Monthly Archives: August 2022

On August 7, 2022, the full Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which will provide approximately $40 billion over the next ten years for climate change mitigation and resilience efforts through agriculture provisions. Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) and a broad coalition of over 130 groups strongly recommended investment in climate solutions and conservation technical assistance in the bill to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. OFRF further recommends immediate bill passage by the House to ensure agricultural producers can access USDA programs that promote soil health, sequester carbon, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while building climate resilience.

The $739B bill will allot approximately $369 billion to address climate change; this includes about $20 billion for USDA conservation programs for farmers, ranchers, and landowners. Funding would include the following:

• $300 million for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)  to quantify carbon sequestration and emissions on farmland
• $8.45 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
• $6.75 billion for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)
• $3.25 billion for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
• $1.4 billion for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP)
• $1 billion for USDA conservation technical assistance programming

“We are equipping farmers, foresters, and rural communities with the necessary tools to be a part of the solution,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, who also acknowledged support from environmental advocates, economists, companies, trade groups, and farm-related organizations such as OFRF.

Read OFRF’s Letter of Support for Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

The Organic Farming Research Foundation 2022 National Organic Research Agenda (NORA) is a report informed by surveys and focus groups conducted in 2020 with over 1,100 certified organic farmers and ranchers across North America.

What Farmers Said

• In the NORA report, 74% of survey respondents cited insect/pest management as a substantial technical assistance need.
• Specific feedback from organic farmers also underscores the need for additional research on managing pests such as spotted wing drosophila.

Download OFRF’s Pest Profile on Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD).

Watch the eOrganic Webinar on SWD featured in OFRF’s Organic Agriculture Research Forum 2022.

Know Your Pest
Spotted wing drosophila (SWD) is an insect pest of small stone fruit and berry crops. SWD is native to Asia and was first detected in the mainland United States in California in 2008.

Adult flies are smaller than 4mm, light brown in color with red eyes.

Male SWD have a dark spot on the leading edge of the wing, unbroken bands across the top of the abdomen, and two dark combs on each front leg pointing toward the tip of the leg. The wing spots are an easy to detect characteristic, though these markings are not always present on newly emerged males.

While harder to identify, females have a pronounced serrated ovipositor. This allows female SWD to use the saw-like organ to cut the skin of intact ripe or ripening fruit and deposit eggs inside the fruit.

Managing SWD
Key strategies to manage SWD include:

• Setting up traps.
• Sample fruit for larvae.
• Create a barrier such as exclusion netting or row cover tunnels.
• Time your planting to give your crop the upper hand.
• Decrease the intervals between harvests.
• Remove cull fruit.
• Mulch, prune the understory, and harvest.
• Encourage the populations of beneficial insects.

The Organic Farming Research Foundation 2022 National Organic Research Agenda (NORA) is a report informed by surveys and focus groups conducted in 2020 with over 1,100 certified organic farmers and ranchers across North America.

What Farmers Said

• In the NORA report, two-thirds of survey respondents (67%) cited weed management as a substantial production challenge.
• Specific feedback from organic farmers also underscores the need for additional research on controlling weeds such as bindweed.

Knowing Your Weeds
Farmers and researchers alike acknowledge that weeds pose the greatest barrier to building healthy soils in organic cropping systems. Management of weeds in an organic cropping system involves integration of many separate management tactics. Which tactics you use will depend on the weed species present, the crop, the time of year the crop is planted, the type of equipment you have available, other crops in the rotation, and other site and operation-specific factors.

Managing Bindweed

Field bindweed prefers full sunlight and moderately dry to dry conditions. It is relatively drought tolerant and flourishes in poor soil that contains sand, gravel, or hardpan clay. It is a competitive and persistent weed in a wide range of crops and rangelands. In organic systems the common method for controlling field bindweed is persistent and consistent tilling, requiring cultivation every two – three weeks over a multi-year period.

In systems that work to enhance soil health it is recommended to reduce the frequency of tillage, which can be at odds with management strategies for bindweed infestations. Farmers working toward sustainable conservation tillage systems may first need to take steps to control a current infestation of weeds such as bindweed before returning to reduced tillage practices. Once control of bindweed is achieved, efforts should return to restoring soil health with reduced soil disturbances.

To reduce the impact of field bindweed on production, farmers can:

• Execute a thorough, well-timed tillage program.
• Remove via flame weeding.
• Implement shading techniques.
• Control via soil solarization.

Once control of bindweed is achieved, efforts should return to restoring soil health. The following steps are key to soil health:

• Keep the soil covered
• Maximize living roots in thesis profile
• Minimize soil disturbance
• Energize the system with biodiversity

For more on weed management and applicable solutions that control this common weed, farmers can download OFRF’s Weed Management Guide and Weed Profile on Bindweed.

The Organic Farming Research Foundation 2022 National Organic Research Agenda (NORA) is a report informed by surveys and focus groups conducted in 2020 with over 1,100 certified organic farmers and ranchers across North America.

What Farmers Said

• In the NORA report, 74% of survey respondents cited insect/pest management as a substantial technical assistance need.
• Specific feedback from organic farmers also underscores the need for additional research on managing pests such as flea beetle.

Download OFRF’s Pest Profiles

• Brassica Loving Flea Beetle
• Solanaceae Loving Flea Beetle

Know Your Pest
Flea beetles are highly mobile and may fly long distances in search of suitable plants.

Eggs are elliptical in shape and white to yellowish gray in color. They are laid at the base of host plants, or in soil around the base of the plant. Eggs hatch in 11-13 days (at 77°F). Adults mate and lay eggs singly or in groups of 3-4 in soil at the base of host plants.

Larvae feed on the root hairs and taproots of seedlings. Damage is usually minimal at this phase except in the case of the Tuber Flea Beetle which feeds on potato tubers and the roots of potatoes. When larval development is complete, larvae pupate in small earthen cells for 9-13 days before emerging as adults.

Managing Flea Beetle
Stress these pests by:

• Planting a trap crop  to attract pests away.
• Remove alternative food sources.
• Interrupt life cycles.
• Create a barrier with floating row cover.

Enhance the population of beneficial bugs such as Braconid wasp (Microctonus vittatae), Lacewing larvae (Chrysoperla spp.), Big eyed bugs (Geocoris spp.), and Damsel bugs (Nabis spp.). Beneficial plantings of anise, dill, chamomile, marigold, or clover can enhance floral resources and encourage predatory insects.

Integrating healthy crop diversity, building soil health, and instituting crop rotations can also support pest management.