Rhianna Simes, M.S.Ed. owns and operates Verdant Phoenix Farm, a 10 acre urban farm and education center located in Jackson County, Oregon. The farm is managed as a no-till production system and is certified organic. She is participating in OFRF's Farmer Led Trials (FLT) Program to test the success of occultation as opposed to tillage as a field preparation solution for no-till farming.

Our Board President, April Jones Thatcher, offers a heartfelt reflection on the joys and challenges of organic farming. In her inspiring call to action, April explores how you can be part of a healthier food system. Read her message and discover how your choices can cultivate a more sustainable future for our communities and our planet.

At Lazy Eight Stock Farm, farmer Bryce Baumann has worked with local NRCS agents in Kentucky to transition to organic production, and is now implementing practices to reduce plastic use and protect soil through the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program coordinated by the Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK).

Bob Quinn is a well-known fourth generation organic farmer growing grains in the plains of Montana. His farm grows winter wheat, alfalfa, and other grains. He is participating in OFRF's Farmer Led Trials (FLT) Program to work on developing a cold-hardy landrace winter wheat variety that's well-adapted for organic farming in the mountain west region.

Nathan Lada is one of the four co-owners of Green Things Farm Collective, a diversified vegetable farm located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The farmers produce an array of fresh market vegetables and cut flowers for CSA memberships, farmers markets, small grocery and small wholesale markets. They are participating in OFRF's Farmer Led Trials (FLT) Program to experiment with different crop configurations for better production of beets and radishes.

Tim and Becky Colby own Colby Farms, a 14 acre farm in Papillion, Nebraska, where they produce vegetables, fruits and some livestock products for their community. They are participating in OFRF's Farmer Led Trials (FLT) Program to research the best cover crop options for reducing soil compaction on their farm.

Elmwood Stock Farm is a diversified organic farm in Georgetown, Kentucky, producing mixed vegetables, fruits, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork and value-added products. As a sixth-generation farm, Elmwood has learned to adapt to changing times, shifts in market opportunities, and modifications in state and Federal support programs over the generations.

The Wilson farm, which has been in the family for seven generations, began the transition to organic in the mid 90s, inspired by a neighbor who was making the switch as well. The certification process takes three years on land that has been receiving inputs that are prohibited under the organic program, and the Wilson family farm also needed to transition their herd of dairy cows. They started the process in 1996 and by 1999 all their crop land was certified organic. In this blog, Chris Wilson talks about the transition to organics, the benefits and challenges they've experienced on their farm, and more.

In this guest blog post, farmer and mycologist Cheetah Tchudi shares how USDA farmer support programs have benefited TurkeyTail Farm, and offers advice on how to approach working with these national support organizations.

Dr. Jennifer Taylor and her husband started Lola’s Organic Farm in 2009, but Taylor’s family has been working the land there for much longer. Her grandmother, Lola, who the farm is named after, was a sharecropper in rural Georgia who was given the opportunity to buy her own farmland. She became a successful independent farmer, on the land where Lola’s Organic Farm (LOF) is located today. 

Jesse Buie is one of those farmers who has been farming most of his life. “People always say ‘all their life’,” he jokes, “but yeah, that’s basically it.” Jesse grew up exposed to farming, with a father and grandfather who farmed. He explains that his interest in organic farming stemmed from his family’s history with farming, because “organic farming today is so similar to the farming practices they used back then. It was a continuation of the way I farmed my entire life,” he says.

There’s always been something romantic about a farm in New England, through colorful images of red barns, silos, and grazing cows against a quintessential autumnal landscape. Yet, over the past 50 years, the region has lost more than 10,000 dairy farms. Less than 2,000 remain; and Mayday Farm is one of the fortunate few. 

Based in Sumter, South Carolina, Sumpter Cooperative Farms (SCF) is a cooperative of organic farmers founded by Azeez and Fathiyyah Mustafa. Acting as a sort of incubator farm, they inspire and support others to pursue organic farming as a way of life and a community building tool.

Impacts of Climate Disruption on a Diversified Organic Dryland Farm - While scientists, policy makers, and carbon marketeers debate the best agricultural practices for absorbing excess atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into the soil, farmers need tools and strategies now to help them meet the day-to-day challenges posed by climate change.

Mendocino Wine Company is located 125 miles north of San Francisco in Ukiah, where extremely hot temperatures and minimal rain make conservation techniques like cover cropping and efficient water management imperative.

Organic farmer and OFRF Board Chair Bryan Hager knows about organic farming and the process it takes to get certified. Hager and his wife Wendy own Crager Hager Farm, a diversified fruit and vegetable farm in Carroll County, Georgia. Their farm is a year-round operation that grows salad and cooking greens such as lettuce and spinach, and popular market items [...]

June 19, 2019 – Rory Beyer was raised on the dairy farm his parents have owned since 1973. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in Animal Science, he returned to the farm and several years later, made the transition to organic production. Today, the Beyers farm 385 acres, raising dairy, beef, corn, and small [...]