OFRF News Archives

OFRF News Archives2019-10-09T21:34:41+00:00

General News

Please Support Our Work

April 23, 2010 - Dear friends, I sincerely hope this message finds you and your family healthy and safe in the midst of this pandemic. As I juggle working from home, homeschooling my two kids, and ensuring our family has healthy food to eat, I am reflecting on the challenges each of us face and am reminded of how central food and farming is to all of our well-being.

April 23rd, 2020|Categories: News|Tags: |

Wild Hope Farm

Wild Hope Farm is a certified organic farm owned by the Belk family and located in Chester, South Carolina. The practices they use are simultaneously decreasing off-farm inputs (e.g., pesticides, fertilizers) and increasing the health of their ecosystem.

April 3rd, 2020|Categories: Farmer Stories, News|Tags: |

It’s About the Long Game Now

March 30, 2020 - Bob Scowcroft, co-founder and first Executive Director of OFRF was scheduled to speak at OFRF’s benefit luncheon at Expo West on March 4th. Unfortunately, the cancellation of Expo West and our luncheon due to COVID-19 was just the beginning of a series of events that none of us could have foreseen.

April 1st, 2020|Categories: News|Tags: |

The Power of Hope and Resilience

March 31, 2020 - As our world faces the confusion and heartache that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it, we at OFRF are reminded of the power of hope and resilience. For the OFRF team, our lives, like yours, are looking quite different these days. Our office in Santa Cruz is closed as we “shelter in place.” But, we are sticking together and are committing to our mission more than ever.

April 1st, 2020|Categories: News|Tags: |

Researchers and Farmers Come Together at 2020 OARF

January 31, 2020 - Holding this year’s Organic Agriculture Research Forum in Little Rock provided an opportunity for researchers and farmers to focus on challenges associated with organic farming in the Southern region. The forum was presented jointly by OFRF and Tuskegee University in partnership with the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG). Dr. Lauren Snyder, Education and Research Program manager for OFRF welcomed participants to the day-long event before handing it over to Professor Kokoasse Kpomblekou-A from Tuskegee University for an update on organic farming research in the Southeast. [...]

January 30th, 2020|Categories: News|Tags: |

OFRF Leads Organic Soil Heath Workshop at TOFGA

L-R: Diana Jerkins, Scott Snodgrass, Justin Duncan, Tommy Garcia-Prats January 28, 2020 - OFRF was a sponsor of the Texas Organic Farmers & Gardeners ( TOFGA) annual conference held in Temple, Texas conference from January 16-18. OFRF and TOFGA and OFRF jointly held a panel workshop on soil health, as well as a farmer listening session. Diana Jerkins, OFRF Senior Scientist, led both sessions with 60 participants for the workshop and over 40 for the listening session. Dr. Jerkins is a co-author of OFRF's educational series on Soil [...]

January 9th, 2020|Categories: News|Tags: |

OFRF Researcher Reports on Grant to Study Biosolarization

January 7, 2020 - Soil solarization is an organic method that has been shown to control weeds, pathogens, and nematodes in areas with hot summer temperatures. Biosolarization, a relatively new technique, combines the use of soil solarization and organic soil amendments to enhance the results of solarization. While biosolarization has proven effective in a number of studies, its efficacy varies across study regions, cropping systems, and pathogen communities. In 2018, OFRF provided a grant to Dr. Ashraf Tubeileh at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo to study the effect [...]

January 7th, 2020|Categories: News|Tags: |

Patagonia Doubles Donations to OFRF

December 4, 2019 - Now through December 31st, all donations made to OFRF will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Patgonia Works! This match will double your support! For the last three decades, OFRF has responded directly to the critical needs of organic farmers and ranchers through targeted scientific research, free educational resources, and advocacy on both the local and federal level. Don't miss this opportunity to double your impact. Thank you for helping us ensure organic farmers and ranchers have the information and resources they need to be successful! Click here to make your [...]

December 4th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: |

New Report Highlights Role of Agriculture in Climate Change Mitigation

November 14, 2019 – OFRF has been using research-based analysis to inform public policy for nearly three decades. Recently, we contributed to a new report from the National Sustainable Organic Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) titled Moving American Agriculture to “Net Zero”. One of the principal authors of that report, Dr. Mark Schonbeck, OFRF Research Associate, is the lead author of our wildly popular educational series on organic farming and soil health, which includes nine guidebooks and webinars covering topics ranging from cover cropping and nutrient management to weed and pest management. [...]

November 14th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: |

New Varieties Show Promise

October 25, 2019 – In 2018, OFRF provided a grant to Edmund Frost of Common Wealth Seed Growers to assess resistance to both Bacterial Wilt and Cucurbit Downy Mildew among selected cucumber and muskmelon seedstocks. The project is aimed at helping organic farmers throughout the Eastern U.S., where those diseases pose a particular challenge.In his recently submitted final project report, Frost says the four trials he completed yielded useful and actionable results. The trials were done on certified organic land at Twin Oaks Farm in Virginia. Read all about the methods, [...]

October 25th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: |
Go to Top