April 2011

Photo of the Month, by Joanna MacKenzie
Looking forward to the coming growing season, when organic wheat will once again grow on the Canadian prairie.

Loblaw and the University of Guelph Announce Inaugural Chair in Sustainable Food Production

BRAMPTON, ON and GUELPH, ON, March 25 A leader in building agricultural research and knowledge networks, Professor Ralph Martin has been appointed the Loblaw Companies Limited Chair in Sustainable Food Production at the University of Guelph (U of G), following a year-long international search. Martin, a plant and animal sciences professor at Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC), will begin advancing sustainable food production education and practices this month. Read more...

In this issue:

Editor's Note: Organic practitioners may find the information presented in the Newspaper Articles and Extension Information sections to be the most easily accessible and applicable.

• Newspaper Articles
• Extension Information
• Organic Science Cluster
• Research Articles
• Issues
  
  

Newspaper Articles

• Fertility status of organically managed fields
• Organic systems energy winners in 2 out of 3 farming goals
• The Western Producer's Organic Matters Column:
  • Organic management counters some negative effects of soil tillage

Extension

About Organic

• COG Agriwebinar Series 2011 
  Please note: Registration with Agriwebinars is needed to view these online video presentations
  • Making the Transition to Small Scale Organic Produce Farming
  • Record Keeping for Organic Growers Part 1 & 2
• USDA 2011 Organic Farming Systems Conference Webinars
  

Horticulture

• Apples: Organic Production Guide (ATTRA)

Field Crops

• Farmer Profiles: Two Organic Grain Farm Case Studies(ATTRA)

Livestock

• Organic and Grass-finished Beef Cattle Production (ATTRA)
• Organic Pig Production in Europe – Health Management in Common Organic Pig Farming (FiBL)
• Quality of foraging material and effect on hens feed intake, egg production and –quality (ICROFS)
• Transition to Organic Livestock Production (COG Agriwebinar Series 2011) 
  Please note: Registration with Agriwebinars is needed to view these online video presentations

Organic Science Cluster

• The Organic Federation of Canada (OFC) presents "Organic is a Science", featuring information about Canada's Organic Science Conference. View the video below, visit the Organic Science Cluster pages or visit OFC's YouTube page
  
  

Research Articles

Soils & Fertility

• Green manure and phosphate rock effects on phosphorus availability in a northern Great Plains dryland organic cropping system
• Management Effects on Soil Quality in Organic Vegetable Systems in Western Washington
• Tracing Root vs. Residue Carbon into Soils from Conventional and Alternative Cropping Systems

Horticulture

• Determination of nutrient availability of organic fertilizers for potential use on greenhouse crop
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
• Functional and Structural Microbial Diversity in Organic and Conventional Viticulture: Organic Farming Benefits Natural Biocontrol Agents
• Incorporation of GF-120 Naturalyte Fruit Fly Bait into orchard integrated pest management (IPM) for apple maggot (mouche de la pomme)
• Physical barriers applied to soil surface in the field and in the greenhouse to prevent oviposition by cabbage maggot
• Review of published literature on applications of cover crops as part of integrated weed management systems in field vegetable crop production in Canada
• Rolled Winter Rye and Hairy Vetch Cover Crops Lower Weed Density but Reduce Vegetable Yields in No-tillage Organic Production

Field Crops

• Repeated use of green-manure catch crops in organic cereal production - grain yields and nitrogen supply
• The role of molecular markers and marker assisted selection in breeding for organic agriculture
• Rolled Rye Mulch for Weed Suppression in Organic No-Tillage Soybeans
• Weed Seed Persistence and Microbial Abundance in Long-Term Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems

Livestock

• Assessing impacts of organic production on pork and beef quality
• Immune-mediated pathology of nematode infection in sheep – is immunity beneficial to the animal?
• Integrated Crop/Livestock Agriculture in the United States: A Review

Food & Health

• Antioxidant Activity and Phenolic Compounds in Organic Red Wine Using Different Winemaking Techniques
• External validity of the food values scale

Ecology & Environment

• Arthropod diversity as affected by agricultural management (organic and conventional farming), plant species, and landscape context
• Landscape structure influences modularity patterns in farm food webs: consequences for pest control
• Organic farming and resource efficiency (IFOAM)

Consumers

• Consumers' preferences for ethical values of organic food
• Information search behaviour and its determinants: the case of ethical attributes of organic food
• Investigating Consumer Preference for Organic, Local, or Sustainable Plants

Issues

• Eco-Farming Can Double Food Production in 10 Years, says new UN report
• Bees Under Bombardment: Report shows multiple factors behind pollinator losses (United Nations Environment Programme)*
• Common Nanoparticles Found to Be Highly Toxic to Arctic Ecosystem (ScienceDaily)*

* Content may not be directly organic, but may be of interest to the organic community