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So far Elizabeth Tobey has created 43 blog entries.

Conservation Agriculture webinar series

OFRF, in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), has co-created a webinar series focused on soil health and organic farming. This series is facilitated by Jennifer Ryan and Lindsay Haines of NRCS and Thelma Velez and Mary Hathaway of OFRF. Each of the webinars is led by Mark Schonbeck, OFRF’s Research Associate. Topics covered in this series include soil health, nutrient management, weed management, cover crops, plant genetics, water management, conservation tillage, and climate resilience. Each webinar shares organic farming practices and research findings, and many share stories of farmer experiences in organic farming as they pertain to the topic of the specific webinar in the series.

The USDA has made all the recordings available for free, you can find them here.

Webinar 1: Why “Organic” Matters – Soil Organic Matter, Soil Health and USDA-Certified Organic Farming

Soil is a living system that cycles nutrients and supplies crops with essential nutrients. Organic farmers must focus on building soil organic matter (SOM), returning crop residues to the soil, and using fertilizers of organic origin. After a brief history of organic farming, this webinar focuses on soil organic matter: the nature of soil organic matter, its relationship to organic farming practices, its functions, and practices to build it in agricultural soils. The webinar concludes with the story of Rick and Janice Felker of Mattawoman Creek Farmers in Virginia, and the organic practices they used to SOM and fertility in their sandy soils.

Webinar 2: Soil Life in Organic Farming: The Role of Soil Organisms in Soil Health and Resource Conservation

Although soil life makes up just a small portion of the soil mass, it performs all of the major functions in a healthy soil. Organic farmers understand this point and capitalize on it by feeding their soil to feed their crops. After a brief introduction to the community of life within the soil, this webinar delves into how soil organisms function in crop production, and provides an overview of organic farming for soil biology and its challenges, opportunities, and recent research findings, as well as some guidelines for optimizing practices and outcomes.

Webinar 3: Biological Nutrient Management: Best Organic Practices for Soil Fertility and Resource Stewardship

Nutrient management focuses on production, soil health, and conservation. According to the NRCS, nutrient management criteria is based on the “4Rs of nutrient stewardship”: right source, right rate, right time, right place. After a brief summary of the changes throughout history in organic nutrient management, this webinar focuses on the challenges and opportunities in organic nutrient management, through the use of the 4Rs and offers examples from current research. The webinar ends with a summary of organic nutrient management tips.

Webinar 4: Beating the Weeds Without Herbicides: Soil-Friendly Organic Weed Management

According to the 2022 National Organic Research Agenda report, weeds are the #1 challenge to organic farmers. After defining weeds, this webinar focuses on two tactics in managing weeds: prevention and control. First, five preventive steps for organic producers are presented, each complete with example practices. These steps are followed by a discussion of organic integrated weed management control practices, focusing on practices to increase weed control while decreasing damage to the soil, and sharing farmer innovations and research findings. The webinar concludes with a practical summary of weed prevention and control practices.

Webinar 5: Cover Cropping for Soil Health and Fertility in Organic Production

Cover crops play a multi-functional role in organic farming, as they contribute to all five principles of soil health. This webinar focuses on the challenges and strategies of using cover crops: selecting the best cover crop for a farmer’s objectives, rotation niche, and soil challenges; timely establishment and termination of cover crops, termination without herbicides, and optimizing nitrogen release from the crop; and region-specific challenges and strategies. The webinar concludes with four farmer stories of using cover crops in context.

Webinar 6: The Role of Plant Genetics in Soil Health: Selecting Crop Cultivars for Organic Production

According to the 2022 National Organic Research Agenda report, farmers find it difficult to find appropriate crop varieties and seeds for organic production. Breeding priorities for the organic farming sector include disease and pest resistance, overall vigor, and resilience to drought and other climate related challenges. This webinar discusses the challenges for obtaining seeds and cultivars for organic systems and ways to address these challenges; and organic plant breeding research in vegetable crops, grains, and cover crops.

Webinar 7: Organic Soil Health Practices for Water Management and Water Quality

Can organic soil health practices buffer the farm against drought and deluge? After a brief overview of soil moisture and the effects of inherent and dynamic soil properties on plant available water, this webinar discusses the impacts of climate change on soil health and farm water supply, ways to manage water quantity and quality in organic farming systems, the use of cover crops and soil water in challenging climates, and some irrigation challenges in organic production. 

