Organic Friends' E‑zine: March 2016

Photo of the Month, by Andy Hammermeister
The cold winter months could also be known as conference season across the country! There have many chances for Canada's organic community to get together to learn, network and exchange ideas.  As evidenced from this photo taken at the Guelph Organic Conference, attendance has been wonderful at the conferences, workshops and training opportunities that have been held over the past few months.

In this issue:

• Organic Science Cluster II
  
• Practical Resources
• Scientific Results
• Organic in Canada
• News & Articles of Interest
• Events

Organic Science Cluster II

• High tunnel production of organic specialty vegetables [PDF - 4.8 MB]
  
  • Presented at Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention 2016. Niagara Falls, Ontario. Feb 17-18, 2016

Practical Resources

• Preview of Spring 2016 Issue of The Canadian Organic Grower Magazine: Revisions to Canada’s Organic Standard

Soils and Fertility

• Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management on Organic Farms with Joanne Thiessen Martens - Video Recording
  
  • Presented at Manitoba Ag Days Transition Workshop, hosted by the Manitoba Organic Alliance. 2016
    

Field Crops

• Organic Production Cost Planning with Roy Arnott - Video Recording
  
  • Presented at Manitoba Ag Days Transition Workshop, hosted by the Manitoba Organic Alliance. 2016

Pest Management

• Systems Design for Organic Weed Management with Brenda Frick - Video Recording
  
  • Presented at Manitoba Ag Days Transition Workshop, hosted by the Manitoba Organic Alliance. 2016

Livestock

• Grazing Systems and Forage Quality of Grasses for Organic Dairy Production Recorded Webinar
  • eOrganic. 2016
    

Ecology and Environment

• New Times, New Tools: Cultivating Climate Resilience on Your Organic Farm Recorded Webinar
  • eOrganic. 2016
    
• Wild Bee Monitoring, Identification, and Outreach in Organic Farming Systems Recorded Webinar
  • eOrganic. 2016

Scientific Results

Horticulture

• Impact of organic and conventional peach and apple production practices on soil microbial populations and plant nutrients
  • Organic Agriculture (2016) 6: 19-30
• Optimizing Rowcover Deployment for Managing Bacterial Wilt and Using Compost for Organic Muskmelon Production
  • HortTechnology (2015) 25: 762-768
• Organic weed management in perennial fruits
  • Scientia Horticulturae (2016) Online, ahead of print
    
• Organically acceptable practices to improve replant success of temperate tree-fruit crops
  • Scientia Horticulturae (2016) 200: 205-214
• Yield Stability of Heirloom Dry Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Cultivars in Midwest Organic Production
  • HortScience (2016) 51: 8-14

Field Crops

• Converting perennial legumes to organic cropland without tillage
  • Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (2016) 31: 166-171
• Organic farming affects the biological control of hemipteran pests and yields in spring barley independent of landscape complexity
  • Landscape Ecology (2016) 31: 567-579
• Plant species and mulch application rate affected decomposition of cover crop mulches used in organic rotational no-till systems
  • Canadian Journal of Plant Science (2016) 96: 59-71

Crop Rotation

• Early assessment of ecological services provided by forage legumes in relay intercropping
  • European Journal of Agronomy (2016) 75: 89-98
• Intercropping of maize and pulses: an evaluation of organic cropping systems
  • Organic Agriculture (2016) 6: 1-17

Pest Management

• Diverse Rotations and Optimal Cultural Practices Control Wild Oat (Avena fatua)
  • Weed Science (2016) 64: 170-180
• Incompatibility between fertility building measures and the management of perennial weeds in organic cropping systems
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2016) 220: 184-192
• Late-Season Weed Management to Stop Viable Weed Seed Production
  • Weed Science (2016) 64: 112-118

Livestock

• Alternative feeding strategies and genetics for providing adequate methionine in organic poultry diets with limited use of synthetic amino acids
  • World’s Poultry Science Journal (2016) 72: 168-177
• Design of rooting yards for better hygiene and lower ammonia emissions within the outdoor concrete area in organic pig production
  • Livestock Science (2016) 185: 79-88
• Differences between dairy cows descending from artificial insemination bulls vs. dairy cows descending from natural service bulls on organic farms in Switzerland
  • Livestock Science (2016) 185: 30-33
• Organic Turkey Flocks: A Reservoir of Streptococcus gallolyticus subspecies gallolyticus
  • PLoS ONE (2015) 10(12): e0144412
• Quantifying Attachment and Antibiotic Resistance of Escherichia coli from Conventional and Organic Swine Manure
  • Journal of Environmental Quality (2016) 45: 609-617

Ecology and Environment

• Delivery of floral resources and pollination services on farmland under three different wildlife-friendly schemes
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2016) 220: 142-151
• How organic farmers practice conservation agriculture in Europe
  • Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (2016) 31: 72-85
• Sustaining without Changing: The Metabolic Rift of Certified Organic Farming
  • Sustainability (2016) 8: 115

Nutrition, Safety and Health of Organic Foods

• How to understand the complexity of product quality and the challenges in differentiating between organically and conventionally grown products—exemplified by fresh and heat-processed carrots (Daucus carota L.)
  • Organic Agriculture (2016) 6: 31-47
• Organic Food Consumption during Pregnancy and Hypospadias and Cryptorchidism at Birth: The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)
  • Environmental Health Perspectives (2016) 124: 357–364

Marketing and Economics

• Exploring environmental consciousness and consumer preferences for organic wines without sulfites
  • Journal of Cleaner Production (2016) 120: 64-71
• Scale of consumer loyalty for organic food
  • British Food Journal (2016) 118: 697-713

Organic in Canada

• New comment period for Standards Interpretation Committee's Questions and Answers Regarding the National Standards for Organic Agriculture
  • Comment period open until April 7, 2016
    
    
• Organic Agriculture in Canada By the Numbers [PDF - 2.6 MB]
  • Canada Organic Trade Association. 2016
    
    
• Organic Agronomy Training Program
  In partnership with the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative, the University of Manitoba will be offering a training program for agronomists who are interested in providing agronomic advice to organic and ecological farmers. Initial sessions will be held:
  • Moose Jaw, SK on March 21, 2016
  • Lacombe, AB on March 23, 2016
  • Carman, MB. Date to be announced.
     
• Organic Price Tracker is going national!
  Canadian Organic Growers’ Organic Price Tracker is your source for regional prices of certified organic products sold both at farmers' markets and wholesale in Canada. Since 2011, the focus has been on Ontario and the Maritimes but, given the positive feedback that we have received, we are now looking to expand the coverage of the tool to include the all of Canada. This is where we need you. We need certified organic producers from all over Canada to submit, either seasonally, monthly, or weekly, the pricing information ($/unit) for the certified organic products that you sell. If you would like to contribute, you can send your price list to prices@cog.ca. Prices are confidential and no one will know how much you, specifically, are charging. As a thank-you to, all contributors are entitled to be promoted both on the COG website and on COG’s social media where contributor profiles are being published every two weeks. We cannot do it without you and truly appreciate all who contribute!

News & Articles of Interest

• Growth continues: 43.7 million hectares of organic agricultural land worldwide [PDF - 1.2 MB]
  
  • IFOAM and FiBL. 2016
• More farmers looking at organic potential
  • Manitoba Cooperator. 2016

Events