Organic Friends' E‑zine: January 2018

Photo of the Month, by Andy Hammermeister - Heading into the seed purchasing season, Andy was reminded of the beautiful seed displays he saw in India at the Organic World Congress (OWC) in November of 2017

In this issue:

• Practical Resources
• Scientific Results
• News & Articles of Interest
• Courses
• Student, Job and Apprentice Opportunities
• Events

Organic Science Cluster II

Latest Research Results

Theme C. Crop Pests

• Insecticidal and synergistic activity of two monoterpenes against diamondback moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)
  • The Canadian Entomologist (2018) eArticle:1-7
    

Practical Resources

Field Crops

• Increase seeding rate to control weeds in organic flax
  • OrganicBiz.2017

Pest Management

• Abrasive weeding has potential for organic agriculture
  • OrganicBiz. 2018

Scientific Results

Horticulture

• Causal relationship between biodiversity of insect population and agro-management in organic and conventional apple orchard
  • Organic Agriculture (2017) eArticle: 1-16
• Interactions among Cultivations, Weeds and a Biofungicide in Organic Vadalia ® Sweet Onion
  • Weed Technology (2017) 31:890-896

Field Crops

• Small-scale agricultural landscapes and organic management support wild bee communities of cereal field boundaries
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2018) 254:92-98

Crop Rotation

• Supporting Agricultural Ecosystem Services through the Integration of Perennial Polycultures into Crop Rotations
  • Sustainability (2017) 9:2267

Pest Management

• Efficacy of biopesticides on spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura in fall red raspberries
  • Journal of Applied Entomology (2018) 142:26-32
• Control of Scaphoideus titanus with Natural Products in Organic Vineyards
  • Insects (2017) 8:129
• Cover crop termination techniques affect ground predation within an organic vegetable rotation system: A test with artificial caterpillars
  • Biological Control (2018) 117:109-114
• A meta-analysis of field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.) and Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense L.) management in organic agricultural systems
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2018) 254:264-272
• Straw mulch increases potato yield and suppresses weeds in an organic production system
  • Biological Agriculture & Horticulture (2018) 34:53-69

Season Extension

• High Tunnel and Field System Comparison for Spring Organic Lettuce Production in Georgia
  • HortScience (2017) 52:1518-1524

Livestock

• Lameness prevalence and risk factors in organic dairy herds in four European countries
  • Livestock Science (2018) 208:44-50
• Organic meat quality of dual purpose young bulls supplemented with pea (Pisum sativum L.) or soybean
  • Science of Food and Agriculture (2018) 98:938-944

Social Science

• Sweet taste of prosocial status signaling: When eating organic foods makes you happy and hopeful
  • Appetite (2018) 121:348-359

Food for Organic Thought

• Converging and diverging principles and practices of organic agriculture regulations and agroecology. A review
  • Agronomy for Sustainable Development (2017) 37:63

News & Articles of Interest

• Accelerating Innovation: The Role of Science, Policy and Practices
  • IFOAM. 2017

Courses

Certificate of Specialization in Organic Agriculture - Online Courses Offered in the Winter 2018 Semester

• Key Indicators of Agroecosystem Sustainability
• Organic Crop Production on the Prairies
  (May not be offered in 2017-18)
  
• Organic Field Crop Management
• Organic Livestock Production
• Weed Control in Organic Agriculture

Student, Job and Apprentice Opportunities

• Young Agrarians Alberta Apprenticeship Program [PDF - 567kB]
  • Deadline to apply: January 20, 2018

Events