Webinar 8: Practical Conservation Tillage for Organic Cropping Systems

Although intense tillage may be costly to a farmer’s soil health, there are methods and tools organic farmers can use when tilling to maintain or improve their soil health. This webinar discusses tools to reduce tillage intensity in organic systems, the organic rotational no-till systems and its four steps, and soil disturbance. The webinar concludes with farmer stories of tillage reduction in organic production, focusing on vegetable, mixed crop and livestock, and grain farms throughout the U.S.

Webinar 9: Sequestering Carbon, Reducing Greenhouse Gases, and Building Climate Resilience through Organic Soil Health Practices

Climate change affects agriculture, and agriculture also contributes to climate change. After sharing some ways in which U.S. agricultural systems can be part of the solution, this webinar dives into organic agriculture as a climate solution: its opportunities and challenges, best practices for carbon sequestration, and best practices for greenhouse gas mitigation. The webinar concludes with a presentation of recent research findings, and their implications for organic agriculture.

Access the webinars here.

By |2023-11-20T20:14:11+00:00November 20th, 2023|Education, News|
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Respecting the Roots: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Organic Agriculture

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is a concept that has been gaining attention in non-native communities in recent years, and frequently coming up in conversation at OFRF. It is hard to provide one all-encompassing definition of TEK, but generally TEK references ecological knowledge that is place-based and also inherently tied to a culture. It is not only a system of knowledge that has been handed down generationally, but a holistic way to view all living things in relationship to the landscape; that means not seeing ourselves as separate from it, but as embedded within the ecological system. To some, TEK represents a wholly-separate knowledge system than Western scientific knowledge, or Western Science, which prioritizes reductionism and transportability. Instead, TEK recognizes that there are pieces of knowledge, especially in the agroecological context, that are too complex to be reduced to their specific constituent parts, and that cannot be replicated elsewhere because the ecological and social factors are not the same. 

We recognize that some of the focus on TEK includes examples of white individuals and white-led organizations claiming ancestral and cultural knowledge that belongs to the Indigenous peoples of what is now called North America. As a white-led organization in the agricultural sector, we at OFRF are actively working to properly acknowledge the importance of TEK to organic practices in a way that honors the cultures that hold this deep knowledge and understanding. There are some institutions and communities that are actively trying to facilitate interactions with Western Science and TEK, and integrate this knowledge system and indigenous perspective. Institutions like Cal Poly Humboldt, who are developing and using programming on Place-based Learning Communities. Outside of the agricultural space, arctic researchers are working with tribal nations to gain a better understanding of how the arctic is changing. 

There are many that claim the knowledge and principles associated with TEK is a crucial piece of meeting the stacking challenges of our time, especially climate change, even the White House has announced guidance on utilizing TEK. That is one reason why we are working with Senators in Washington D.C. to ensure that TEK is not co-opted by academia, but facilitated by it. But, we acknowledge that these are just small steps when large leaps are needed.

As an organization, we are committed to learning and growing by listening to the needs of communities we aim to serve. We are exploring ways to engage in this path meaningfully while also being mindful of the space we occupy. We know we have a lot to learn, and we hope you will join us in this work.

By |2023-11-13T17:20:46+00:00November 12th, 2023|News|
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From Farm to Policy: Organic Agriculture and Public Health

This month, Gordon’s Policy Corner has a guest author, OFRF’s 2023 Fall Policy & Communications Intern, Annika La Fave.

Until last year, I could not imagine a career path for myself other than farming. Working in sustainable agriculture for the last 14 years has inextricably linked my profession to my identity. However, after closing my small vegetable farm business in Oregon and moving to Maryland, I realized that I didn’t have it in me to start over. I also knew I was not alone. Many of my fellow small farm owners in Portland had also left farming due to financial hardship and lack of work-life balance. The unavoidable difficulties of farming as a profession was my inspiration for pursuing a graduate degree at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where I now study the intersection of public health, policy, and occupational sustainability and health for the ag community. OFRF’s meaningful work addresses these issues and more, and, as the fall Policy & Communications intern, I’m honored to be part of the team. This month, I’m taking over Gordon’s Policy Corner to talk about a few critical ways organic agricultural research and policy impact health outcomes for farmers.

How do policy, research, organic farming, and public health intersect? 

