr encourages all members of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) interested in organic issues to select the organic systems division as one of their divisions of interest. “It is only with support of the ASA community that the division will succeed,” said Carr. Information requests or suggestions may be directed to Carr, Patrick.Carr@ndsu.edu.
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Higher Education News
Oregon Tilth partners with Oregon State University
to
help organic farmers
Edited from press release
Oregon State University's small farms program will continue its research and educational efforts for organic farmers thanks to new funding from Oregon Tilth, an organic certifying agency.
"This partnership helps to maintain some of the good work that we've seen come out of the OSU Extension Service's small farms program," said Chris Schreiner, the executive director of the nonprofit Oregon Tilth, which educates the public about sustainable agriculture. "Through this partnership, we can leverage the trust, integrity and rigor that exists at OSU to develop a research and education agenda to help support organic farmers."
Read full release at Oregon Tilth partnership.
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Agency News
Organic expertise needed to review federal grant proposals
Item courtesy National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Grant reviewers help decide who receives USDA competitive grants. As requests for applications are made available throughout the year, USDA seeks members of the public with subject expertise to serve on panels to prioritize projects for funding. The typical commitment involves reviewing up to 20 grant proposals and participating in a panel review committee call or meeting. For more details, please see the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s page describing how to apply.
Organic Ag Census shows organic farms more profitable
Edited from blog entry written by Ariane Lotti for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
In February, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the first-ever in-depth survey of U.S. organic agriculture. A follow-on to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, the survey collected 2008 data from USDA-certified organic farmers, farmers transitioning to organic production, and farmers exempt from certification because of sales totaling less than $5,000. Information from farmers who followed National Organic Program standards but were not certified or exempt was not included in the report.
The report presents interesting statistics on the profitability of organic farms. In 2008, organic farms had average annual sales of $217,675 compared to the $134,807 average for all U.S. farms (based on 2007 Census of Agriculture data). Accounting for production expenses (an average of $171,978 per farm for organics and a $109,359 average for all farms), the average organic farm is more profitable.
The survey counted 14,540 organic farms (3,637 of which were exempt) and ranches on 4.1 million acres. The survey collected information on organic sales by state and by category of product, production practices (primarily focused on conservation practices), production expenses, marketing outlets, and producers’ 5-year plans. Click here to access the full report and individual tables.
Read full blog entry here.
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In the Literature
Method to quantify carry-over nutrient value of manure
Endelman, J.B., J.R. Reeve, and D.T. Drost. 2010. A new decay series for organic crop production. Agronomy Journal 102:457-463.
From abstract
For organic farmers who use manure or compost to maintain soil fertility, a pressing question is how much should be applied. Although many factors influence this decision, an important consideration is that manure and compost continue to fertilize for many years after their application. In conventional agriculture, the carry-over effects of manure have traditionally been quantified in terms of N fertilizer equivalents, that is, through a decay series. Nitrogen decay series may also be used by organic farmers trying to meet N fertilizer recommendations with manure and/or compost. However, this creates an unsustainable paradigm for organic fertilizer management because N fertilizer equivalency experiments cannot be conducted on certified land. We propose a new type of decay series compatible with organic regulations in which the carry-over effects of manure/compost are measured, not against N fertilizer, but against new applications of the amendment. The result is a decay series in manure/compost equivalents. Regression analysis revealed that 1 unit of manure slurry had the same effect on yield as 0.21, 0.16, and 0.13 units of new slurry after 1, 2, and 3 yr, respectively. By quantifying the nutritive and non-nutritive carry-over effects of manure/compost, this new decay series has the potential to fully credit organic matter in fertility planning.
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Research Findings
NCSU organic breeding project gets ink in college magazine
A $1.2 million grant awarded to Chris Reberg-Horton to develop corn, peanut, soybean and wheat varieties for organic systems is the subject of an article published in the online magazine for North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Reberg-Horton successfully applied for the funds in 2009 through the Organic Research and Extension Initiative. The project title is “Farmer driven breeding: addressing the needs of Southeastern organic field crop producers.” An abstract of the project is online and the magazine article is here.
