Organic Kentucky

Compared to conventional strawberry farms, organic ones consistently produce fruit that’s equal or better in taste and nutrition, while leaving healthier and more genetically diverse soil, a study has found.

Soil sci­ent­ist John Reganold of Wash­ing­ton State Uni­vers­ity and col­leagues con­ducted the ana­lysis com­par­ing con­ven­tion­al and or­gan­ic farms in Cal­i­for­nia.

“Our find­ings have glob­al im­plica­t­ions and ad­vance what we know about the sus­tain­abil­ity ben­e­fits of or­gan­ic farm­ing sys­tems,” said Reganold, whose find­ings were pub­lished Tues­day in the re­search jour­nal PLoS One. “We al­so show you can have high qual­ity, healthy pro­duce with­out re­sort­ing to an ar­se­nal of pes­ti­cides.”

Links:

• Research article (open access)
• Washington Post coverage
• LA Times coverage (including quotes from OAK member Sean Clark)

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Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) is inviting research proposals from producers in the south. Any farmer/rancher or producer organization in the US Southern Region* is eligible to apply for the grants of up to $10,000 for individual producers and $15,000 for producer organizations to be used within two years.

Proposals are due by November 15, 2010.

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Upcoming and recorded sessions of 2010 eOrganic webinars available online at http://www.extension.org/article/25242:

WEBINAR – High Tunnel Enhancements: Using Inner Covers to Increase Production

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Noon – 1 p.m.
Location: WEBINAR – DELTA
Registration Fee: FREE
Coordinator: Steve Moore in conjunction with DELTA NCSU
Instructor: Steve Moore

Are you getting the most out of your high tunnels? This short webinar will focus on the use of low-cost inner tunnels in cool weather to increase microclimate temperatures. These microclimate enhancements have provided significant increases in plant growth and production capacity. There will be a significant portion of time for high tunnel questions. Register online: https://justgrow.wufoo.com/forms/webinar-registration-high-tunnel-enhancement/

The 3rd Annual Slow Food Locust Grove Family picnic will take place, Sunday, August 22nd from 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. on the grounds of Historic Locust Grove. Locust Grove, an 18th century farm, is an original home of “slow food” with our hearth kitchen, smoke house, and dairy – the perfect location to celebrate food and farming. This family-oriented festival will feature:

• Cast Iron Chef Cook-off contest
• Best Dessert with local fruit contest (entry information attached)
• Exhibits and demonstrations by slow crafters and green businesses.
• Screening of a new documentary called FRESH, the movie
• Bluegrass and Kentucky music by Whistlin’ Rufus Plant
• Produce and seed swaps are encouraged!

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Planting pastures of bee-friendly wildflowers such as California five-spot may help the blue orchard bee, an important pollinator.

“Bee pastures” to help pollinators prosper: Beautiful wildflowers planted in pesticide-free “bee pastures,” small floral havens of as little as a half-acre of land, could be an efficient, practical, environmentally friendly and economically sound way to produce successive generations of healthy young bees vital for crop pollination, according to an ARS entomologist. (8/4) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/100804.htm

Potting medium that starts life as a pine tree: A new type of sustainable and environmentally friendly potting medium made from thinned pine trees has been created by ARS scientists and their university cooperators. (8/5/) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/100805.htm

A flower-dwelling yeast to help combat scab disease: An ARS plant pathologist and his university colleague are evaluating an improved variant of the yeast Cryptococcus flavescens that tolerates fungicide and may prove to be a valuable new weapon against Fusarium graminearum, the fungal culprit behind Fusarium head blight, also known as scab. (8/6) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/100806.htm

Bellingham–August 1, 2010– Whatcom County organic farmers and gardeners are reporting severe crop damage that appears to be linked to herbicide contamination in the manure and compost they obtain from non-organic farms and dairies for use as natural fertilizer.

The herbicide suspected is known as aminopyralid. It is not believed to pose much danger to humans, other mammals or birds, but it’s tough on broadleaf plants. Farmers use it for weed control in pastures and fields that grow silage crops for dairy cows.

Read the article: AGRICULTURE: Herbicide-tainted manure wilts organic crops across Whatcom County – Breaking News | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news.

August 5-8, 2010

The American Community Gardening Association will be hosting their 31st annual national conference from August 5-8 at the Lourdermilk Center in Atlanta, GA. Through this conference, they wish to promote Georgia’s contribution towards developing green spaces and encouraging healthy lifestyle behaviors by showcasing efforts of other organizations that promote health and wellness through inner-city/urban farming and community gardening.

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Maria Rodale emphatically lays out case for organic food and farming

By Monica Eng, Tribune Newspapers, 1:13 p.m. CDT, July 30, 2010

Maria Rodale does not mince words.

The sustainability advocate and head of Rodale Inc. publishing company believes we must rapidly convert to organic farming systems or jeopardize the health of the planet and its inhabitants.

She lays out this jarring argument with surprising grace in her slim new book, aptly named “Organic Manifesto.” In it, she details the benefits of organic agriculture and the dangers of “chemical farming.” It’s a term she uses to describe nonorganic or conventional farming that uses synthetic fertilizers, nontherapeutic antibiotics, hormones, genetically modified organisms and pesticides. Many of her reasons for preferring organic will be familiar to sustainable foodies, but Rodale also cites newer research on the way healthy organic soil — as opposed to soil depleted by conventional farming — absorbs greenhouse gasses and may help turn around global warming.

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Before I came to Kentucky I spent four years working on the West Virginia University organic farm. I’m pleased to see it in the news.