The farming community is affected by many key social determinants of health including:

Farmers are simultaneously among the most vulnerable and most vital members of our food system. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of a food system built within our current market dynamics, there are significant barriers to these circumstances changing. 

How can research guide food system policy? 

The first step toward promoting a healthier, more sustainable food system is ensuring federal and state governments support farm workers and local agricultural markets. Policymakers rely on researchers to demonstrate quantifiable issues within our food system and tangible opportunities to solve them. Only with this evidence, can advocates and policymakers demonstrate a critical need and rally support for meaningful policy development. Additionally, research can provide much needed technical and economic support for farmers to help improve their growing practices, increase yields, and make farming as profitable as it can be in light of the many barriers they face. In OFRF’s 2022 National Organic Research Agenda, which reported on surveys and focus groups conducted with transitioning and certified organic producers across North America, participants named the availability of organic research funds (54%), access to knowledgeable agricultural service providers (53%), and the imbalance of organic supply and demand (58%) among their top concerns.

OFRF’s role in addressing food system complexity: 

The needs of small and organic farmers are still underrepresented in the Farm Bill, but, thanks in part to the work of ag support organizations, USDA is now implementing more programs geared toward small, beginning, and historically underserved communities. Through my internship with OFRF, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of how individual organizations can promote policy reform through coalition building. For instance, OFRF’s policy team continues to champion the Strengthening Organic Agriculture Research Act (SOAR Act) as well as the Organic Science & Research Initiative Act (OSRI Act), which both aim to obtain necessary Farm Bill research funding to solidify our path toward a more equitable and resilient agricultural industry.

OFRF is also excited to be part of USDA’s Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP), a program investing up to $100M over 5 years in cooperative agreements with organizations like OFRF to provide technical assistance and mentorship for transitioning and existing organic farmers. Knowing that small, beginning, and historically-marginalized farmers are particularly vulnerable to financial hardship and time constraints, the OFRF policy team has been working with TOPP West to develop toolkits for farmers to mitigate the common barriers they face when it comes to accessing USDA’s grants, loans, and technical support. Lately, I’ve been working to unpack NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in a brief guide to help farmers know exactly when and how to apply for financial assistance.

How can you promote public health and a more equitable food system?

To reduce the impact of global warming, we will need a societal shift toward supporting local food systems and organic farming practices. In doing so, we can also promote a stronger local economy, combat the ongoing health disparities disproportionately affecting the farming community, and ensure that the people growing our food are able to earn a livable wage. Please prioritize buying from local producers using organic growing methods whenever possible. Consider reaching out to your representatives to highlight the need for more financial and policy support to help reshape sustainable agriculture into a tenable profession. And, please join us for an upcoming virtual OFRF event, where you can learn new skills for communicating with legislators or get involved with your own farmer-led research.

. . .

All photos courtesy of Annika La Fave.

By |2023-11-10T15:20:58+00:00November 10th, 2023|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|
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The Role of Long-Term Research in Sustainable Agriculture

Written by Elizabeth Tobey

The word unprecedented has become tiredly overused, as we weather the storms of one climate-induced disaster after another, and set new records for temperature extremes. Farmers and farm workers in particular are keenly aware of the impacts of this climate chaos; in a profession dependent on and deeply affected by the weather, people working in agriculture are canaries in the coal mines of rapidly changing weather patterns and new climate extremes. Earlier this year farmers in Vermont raced to harvest crops before flood waters overtook fields and contaminated crops, while farmers throughout the west coast donned n95 masks or respirators to work the fields amid hazardous air quality due to a wildfire smoke. These stories are sadly not uncommon; everywhere you look farmers are working hard to stay afloat in challenging conditions. Climate change is impacting farms and ranches across the nation and organic farms are particularly vulnerable; but they are also full of potential for climate adaptation and even mitigation.

A recent Civil Eats article showcased how the history of extractive agriculture in Maui set the stage for the devastating wildfires in early August. While it explains the tragic history leading up to the disaster, it also points out that agriculture can be part of the solution. “Basically everything that can be done negatively, agriculture can also do it positively. Agriculture can contribute to soil remediation, improved water quality, and biodiversity.” 

Cultivating corn at the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab in Beltsville, MD, with cultivated beans in the foreground

Because organic farms do not rely on synthetic chemicals, they tend to be more dependent on natural systems than their conventional farming counterparts. This can mean they are more vulnerable and easily impacted by climate change, but organic systems also hold tremendous potential to build climate resilience. Farmers have always adapted, and the unpredictability of our current climate continues to push farmers to seek innovative solutions and evolve their farming practices to help withstand and even mitigate the extremes of climate change. 