Special issue of open access journal features
articles
on organic topics
Sustainability is “an international and cross-disciplinary, scholarly, open access journal of environmental, cultural, economic and social sustainability of human beings” out of Switzerland. The March 2010 issue on the topic of “renewable agriculture” was guest edited by OFRF grant recipient Stephen Jones from the Northwestern Research and Extension Center in Washington state.
The 17 articles published in the special issue include:
- Comparison of the Farming System and Carbon Sequestration between Conventional and Organic Rice Production in West Java, Indonesia by Masakazu Komatsuzaki and M. Faiz Syuaib;
- Local Selling Decisions and the Technical Efficiency of Organic Farms by Luann Lohr and Timothy Park;
- Opportunities for Sustainable Food Systems in Northeastern Kansas by Hikaru Hanawa Peterson, Theresa Selfa and Rhonda Janke;
- Overcoming the Barriers to Organic Adoption in the United States: A Look at Pragmatic Conventional Producers in Texas by Douglas H. Constance and Jin Young Choi;
- Socioeconomic Obstacles to Establishing a Participatory Plant Breeding Program for Organic Growers in the United States by Ruth Mendum and Leland L. Glenna;
- Visualizing Consolidation in the Global Seed Industry: 1996-2008 by Philip H. Howard.
The full issue may be read online.
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Resources
University of Georgia publishes bulletins on organic farm labor management decisions
Florence I. Santos, Graduate Assistant, and Cesar L. Escalante, Associate Professor at Univ. of Georgia, have published two reports summarizing the results of a SARE-funded grower survey in the Southeast on the topic of farm labor needs and management practices. Among a number of interesting findings reported is that the most popular strategy organic farmers report for dealing with increased labor costs is production diversification while for conventional farmers the most popular strategy is to increase mechanization.
The survey gathered demographic information on conventional and organic farms in the Southeast, a region in which it has been difficult to locate many organic farmers in the past. The survey also asked specific questions about farm labor requirements and anticipated responses to increased farm labor costs.
Report 1: ”Business Expectations and Strategies under Immigration-Related Changes in Farm Labor Market Conditions: A Survey of Southeastern Organic and Conventional Farm Businesses”
Report 2: “Farm Labor Management Decisions of Organic and Conventional Farms: A Survey of Southeastern Farm Businesses”
Links to both reports
North Dakota State University Extension releases
organic field crop budgets
Crop budgets for organic spring wheat, durum, feed barley, corn, oil sunflowers, soybeans, oats, flax, field peas, millet, buckwheat, lentils, rye and green manure have been published in a North Dakota State University Extension Farm Management Planning Guide. One assumption made in estimating revenues and costs was that organic yields would be 70 to 75 percent of conventional yields. This assumption is based on interviews with growers, buyers, and state Extension personnel. A higher rate of cleanout in organic crops due to stricter quality requirements was also a factor. The publication addresses pricing issues, seed costs, and rotation requirements. Authored by Andrew Swenson, Ron Haugen, and Brad Brummond. See online.
Cornell’s IPM program issues nine new organic production guides
Adapted from Cornell IPM Program press release
Following the 2009 publication of four production guides for organic carrots, peas, snap beans and cucurbits, the New York State Agriculture Commissioner announced in March 2010 that nine new guides had been added to the set.
The new guides focus on biological, mechanical, and cultural pest management in organic apples, blueberries, grapes, lettuce, potatoes, spinach, strawberries and cole crops (including cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts). The guides also present information on cover crops, resistant varieties, crop rotation, field selection, soil quality, and nutrient management. The ninth publication is a new guide to help control dairy cattle related pests using organic IPM methods. All may be downloaded here.
Read original press release
Guide to federal financial and technical support programs available
Ever wondered what federal grant programs might fund the kind of thing that you want to do? This SARE guide is an invaluable resource to current grant, loan, and technical support programs.
“Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities” by Margaret Krome, Teresa Maurer, and Katie Wied.
NOFA/Massachusetts launches website showcasing
organic farms and businesses
From NOFA press release
The Northeast Organic Farming Association/Massachusetts Chapter, Inc. is proud to introduce a new, online tool to help consumers find certified organic and sustainable farms and products across the state. The new, searchable NOFA/Mass Organic Food Guide is available here. It replaces the printed directory that NOFA/Mass has published annually since 1988. In addition to farms, the guide also lists businesses, restaurants and service providers.
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Calls for papers
Organic division of Agronomy Society welcomes
poster and paper submissions
The provisional Organic Systems Management division of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) is soliciting abstracts for four poster sessions and six oral sessions at the Tri Societies annual meeting in November 2010.
Poster sessions include Emerging and Long-Term Organic Cropping Systems Trials; General Organic Management Systems II; Vegetable and Fruit Production in Organic Management Systems.
Oral sessions include General Organic Management Systems: I; Insect and Pathogen Management in Organic Production Systems; Plant Nutrient Management in Organic Management Systems; Soil Improvement Strategies in Organic Management Systems; Transitioning to Certified Organic Production; and Weeds in Organic Management Systems: Control and Opportunities.
Any member of the ASA, Soil Science Society of America, or Crop Science Society of America may choose to present their paper or poster in one of these sessions. If a session does not receive enough submissions, papers may be moved to a different session by the division chair.
Early submission deadline is April 27, 2010, and the final deadline is May 11. To apply go to ASA abstract submission. If you have questions about submitting organic papers or posters, contact division chair Patrick Carr, patrick.carr@ndsu.edu.
New international organic agriculture journal seeks submissions
A new international journal and venue for scientific findings related to organic agriculture has been launched. Editor-in-chief Elizabeth Stockdale is based at Newcastle University in the UK. The editorial board includes Eric Gallandt from University of Maine, Louise E. Jackson from University of California Davis, and Todd Kabaluk with Agriculture and Agri-Food, Canada. Articles are solicited on all aspects of organic agriculture and food systems. Guidelines for submission are online. Direct inquiries to Elizabeth Stockdale, e.a.stockdale@newcastle.ac.uk.
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Funding Opportunities
OFRF targets organic seed and crop breeding projects; opens to electronic submissions
Funding for OFRF’s fall 2010 funding cycle will be directed toward organic seed and crop-breeding related education and research grants only, thanks to a new partnership with Clif Bar Family Foundation.
Proposals may now be submitted electronically. Research and education/outreach projects will be considered. The deadline for applying is June 2, 2010.
For details on application procedures see the Requests for Proposals.
For additional information, contact Jane Sooby, OFRF's grants progam director, at 831-426-6606 or by email at jane@ofrf.org.
Risk Management Agency offers grants for community
outreach and crop insurance education
Of a total $8.6 million available from RMA for “partnerships” (their word for grants), approximately $2.5 million is available for community outreach, approximately $5 million available for crop insurance education in targeted states, approximately $1.1 million available for the program to convene local training sessions on crop insurance and risk management.
Individuals are not eligible to apply. Educational institutions, community-based organizations, associations of farmers and ranchers, state departments of agriculture, and other non-profit organizations with demonstrated capabilities are eligible to apply.
Proposals are due as early as April 15 depending on program so don’t wait before finding more detail online here.
North Central SARE announces call for Professional Development Program pre-proposals
The 2010 North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program’s (NCR-SARE) Professional Development Program (PDP) call for pre-proposals is now available online.
The PDP provides funds for professional development projects that provide sustainable agriculture training to agricultural professionals and educators in the Cooperative Extension Service (CES), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), other governmental agencies, and educators in the profit and non-profit sector serving the food and fiber system.
Any questions regarding the North Central SARE PDP program should be addressed to Linda Kleinschmit (LindaKL@ksu.edu, 402-254-3310).
The deadline for pre-proposals is Friday, May 21, 2010.
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