Introducing our new suite of Resources for Farmers, from Farmers!
In OFRF’s 2022 National Organic Research Agenda (NORA), organic farmers and ranchers across North America shared a common concern about the lack of technical assistance and educational resources available for Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems (ICLS). Integrating crops and livestock results in numerous benefits, however the process can also lead to increased complexity, especially for farmers who must adhere to National Organic Program rules and regulations.
At OFRF we know the #1 source of information is other farmers so at the end of last year we put out a call for connection with farmers engaged in crop-livestock integration. We want to thank everyone that responded! With your help, OFRF is proud to release a suite of resources focused on Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems (ICLS) informed by interviews with four highly-experienced organic producers who shared their challenges, successes, and advice. We also want to say thank you to Organic Valley’s Farmers Advocating for Organics program for supporting this project.
The farmers featured in this series are:
- Emily Tzeng of Local Color Farm and Fiber in Puyallup, Washington
- Mike and Lona Bronkema of Shady Side Farm in Holland, Michigan
- Arlen Beery of Hidden Hollow Farm in Dayton, Virginia
- John Bitter of Frog Song Organics in Hawthorne, Florida
The suite of resources includes:
- farmer stories;
- podcast-style audio interviews;
- a video presentation;
- downloadable factsheets on the following key topics:
- as well as a collection of links to other ICLS-related resources.
All of this can be found on our website at https://ofrf.org/crop-livestock-integration/