Long term agroecological research is critical in order to provide farmers with cutting edge understanding of how climate change affects different production systems and how different production systems can build resilience to withstand climate change. While a lot can be learned in short-term studies, there are things that only long-term observation can reveal. To better understand the role of long term agriculture research OFRF recently spoke with Michel Cavigelli, PhD about his work at the long term agricultural research (LTAR) station in Beltsville Maryland, ancestral homelands of the Piscataway and Nacotchtank. “I was always interested in long-term research because everything changes every year,” Cavigelli said.

Weather patterns can change so much year to year, that a two year study, for instance, may fall over the course of two good-weather years, or even a good year and a bad year, and the results will not accurately represent the full picture of how a farming system behaves over the course of several years and weather cycles. Other elements of agriculture change so slowly that it’s nearly impossible to measure them in a short period of time.

“You need long term data to look at things that change a lot from year to year, and you also need long term data to look at things that change slowly,” Cavigelli explained. “Soil organic carbon changes slowly, that’s probably the most notorious one. You usually need at least ten years of a treatment difference to see those [changes] statistically.”

Dr. Michel Cavigelli

Running a long-term study offered Cavigelli a unique opportunity to study Soil Organic Carbon (SOC). “There’s all this talk now about climate-smart agriculture, and looking at ways to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. So any increase in soil carbon is a decrease in atmospheric carbon.” 

At the Beltsville research site they have five different cropping systems in place: two conventional and three organic, with a variety of tillage practices and crop-rotations in place. The cropping systems they maintain are:

  • Conventional
    • no-till, 3-year corn-soybean-wheat rotation
    • standard tillage, 3-year, corn-soybean-wheat rotation
  • Organic 
    • standard tillage, 2-year corn-soybean rotation
    • standard tillage, 3-year corn-soybean-wheat rotation
    • standard tillage, 6-year corn-soybean-wheat-alfalfa rotation, with alfalfa as a three-year perennial crop

The conventional systems receive a double-cropping of soybeans after wheat harvest, while the three-year organic rotation gets a hairy vetch planting. “It’s still corn, soybean wheat, and then a legume,” said Cavigelli, of the 3-year organic rotation. “So it’s quite comparable to the two conventional systems.” This variety of cropping systems allows them to compare different production methods.

Along with studying SOC, Cavigelli also looks at crop yield, economic viability, soil quality and soil properties, weed population dynamics, and the overall health of the soil food web. He also explained the long term trial site functions as a base for other researchers to look at things that they don’t study at the Beltsville lab, such as soil invertebrate communities. “We provide the long term study for people to kind of helicopter in and do their specialty, which provides a lot more depth of knowledge of the different systems,” Cavigelli said. 

Organic soybeans at the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab in Beltsville, MD

The results of these studies help researchers like Cavigelli give more accurate and useful advice to farmers and ranchers. Along with publishing scientific reports on their findings, researchers at Beltsville engage in a variety of outreach activities to share their findings with the agricultural community. Prior to Covid, Cavigelli said he regularly presented at ag conferences and hosted field days at the research site that would draw groups of 80-100 farmers and others at a time. He also worked with partners at the local university extension office on a “traveling road show” tour to present findings to ag communities in the mid-Atlantic region, and is eager to reinstate those outreach activities now that the national emergency has ended.

There have been a lot of studies on no-till conventional agriculture, which allowed people to develop some robust conclusions early on. “That’s why no-till became the focus of what farmers ought to do to sequester carbon,” Cavigelli said. Based on this he explained that his initial hypothesis was that the organic systems would retain soil carbon at a rate somewhere between the conventional tillage and conventional no-till systems, taking into account the added organic matter from the organic systems but the disturbance from tilling.

Some of the initial results they’ve found in studies have surprised even Cavigelli. He initially expected the no-till systems to have higher SOC levels because of the decreased soil disturbance. However, when they looked at the findings after 11 years, the organic system actually had more soil carbon than the no-till system, although he made sure to point out that their latest study on SOC has not been fully vetted by peers yet; they will be submitting the paper soon. 

