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In this Issue
- Recently Published eOrganic Articles and Videos
- New Webinar Recordings Available
- Organic News
- eOrganic Mission and Resources
Recently Published eOrganic Articles and Videos
Decoding Organic Dairy Healthcare Product Labels, by Cheryl Cesario, University of Vermont Extension. Learn how to review dairy healthcare product labels for compliance with the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) Rule can help you easily weed out the products that are prohibited and narrow down the list of what is permitted for use in certified organic production. As always, be sure to check with your certifier before using any product.
Redroot Pigweed, Smooth Pigweed, and Powell Amarath, by Mark Schonbeck, Virginia Assocication of Biological Farming. Read about the biology and management of these three closely-related amaranths, which have become serious cropland weeds throughout the United States and southern Canada.
Adoption Potential and Perceptions of Reduced Tillage among Organic Farmers in the Maritime Pacific Northwest, by Andrew Corbin, Douglas Collins, Rose Krebill-Prather, Chris Benedict, and Danna Moore of Washington State University. Washington State University Researchers conducted focus groups with vegetable producers in western Washington to find about their knowledge, attitudes, practices, and the perceived benefits and risks of implementing reduced tillage technologies. Read the article to find out what they learned about the barriers to implementing reduced tillage in that region, as well as their ideas for future research opportunities based on the focus group results.
Topdressing Organic Hard Winter Wheat to Enhance Grain Protein Topdressing, an in-season application of nitrogen, is used by some organic growers to increase grain yield and enhance protein. This article introduces recent research and resources on topdressing hard winter wheat which can help growers decide when and if to use this strategy on their farms.
Organic ePrints: An Information Resource for Organic Agriculture, by Brian Baker, Independent Consultant. Interested in organic research information from around the world, or sharing your research with an international audience? This brief article describes Organic ePrints, a growing online archive of open access articles on organic farming and food systems.
Video: Weed Control in Organic Spring Cereals, by Lauren Kolb, University of Maine. Watch this video from the University of Maine Weed Ecology Group, which highlights the results of four years of research on weed management in organic spring cereals.
Video: Identifying and Scouting for Late Blight on Organic Farms by Abby Seaman, Cornell University and the Reducing Losses to Late Blight project, funded by USDA NIFA. Learn about the damage late blight can cause and how to identify and look for this disease on your farm.
New Webinar Recordings Available
In case you missed the recent webinars from the eOrganic Dairy Team on Organic Dairy Forages: Focus on Summer Annuals and Amending Soils in Organic Dairy Pastures, the recordings are now available in our archive. Find these and our many other organic farming and research webinars at Webinars by eOrganic, or browse the recordings by topic here. We're taking a summer break from our free webinar series, but many more will be coming this coming fall and winter!
Organic News
How much time do you spend complying with the documentation requirements in the USDA organic regulations? Every 3 years, the National Organic Program (NOP) must estimate the amount of time organic stakeholders spend developing and maintaining required documentation. The NOP is now requesting public comments from growers, processers, organic certifiers, inspectors, and National List petitioners to better estimate the time required to meet these requirements. Submit public comments by August 27, 2013 and view the Federal Register Notice.
As part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) strategy to successfully implement the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), NIFA intends to initiate a new challenge area within AFRI in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 to address water issues. NIFA will be holding a web-based listening session on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST) at . It is open to the public, and the focus of the listening session is to gather stakeholder input that will be used in developing the Request for Applications (RFA) in FY 2014. NIFA is particularly interested in input on how best to achieve the most impact, within budget constraints, in the early years of this new challenge area. The public can submit comments by July 30, 2013, and find details of how to attend the listening session and submit comments here.
All comments must be received by close of business on July 30, 2013, to be considered in the initial drafting of the FY 2014 AFRI Water program RFA.
The National Organic Program (NOP) has announced a new fact sheet summarizing allowed and prohibited substances in organic production and handling. Read the fact sheet at here.
Learn about a University of Minnesota organic dairy study led by Brad Heins, in which organic dairy farmers and University of Minnesota experts are working to improve dairies’ profitability through improved pasture production, best management practices for animal comfort and more milk production. Read the article here.
eOrganic Mission
eOrganic is a web community where organic agriculture farmers, researchers, and educators network; exchange objective, research- and experience-based information; learn together; and communicate regionally, nationally, and internationally. If you have expertise in organic agriculture and would like to develop U.S. certified organic agriculture information, join us at http://eorganic.info.
eOrganic Resources
Find all eOrganic articles, videos and webinars at http://extension.org/organic_production
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