OFRF is pleased to release our Request for Proposals (RFP) for 2018 research grants. Applicants residing in Canada, Mexico, and the United States are eligible to apply. In particular, OFRF encourages farmers, ranchers, graduate students, early career researchers, veterans, and Extension personnel to consider applying for funding. The deadline for proposals is December 15, 2017. OFRF will notify applicants about funding decisions in spring 2018.
Consumers used their wallets to show their increasing preference for organically grown food in 2016, and there’s every reason to believe this promising trend will continue. Results from the 2016 Certified Organic Survey conducted by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), show that sales were up 23 percent from $6.2B in 2015 to $7.6B in 2016.
There is a critical need to improve soil health in all agricultural systems. At this year’s meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, OFRF’s Research Program Director, Dr. Diana Jerkins will be holding a Special Session Symposium on Organic Agriculture Soil Health Research to discuss best practices for building healthy soils. OFRF also secured presenters for several soil health focused sessions throughout the conference.
Organic peach production is extremely difficult in the humid conditions of the Southeast due to high pest and disease pressures, and the lack of effective, organically approved pesticides. Few growers have taken the risk and transitioned to organic peach farming. Currently, there is only one certified organic peach producer in South Carolina and none in Georgia (one grower is in the process of transition). In 2016, OFRF funded a project aimed at providing growers in the Southeast with a new tool to reduce the risk of transitioning to organic production of peaches.
With the Farm Bill debate happening across the country, much of OFRF’s policy work has been focused on Congressional outreach on critical issues facing organic farmers. However, just as important as the legislation are the implementation, regulation, and administration of key organic programs. Among those are the organic research programs administered by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
From the Great Lakes through the Great Plains, nothing dominates the American agricultural landscape like corn. Thanks to breeding and technology, American farmers are incredibly efficient at growing corn. Last season, corn yields averaged a whopping 175 bushels per acre, and American farmers grew a record 15.2 billion bushels, or 853 billion pounds of corn. 
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) and over 100 member organizations descended on Madison, Wisconsin for the annual NSAC summer meeting August 6th – 9th. NSAC policy covers a wide variety of issues, from crop insurance, to plant breeding, to conservation. Organic production was front and center at the meeting. Madison, home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a hotbed of organic research and the surrounding area has hundreds of organic farms. (Pictured right: R&G Miller and Sons, Inc.)
While August is a busy time for many farmers around the country, it is also the time when things slowdown in Washington, D.C. as members of Congress head back home. This August, however, members of the House Agriculture Committee have been crisscrossing the country to hear about a broad array of concerns over the Farm Bill.
Looking to better understand consumers’ increasing interest in where their food comes from and how their food dollars can provide greater support for local food-related businesses and farmers, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis partnered to increase awareness of this opportunity for economic growth in both rural and urban communities.