Farming Systems Project, Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab in Beltsville, MD

“A critical part of the story is that when the experiment was started we had relatively high SOC because the site had been planted to perennial alfalfa for at least 14 years,” Cavigelli said. “This also points to the value of perennials.” When Cavigeli’s team compared their results to archived soil samples from 1996, before the long-term systems trials began, the only cropping system that was not losing soil organic carbon over the long term was the 6-year organic rotation. As noted above, this rotation differs from the others by adding a three-year planting of perennial alfalfa before going back into an annual corn-soybean-wheat rotation. “It’s not a tree, it’s not the native perennials, but it’s still a perennial,” Cavigelli explained about the alfalfa. “And during the three years that it’s in there you’re not tilling, and you’re increasing root biomass and all that.” As a legume, the alfalfa roots have a symbiotic relationship with rhizobial bacteria that pull atmospheric nitrogen from the air and fix it in the plant, while the perennial root systems and the lack of tillage or soil disturbance for those three years support the soil in sequestering carbon. Alfalfa is also a valuable cash crop in itself, providing high quality livestock feed. 

“When we look at the difference between time-zero, 1996, and all five of our systems they all lose carbon except for the six-year organic system,” Cavigelli said. “It’s not just that it’s organic, but it’s that we have a perennial in there. So it looks like the story is that perennials are the best way to either maintain or increase soil carbon.” 

As we head into the unknown of our changing climate, long-term research will be increasingly important to help farmers and ranchers make informed decisions about their management practices and to help policy makers respond to the climate crisis with effective programs. However, funding for these long term projects is precarious. All the funding comes from Congress, and Cavigelli explained that it can be tough to make the case for long-term research. “They like to see more quick results, and it’s not quite as sexy as developing a new technology,” he laughed. Researchers like Cavigelli are limited by Congress’s funding decisions.  “It’s a harder sell,” Cavigelli continued. “And it’s a sustainability sell. The only way to measure our sustainability is doing things long-term. And the amount of money we get is directly related to how much research we can do.”

. . .

Dr. Michel Cavigelli is a Co-Director of the USDA Northeast Climate Hub, providing expertise on cropping system management and impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. He is also a Research Soil Scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service at the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab in Beltsville, Maryland. He serves as Lead Scientist of a research project that includes evaluating the long-term impacts of organic and conventional cropping systems management on sustainability. His areas of expertise include organic and conventional cropping systems, nutrient management, and environmental and microbiological controls on soil nitrous oxide production and emissions. He received a B.A. in Biology at Oberlin College in 1984, a M.S. in Agronomy at Kansas State University in 1990, and a Ph.D. in Crop and Soil Sciences and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Michigan State University in 1998. OFRF is grateful to Cavigelli for taking the time to speak with us about his work.

By |2023-12-06T20:49:03+00:00October 25th, 2023|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|
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Farming for the birds

Study shows how organic growers and wild birds can benefit one another

Written by Heather Estrada

Organic producers rely on natural biological controls as a key component of their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies against crop pests. Because wild insectivorous birds play a substantial role in biocontrol of many pests, organic producers often maintain natural areas or install perennial habitat plantings such as hedgerows and field borders to encourage diverse wild bird populations. However, in addition to some birds directly damaging crops, food safety and animal health concerns have been raised because wild birds can carry pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that affect humans and livestock.  

Researcher Jeb Owen holds a yellow Tanager bird in his hands. He is wearing a red raincoat, smiling at the camera, standing in a marshy area in front of a body of water.

Dr. Jeb Owen, holding a Tanager.

In 2015, a group of researchers from Dr. Jeb Owen’s lab at Washington State University received a USDA NIFA Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) research grant to investigate the costs and benefits of encouraging wild bird populations on organic farms. The goals of the Avian Biodiversity: Impacts, Risks and Descriptive Survey (A-BIRDS) project were threefold: 1) to identify the relationship between wild bird biodiversity and farm-level management practices, 2) to determine the role of insectivorous wild birds in controlling insect pests, and 3) to assess the risk presented by wild birds in spreading pathogens that endanger human and livestock health.  

Researchers conducted in-depth surveys of species diversity, prey consumption, and the occurrence of fecal pathogens in wild bird populations over a three-year period on 52 organic farms in CA, OR, and WA.  Highly diversified and organic vegetable-only and vegetable-livestock integrated farms with a range of field sizes, proportions of natural areas, and overall diversity of the agroecosystem landscape, were included in the survey. 

