OFRF News Archives

October 26, 2018 – SupplySide West is coming up in Las Vegas November 6th through the 10th. OFRF's Executive Director, Brise Tencer, will be speaking on "The State of Organic" on Friday, November 9th at 11:30 as part of Esca Bona at SupplySide West Education, a platform to engage and serve companies working to create a better food system. Leading up to the event, Brise was interviewed by Heather Granato, Vice President of Content for SupplyWide West for their Healthy Insider Podcast. Among other things, they discuss: Steps that companies can take [...]

October 25, 2018 – A new study reported in the New York Times on October 22nd examines the relationship between an organic food-based diet and cancer risk. Funded entirely by public and government funds at the Center of Research in Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cite, researchers collected data for five years on the consumption frequency and dietary intake of 68,946 French adults, primarily women. They concluded that a higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of cancer. The most frequent consumers of organic food had [...]

October 11, 2018 – Please join OFRF and eOrganic for a series of eight free webinar trainings on organic farming and soil health in the Western U.S. The webinars will target agricultural professionals including Extension personnel, other agency personnel, and agricultural consultants in an effort to increase expertise in organic practices that promote soil health. As a complement to OFRF's Organic Farming and Soil Health Guidebooks, this series will highlight soil health research and practices specific to the Western Region. The goal is to address the need for region-specific resources [...]

September 25, 2018 – Congress has less than a week to pass a new Farm Bill before the current law expires on September 30th. With the Ag Committee negotiators far apart on major issues, the chances of a Farm Bill getting done on time are slim. The last time this happened, in 2012, Congress passed short term extensions to keep Farm Bill programs running. This time, an extension of current law isn't being considered yet. Both Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts and ranking member Debbie Stabenow have suggested an extension may not [...]

September 19, 2018 – By Tim Schultz, Vice President of Research & Development for Lundberg Family Farms and OFRF Board Member This year’s Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore began with a flurry of excitement as Hurricane Florence headed for the Southeast Coast of the United States. Early in the week, the Governor of Maryland declared a state of emergency in anticipation of potentially devastating wind, rain, and storm surge. By the time the show opened, it was pretty clear the storm and its horrendous damage, would be focused much further south, [...]

September 11, 2018 –  OFRF Executive Director, Brise Tencer was interviewed by Food Sleuth Radio for a podcast that aired August 30th. In the episode, host Melinda Hemmelgarn asks Brise to explain the benefits of organic food and farming and how certification helps both farmers and consumers. They also discuss the challenges facing organic farmers—how research can help—and why there needs to be greater investment in organic research. Give a listen!      

September 6, 2018 – By Lauren Snyder, Education and Research Program Associate at OFRF One of my roles at OFRF is to disseminate information on organic farming practices to diverse audiences. A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to San Luis Obispo to give a presentation on the principles and practices of building soil health at an organic research symposium hosted by Nutrien Ag Solutions, the world’s largest agriculture inputs company. Interestingly, I learned that their crop consultants are increasingly working with organic farmers and Nutrien Ag Solutions has identified [...]

September 6, 2019 – The Farm Bill Conference Committee, composed of nine Senators and 47 Representatives, met publicly for the first time on September 6th. The House and Senate each passed different versions of the Farm Bill this year, tasking the Conference Committee with crafting a final version that will have to go back to both the House and Senate for approval, before being sent to the President for signature before it expires on September 30, 2018. This is no small task. The hearing was mostly comprised of opening statements, [...]

August 30, 2018 – By Carolyn Dimitri, Associate Professor of Food Studies, New York University, Board Member, OFRF Earlier this month, Secretary Sonny Perdue of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced his intention to move the Economic Research Service (ERS) from Washington, DC and place it under the direction of the politically appointed Office of the Chief Economist. These changes will result in the loss of expertise and jeopardize the quality, relevance, and overall integrity of the agency’s research. As a federal research agency focused on food and agricultural issues, [...]

August 30, 2018 – Organic and sustainable agricultural research, education, and outreach will be the focus at a stunning new facility donated to the University of Idaho by Dennis Pence of Sandpoint. The Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center features 8 acres of organic orchards, surrounded by 8 acres of organic field plots, as well as a dormitory and a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen. Michael Parrella, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences dean, said the new center will help U of I link more effectively with the local community and provide a template [...]

August 7, 2018 – In 2017, OFRF awarded a grant to researchers at Michigan State University to examine organic grain productivity in support of the organic livestock industry in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Organic grain production is virtually non-existent in the area and sourcing outside of the region is quite costly. The goal of this project is to increase knowledge of grain performance in an organic system, leading to the expansion of certified organic grain production and entry into the growing market for natural or organically produced meat. Results [...]

June 29, 2018 – In a sweeping show of bipartisanship, the Senate voted 86-11 to pass their version of the Farm Bill. With the House passing a different version of the bill without Democratic support, lawmakers will meet later this summer to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills. With the current Farm Bill set to expire on September 30, 2018 there is a lot riding on this process. Here is a comparison of some of the organic provisions. Both the House and Senate bills have strong support [...]

June 22, 2018 – While the House Farm Bill was wholly opposed by Democrats, who were joined by some Republicans in their opposition, the House of Representatives passed their version of the Farm Bill, by a vote of 213-211 with two Republicans and two Democrats not voting. The U.S. Senate is currently working on their text for the Farm Bill (read about it here), which is different than the House version. If the House and Senate pass different bills, the differences will be parsed out in conference committee, and if approved, will [...]

June 13, 2018 – Today the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to favorably report the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (S. 3042), the Senate Farm Bill, out of Committee by a vote of 20-1. Senator Grassley (R-IA) voted against the bill. The next step is the floor of the Senate, where members will vote on passage of the Farm Bill. During the debate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-MY) promised that the bill will reach the Senate floor before the Fourth of July. With the Senate Agriculture Committee’s passage, organic agriculture [...]