OFRF News Archives

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

General News

Cultivating Connections

EcoFarm 2024 & OFRF's Organic Agriculture Research Forum This January, almost half of the OFRF team traveled to Monterey, CA  to meet in-person for the OFRF Organic Agriculture Research Forum (OARF) which was held in conjunction with EcoFarm. Considering we are a fully remote team spread across the country, this was a big opportunity for us to connect and showcase our work. OFRF research forum consisted of eight workshops embedded within the 2024 EcoFarm conference. The forum focused on sharing the latest research relevant to organic producers, with a [...]

February 9th, 2024|Categories: News|

Organic Transition Initiative (OTI) Deadline Announcement

Thanks to the Organic Transition Initiative (OTI), USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has made $75M in cost-share grant funding available to certified organic and transitioning-to-organic growers under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to meet the Conservation Practice Standard for Organic Management (CPS-823). This post and the PDF below provide step-by-step instructions for contacting your local NRCS office to inquire about available financial and technical assistance programs available to you. OFRF has developed a PDF to help farmers communicate with NRCS about accessing the [...]

January 31st, 2024|Categories: News|

From Regulations to Legislation: Advocating for Organic Agriculture in 2024

2024 presents a challenging political landscape with pending appropriations, a new Farm Bill deadline, and a Presidential election fast approaching. OFRF chooses to view all these events as opportunities to advocate for increased public investments in organic agriculture research and to ensure that organic agriculture gets its fair share of USDA research funding.

January 12th, 2024|Categories: Gordon's Policy Corner, News|

Organic Agriculture Shines in the Face of 2023’s Challenges

2023 has been a year marked by environmental distress and political upheaval, but the organic sector emerged as a stronghold of resilience and progress. Amidst the disquieting headlines of the hottest recorded summer and unprecedented political twists, there are several organic milestones worth celebrating. This blog post focuses on those moments of light amid the darkness.

December 11th, 2023|Categories: Gordon's Policy Corner, News|

Organic Researcher Spotlight: Dr. Amaya Atucha

Federal support is bringing new production systems and researchers to organic agriculture in the upper Midwest Written by Brian Geier Dr. Amaya Atucha is an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW), specializing in crop ecophysiology and production of small fruit and cold climate viticulture. Until recently she had not worked with organic production systems. “One of the reasons why I was not working on organic production,” she explains, “is because of the difficulty of being able to produce organic fruit in climates like the upper midwest.” [...]

November 28th, 2023|Categories: Education, News|

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 [...]

November 20th, 2023|Categories: Education, News|

Respecting the Roots: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Organic Agriculture

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is a concept refers to 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. This is a perspective that's incredibly valuable for organic agriculture - if we can learn to appreciate it without appropriating it.

November 12th, 2023|Categories: News|

TOPP National Resources – OFRF Seeds of Success Events

The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), is partnering with the Organic Farmers Association (OFA) and the National Organic Coalition (NOC) to bring a series of interactive, virtual farmer-to-farmer networking sessions to growers across the country.These "Seeds of Success" events are designed to empower organic producers and transitioning farmers with engaging peer-to-peer conversation. Each session will act as an interactive, informal space for farmers to share their challenges and successes and will give farmers an opportunity to have open conversations on topics most relevant to them. Below you'll find recordings for [...]

November 10th, 2023|Categories: News|Tags: , |

Farming for the birds

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 results are summarized in this latest blog from our Research & Education team.

October 19th, 2023|Categories: Education, News|

TOPP West Resources

As part of the larger $300 million USDA Organic Transition Initiative (OTI), the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has begun to make $70 million available to help producers adopt organic management systems. These resources provide information on how to apply for various support programs.

September 26th, 2023|Categories: News, TOPP West|

NRCS Programs on an Organic Farm

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.

September 11th, 2023|Categories: Farmer Stories, News|

Navigating September’s Shifts: Farm Bill Policy, Funding Implications, and Ways to Stay Engaged

As the seasons shift and government fiscal year deadlines loom, the world of organic farming faces a series of transitions, and uncertainty surrounding government funding and the Farm Bill. It is a critical time to continue to engage with policymakers, and to work collectively to support the growth of organic agriculture.

September 7th, 2023|Categories: Gordon's Policy Corner, News|

New Crop-Livestock Integration Resources

In the 2022 National Organic Research Agenda (NORA), organic farmers and ranchers across North America shared a common desire for more technical assistance and educational resources on Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems (ICLS), a holistic practice that integrates the production of cash crops and livestock on the same piece of land or within the same farming operation. To address this need, OFRF has developed a Crop-Livestock Integration series informed by interviews with highly experienced organic producers across the US whose farming operations have benefited from integrated crop and livestock production.

September 5th, 2023|Categories: News|

Organic + Regenerative: messaging resources coming soon

Organic agriculture, grounded in principles that collaborate with nature, foster healthy soil, and contribute to clean water, biodiversity, and thriving farm communities, encompasses the essence of holistic and regenerative farming. However, organic is often overlooked as a climate solution. In this short note our Executive Director, Brise Tencer, explains why it’s so important to illuminate the organic management practices that are leading the way in climate-friendly agriculture, and we share insight into a new suite of resources that OFRF will be launching soon!

August 14th, 2023|Categories: News|
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