Results suggest that more natural habitat in the farm landscape increased the density of native bird species and reduced the density of non-native species, which have the potential to be invasive. Farms with livestock consistently supported greater bird density and diversity, which was most pronounced in farms with the least amount of natural area. The increased bird density and diversity on crop-livestock farms may be attributed to a combination of common factors: smaller farm size, greater landscape diversity, and more integration of woody crops compared to crop-only farms.

The next phase of this project involved the collection and DNA analysis of 1,200 bird fecal samples from participating farms. Results showed that wild birds consumed 30 orders of insects, including 103 insect species that are known to be crop pests, confirming that birds can perform important agroecosystem services through the biological control of insect pests. Finally, some 3,200 samples of bird feces were tested for Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. Bird feces commonly (10% of samples) carried Campylobacter, and rarely carried Salmonella or Shiga toxin-forming pathogenic E. coli (STEC). Campylobacter increased with livestock density but decreased with the extent of natural areas on the farm, which highlights the potential for natural habitat to reduce crop contamination by birds.

Overall, these findings indicate that maintaining natural areas and a patchwork landscape with small fields bordered by natural areas can enhance wild bird populations and potential predation on insect pests without contributing to food safety risks. This research has been published widely in academic journals and shared to farmer audiences through numerous extension talks.

Original Report https://portal.nifa.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/1007264-avian-biodiversity-impacts-risks-and-descriptive-survey-a-birds.html

By |2023-12-06T20:50:51+00:00October 19th, 2023|Education, News|
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Unpredictable Times in Agriculture and Policy

Our political and civic institutions are similar to agricultural operations. Both require a degree of predictability and adherence to deadlines to function effectively. In the same way that farmers depend on predictable climate patterns for successful cultivation, our governments rely on stability to meet the deadlines that shape policies and funding critical to our society.

Aerial view of storm water on cotton fields that are already saturated with days of heavy rain.

Aerial view of storm water on cotton fields that are already saturated with days of heavy rain. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

However, both realms face growing unpredictability. Climate change has disrupted farming with unpredictable weather patterns, altering frost dates, precipitation, and pest cycles, making it challenging to maintain smooth agricultural operations. Similarly, the political landscape in Washington, D.C., has become increasingly erratic, impacting our ability to foresee legislative actions and their potential effects.

This past month, Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown and allowed the 2018 Farm Bill to expire. Now, they have until November 15th to pass crucial Appropriations bills or another Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded. Additionally, there’s a tight deadline until late December to pass a new Farm Bill or extend the current one. However, the latter seems less likely due to persistent political disagreement.

The dynamics of climate instability and political gridlock are deeply interconnected. Yet, amidst this uncertainty, there is a powerful action we can all take to influence change: effectively communicating to legislators and policymakers how these issues impact our lives. Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) is offering another round of our ‘Communicating with Legislators Workshop’ to support this work.

Here’s a snapshot of what you should know and what the workshop will cover in more detail:

  1. Legislatures are Reactive: Legislative processes respond to public concerns and emerging issues. If they don’t know about a problem or issue, they can’t act on it; conversely, if they don’t know something significant is happening, they can’t defend or support it.
  2. Legislatures are Slow-Working: The pace of legislative work is deliberate to ensure thorough consideration of implications. Continuous engagement ensures our perspectives remain in their purview as they deliberate policies.
  3. Consistent Input is Crucial: Legislatures need regular, diverse, and informed input from citizens to make effective and well-informed decisions.

Our ‘Communicating with Legislators Workshop’ is tailored for farmers and researchers in the organic farming sector. We equip you with insights into how legislatures operate, emphasizing your vital role in communicating about the issues you care about. 

One critical area where consistent input is necessary is in the realm of organic agricultural research. Organic farming isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a key player in our fight against climate change. The unpredictability climate change introduces is a significant challenge for farmers. Organic agricultural practices can mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting soil health, and enhancing resilience to extreme weather events. Research in this field is essential for mitigating and adapting to climate change, and we need policymakers to understand the importance of continuing to invest in it. However, this research is primarily funded through public appropriations, which have been decreasing since 2000.

Join us in this workshop to learn best practices and how you can advocate for increased investments in organic agriculture and research. Your voice matters, and it’s a potent force in shaping the future of our agriculture sector. Together, we can navigate these unpredictable times and work towards a more stable and supportive environment for organic farming.

Workshop registration is free. More info on our events page.

