Webinars in March and April: Dairy, Organic Milk Fatty Acids and Human Health, Crop Insurance for Organic Farmers
There is still time to register for our upcoming webinars in March and April at the links below. All webinars are free and open to the public, and they take place at 2PM Eastern, 1PM Central, 12PM Mountain, 11AM Pacific Time. Registration is required.
| Forage Legumes in Pasture and Successful Inter-seeding | Mike Peel, USDA ARS Forage and Range Research Lab, Logan UT | March 19, 2020 |
| Dairy Fat--What's In It For The Consumer? | Jana Kraft, University of Vermont | March 25, 2020 |
| The Microbiome: What is it and How Might it Impact Organic Dairy Production? | Noelle Noyes, Chris Dean, Luciano Caixeta and Bradley Heins, University of Minnesota. Vinicius Machado, Texas Tech, Pablo Pinedo, Colorado State University | March 30, 2020 |
| Updates on Organic Crop Insurance Options for 2020-2021 | Mark Lipson, UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems and Mark Schonbeck, Organic Farming Research Foundation | March 31, 2020 |
| Economics of Grazing Organic Replacement Dairy Heifers | Ryan Feuz, Ryan Larsen, Utah State University | April 22, 2020 |
Recordings from the Organic Seed Growers Conference on Seed Economics, Small-scale Contract Seed Production, Biennial Seed Production and More!
eOrganic recorded several sessions at the Organic Seed Growers Conference on February 14-15, and we've posted the recordings on the eOrganic YouTube channel as a playlist. The following sessions were recorded and you can find full descriptions of the sessions and a link to the recordings at https://eorganic.org/node/33991
- Accessing Agrobiodiversity: Practical Knowledge for Finding and Using Rare Seeds
- Utilizing Agrobiodiversity: Breeding for Diversity, Resilience, and In Situ Conservation
- Stepping Up Biennial Seed Production
- Small-Scale Contract Seed Production Roundtable
- Seed Economics: Balancing Passion and Profitability in Seed Growing
Organic Management of Spotted Wing Drosophila Webinar Recording is Available
Watch the recording of our recent webinar in which a national research team led by Ash Sial of the University of Georgia discusses their findings on the latest behavioral, cultural, biological, and chemical tactics to manage Spotted Wing Drosophila!
Watch the recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKPpsCWaw0Q
Last Chance to Enter our Student Article Competition for a trip to the Tri-Societies Conference!
There is still time to enter our student eOrganic article compeition to win a trip to the Tri-Societies Conference (including abstract fees, travel, accomodations, etc.). We are asking for an Extension style article on an organic agronomy, soil science, crop science or plant breeding topic, written according to the eOrganic guidelines and 5 winners will be chosen. The final deadline is March 18. Read the instructions here and take advantage of this great opportunity! Funding is being provided by a NIFA OREI grant.
What Are Your Organic Research Priorities?
The Organic Seed Alliance and the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) have released two national surveys as part of a project to learn about the challenges and research priorities of organic operations. All responses are confidential.
If you are a certified organic farmer/rancher, please respond to this survey:
If you are a farmer/rancher transitioning to certified organic production (this means no land currently certified organic), please take this transitioning producer survey:
Farmer/Rancher Organic Transition Survey
Survey results will be published in updated versions of OFRF's National Organic Research Agenda report and OSA's State of Organic Seed report, both of which have been invaluable resources for ensuring research funding is relevant and responsive to the needs of organic producers.
New Publication on Edible Weeds
A Northeast SARE funded project has produced a guide for selling edible weeds and how farmers use them: Edible Weeds on Farms: Northeast Farmer's Guide to Self-Growing Vegetables. A description of the project with a link to the 98-page guide, produced by Tusha Yakovleva and her collaborators is available at https://projects.sare.org/sare_project/fne17-884/
NOSB Meeting Public Comment Opportunity
The National Organic Standards Board will meet to discuss substances petitioned for addition to or deletion from the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List), substances due to sunset from the National List in 2022, and recommendations on organic policies on topics such as paper pots, biodegradable mulches, and fish oil. The meeting takes place on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - 9:00 am to Friday, May 1, 2020 - 6:00 pm in Crystal City, Virginia. Find out about how to view the proposals and submit written comments here at regulations.gov, register for webinars to submit comments, or attend in person at https://www.ams.usda.gov/event/national-organic-standards-board-nosb-meeting-crystal-city-va. The comment period will close April 3, 2020. Please note: In order to be considered during the Spring 2020 meeting, written public comments or requests for oral comment speaking slots must be received by 11:59 p.m. April 3, 2020.
eOrganic Resources
Find all eOrganic articles, videos and webinars on our new website at http://eorganic.org
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Have a question about organic farming? Use the eXtension Ask an Expert service to connect with the eOrganic community to get an answer!