By |2023-10-16T15:12:37+00:00October 13th, 2023|Gordon's Policy Corner|
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Marina Vergara (she/her/hers)

Research & Education Intern

email: research[at]ofrf.org

Marina Vergara (she/her) joins the OFRF team as the Fall 2023 Research and Education intern. Marina is a graduate student at the University of California, Davis studying International Agricultural Development. Her interests lie in exploring participatory agricultural extension and ways to better support marginalized farmers. Her research examines a participatory silvopastoral extension program in Panama, and the ways in which this model facilitates an informal knowledge exchange amongst model farmers and farmers newly entering the program.

Marina discovered her passion for food and agriculture in college after being drawn to the interdisciplinary nature of food systems. After graduating from Cornell University in 2018 with a BS in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, Marina moved to Panama to serve with the U.S. Peace Corps as an Agriculture Extension Agent, working with small-scale, organic cacao farmers in product development, marketing, and sales. Marina then served with AmeriCorps VISTA in South Texas, where she focused on coalition building for increasing food security and youth curriculum development for food justice and sovereignty in the Rio Grande Valley.

Marina is passionate about supporting marginalized farmers, through collaboration in projects and increasing equity in access to extension support and materials. In her free time, you can find Marina outside hiking, biking, or lounging with her dog Claudia, at the local coffee shop with a good book, or trying something new and tasty to eat.

By |2023-10-11T20:41:42+00:00October 11th, 2023|Staff|
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Annika La Fave (she/her/hers)

Policy & Communications Intern

email: policy[at]ofrf.org

Annika La Fave (she/her) joins the OFRF team as the Fall 2023 policy & communications intern. Annika is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on public health communications & food systems policy.

Annika began farming in 2010 while completing her B.A. in Education at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. She has since had a varied career in sustainable agriculture raising livestock, vegetables, and cut-flowers, teaching organic farming and small business management at Clackamas Community College, founding her own small vegetable farm business promoting food equity in partnership with Oregon Health & Science University, and, most recently, managing Baltimore County’s Agricultural Center.

Annika is passionate about land stewardship and the pursuit of occupational tenability for small and beginning farmers. She aspires to help create a more equitable food system for producers and consumers. She spends most of her spare time walking and running with her two energetic greyhounds.

By |2023-10-10T17:55:31+00:00October 9th, 2023|Staff|
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NRCS Programs on an Organic Farm

How Animal Integration and Crop Rotations Help Sustain Generations of Farmers at Elmwood Stock Farm

Written by Brian Geier

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. For farmer John Bell, a key to Elmwood’s success has been an ongoing fertility program based on crop-livestock integration and long crop rotations. For the Bell family, the presence of livestock and the practice of crop rotations are part of a family-farm heritage, one that has long been supported by programs like those offered by the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

At Elmwood, land remains in perennial pasture with multi-species grazing for 4-5 years before being opened up for intensive vegetable or grain production for 3 years. This type of fertility program, with a focus on long rest periods and grazing, is not new to the farm. Even before organic certification, John Bell’s parents and grandparents farmed tobacco with a similar rotation, raising hay and cattle on lands for four or more years before switching to tobacco for a few seasons. Utilizing programs like those offered by NRCS is not new to the farm, either. Decades ago the Bell family used programs of the Soil Conservation Service, the precursor to the NRCS, to develop a spring on the farm into a system of gravity-fed tanks for livestock water, a system that is still in use today.

“Long-term, it’s the fertility program that usually determines whether somebody is successful with organic.”
 -John Bell

Early and late-season tomatoes are being produced in 300′ high tunnels at Elmwood Stock Farm.

More recently, Elmwood has utilized the NRCS High Tunnel Initiative three separate times for season extension of high-value, high-demand crops like tomatoes. For years, Elmwood had three, 300’ Haygrove high tunnels, but they wanted to increase production. They also recognized a need for rest periods for their existing tunnels, to mitigate problems with continuous production like salt buildup and nematodes. The first time they used the NRCS initiative to install a 100’ tunnel (the maximum length for that initiative) next to the existing tunnels. Their second year using the initiative, they added another 100’ to that new tunnel, plus they installed another 100’ themselves to bring it to 300’ to match the Haygroves.

Now, at least one tunnel is rested each year, with the plastic off so that rain and weather interact with the soil, which helps mitigate the buildup of salt and nematodes. The third year using the initiative they installed 100’ of what will become the fifth tunnel, so that two tunnels are rested each year.

John has also utilized incentives like NRCS-EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) to plant overwintering cover crops and to help establish diverse pastures when rotating fields out of their 3 years of vegetable and grain production. In the future, Elmwood may look toward using the CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program) or related programs for support with pasture and forage diversification. In order to maintain organic certification, all requirements of any program must be allowable under the National Organic Program. The NRCS, along with organizations like OFRF, are working to ensure that programs and support are suitable for organic systems.

Click below to listen to a short audio clip where John speaks about the importance of a fertility program to the success of an organic farm. This clip is from a farm visit conducted by OFRF in August, 2023. 

To learn more about NRCS programs and resources for organic farmers, visit the Organic Agriculture page. For more information on Elmwood Stock Farm, visit their website and stay tuned to OFRF for our upcoming release of Tillage Tools and Practices in Organic Farming Systems in cooperation with the NRCS, a resource full of farmer features, including Elmwood Stock Farm.

At right: Farmer John Bell discusses pasture diversification at a production field that was recently planted with multi-species pasture mixes. August, 2023.

By |2023-12-06T20:52:16+00:00September 11th, 2023|Farmer Stories, News|
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Gordon’s Policy Corner: Navigating September’s Shifts

Farm Bill Policy, Funding Implications, and Ways to Stay Engaged

September is a month of transitions. In Vermont it brings the first signals of autumn with cool mornings full of valley fog; in DC it brings a flurry of work before the end of the Federal Government’s fiscal year, which brings with it the expiration of the government’s funding and Farm Bill legislation, which are both in flux right now. 

For government funding, or appropriations, neither chamber has successfully passed all twelve of the necessary spending bills on the floor, which means much of the limited floor time for the rest of the year will be spent on both a continuing resolution and then hopefully passing full funding bills before the end of the year. But, that would mean the other expiring piece of legislation, the Farm Bill, would also need an extension. This is all-but guaranteed with the amount of work needed to bridge the yawning gap between the Senate and House spending bills. Some predict that the Farm Bill will be extended until the spring of 2024, some until after the elections in 2024.

As the Farm Bill and FY24 Appropriations situation continues to clear and muddy itself again, one thing remains certain, continued interaction with policy makers is imperative! We at OFRF want to ensure that you all have the ability to meaningfully engage. But, we also depend on our network and community to help keep us in the know of opportunities, too! Below are three ways you can plug in with OFRF and stay connected.  

  • Communicating with Legislators Workshop Series:

First and foremost, I am excited to share that OFRF is hosting another series of workshops aiming to give researchers and farmers some tools to effectively engage with policymakers. Our goal is to equip individuals within the organic farming community with the tools to effectively engage with and educate legislators about the impact of their organic research. This will be geared to both publicly funded researchers as well as farmers that utilize and participate in research.

There are four workshop sessions available:
– Thurs Sep 21st 7-8:30pm EST
– Wed Oct 11th 1-2:30pm EST
– Mon Oct 30th 5:30-7pm EST
– Tues Nov 21st 12-1:30pm ES
All sessions cover the same material, so you only have to attend one. I hope you will also share this opportunity with your colleagues and networks! Registration is FREE. You can find details here.

  • Field Days with an Organic Component:

Second, we at OFRF are interested in hearing more about research field day opportunities, especially those with organic components, taking place near or organized by you! At OFRF, we are dedicated to fostering the exchange of knowledge and best practices in organic farming. If you know of any field days on the horizon that emphasize organic methodologies, we are keen to explore opportunities for collaboration, participation, or mutual promotion. 

  • Stay Connected with OFRF

Lastly, we always want to stress the significance of staying connected with you and the organic farming community. That is why we’re asking you to highlight any listservs or newsletters your local organizations or extension services operate that we should be aware of! These platforms enable us to learn about upcoming field days, networking events, and initiatives that align with our goals and values.

If you know of any field days that happen annually, especially those with organic components, or of any good newsletters with those events in your region, let me know at gordon@ofrf.org! Thank you for the work you do in the organic community! The possibilities to collectively contribute to the growth of organic agriculture, and empower the next generation of farmers and researchers is an exciting and real opportunity. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or to discuss your work. 

Eat well,

Gordon

By |2023-12-06T20:58:33+00:00September 7th, 2023|Gordon's Policy Corner, News|
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