Organic Friends' E‑zine: September 2014

Photo of the Month, by Dalhousie University
The announcement of Organic Science Cluster II took place at Dalhousie University's Agricultural Campus on August 12, 2014. From left to right: Dr. David Gray, Dean of Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture; Dr. Richard Florizone, President of Dalhousie University; Tim Livingstone, Organic Federation of Canada; Scott Armstrong, local Member of Parliament; Nicole Boudreau, Organic Federation of Canada; Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food; Dr. Andy Hammermeister, Director of Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, Dalhousie University; Margaret Savard, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada; and Joanna MacKenzie, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada.

In this Issue:

• Director's Message
  
• Organic Science Cluster II
  
• Practical Resources
• Scientific Results
• Organic Standards
  
• Student, Job and Apprentice Opportunities
• Events

Organic Science Cluster II

Highlights of OSCII in the News

• Organic growth: Dal-hosted centre to manage national research cluster in organic agriculture
  • Dal News. August 14, 2014
• Feds’ $8-million organic plan centred in Bible Hill
  • The Chronicle Herald. August 13, 2014
    
• Growing forward’ with new research for agriculture [Video]
  
  • Global Morning News Halifax. September 2, 2014
• Increasing organic farming production in NS [Audio]
  
  • CBC Information Morning Nova Scotia. August 21, 2014
  
  

Practical Resources

Soils and Fertility

• Managing Manure Fertilizers in Organic Systems
  • eOrganic. 2014. Please note that this document was prepared in the USA and refers to the NOP standards, but does contain information of use to Canadian producers.
    

Horticulture

• Machinery Sharing Manual for Fruit and Vegetable Producers [PDF - 1.9 MB]
  • Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. 2014
• Peach Diseases Identification Sheet
  • ATTRA. 2014
• Peach Insect Pests Identification Sheet
  • ATTRA. 2014
• Pear Diseases Identification Sheet
  • ATTRA. 2014
• Pear Insect Pests Identification Sheet
  • ATTRA. 2014
• The Squash Bee, A Native Pollinator of Pumpkin, Squash and Zucchini
  • Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 2014
    

Livestock

• Can I do that on Grass?
  • Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 2014
• Nutrient Requirements of Organic Growing Turkeys
  • eOrganic. 2014

Pest Management

• Bring Existing Weeds Under Control Before Planting Weed-Sensitive Crops
  • eOrganic. 2014
• Whacking Weeds Organically
  • USDA Agricultural Research Service. 2014
    

Season Extension

• Sustainable Pest Management in Greenhouses and High Tunnels
  
  • Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education. 2014

Seed Production and Plant Breeding

• Challenges of Participatory Plant Breeding
  
  • FiBL. 2014
• Disease Management in Organic Seed Production 
  • eOrganic. 2014
    

Ecology and Environment

• Increasing Plant and Soil Biodiversity on Organic Farmscapes Recorded Webinar
  • eOrganic. 2014
• Performance of Organic Treatments in Long-Term Systems Trials: Organic Benefits and Challenges In the Face of Climate Change Recorded Webinar
  • eOrganic. 2014
• Wild bees and pollination [PDF - 2.2 MB]
  
  • FiBL. 2014

Marketing and Economics

• Direct Marketing Channels & Strategy for Organic Products 
  • eOrganic. 2014
• Fact Sheet: Processing Organic Meat [PDF - 198 kB]
  • Organic Value Chain Round Table. 2014
    
• Whither Local Food: How context matters in the local food discussion
  • Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 2014

Scientific Results

Soils and Fertility

• Effect of tillage on earthworms over short- and medium-term in conventional and organic farming
  • Applied Soil Ecology (2014) Online, ahead of print
• Soil Microbial Substrate Properties and Microbial Community Responses under Irrigated Organic and Reduced-Tillage Crop and Forage Production Systems
  • PLoS ONE 9(8): e103901
• To what extent does organic farming rely on nutrient inflows from conventional farming?
  • Environmental Research Letters (2013) 8: 044045
    

Horticulture

• Broccoli cultivar performance under organic and conventional management systems and implications for crop improvement
  • Crop Science (2014) 54: 1539-1554
    
• Differentiation of potato ecosystems on the basis of relationships among physical, chemical and biological soil parameters
  • Canadian Journal of Soil Science (2014) 64: 463-476
• Identifying nitrogen-efficient potato cultivars for organic farming
  • Euphytica (2014) 199: 137-154
• Variation in Broccoli Cultivar Phytochemical Content under Organic and Conventional Management Systems: Implications in Breeding for Nutrition
  • PLoS ONE 9(7): e95683

Field Crops

• Barley–pea intercropping: Effects on land productivity, carbon and nitrogen transformations
  • Field Crops Research (2014) 166: 18-25
• Comparison of bread wheat varieties with different breeding origin under organic and low input management
  • Euphytica (2014) 199: 69-80
• Cultural Strategies for Managing Weeds and Soil Moisture in Cover Crop Based No-Till Soybean Production
  • Weed Science (2014) 62: 501-511
• Differences in grain/straw ratio, protein content and yield in landraces and modern varieties of different wheat species under organic farming
  • Euphytica (2014) 199: 31-40
• Intercropping Wheat and Beans: Effects on Agronomic Performance and Land Productivity
  • Crop Science (2014) 54: 2285-2293
• Is low-input management system a good selection environment to screen winter wheat genotypes adapted to organic farming?
  • Euphytica (2014) 199: 41-56
• Refining breeding methods for organic and low-input agriculture: Analysis of an international winter wheat ring test
  • Euphytica (2014) 199: 81-95

Livestock

• A comparative study of the metabolic profile, insulin sensitivity and inflammatory response between organically and conventionally managed dairy cattle during the periparturient period
  • Animal (2014) 8: 1516-1525
• Laying hen performance in different production systems; why do they differ and how to close the gap? Results of discussions with groups of farmers in The Netherlands, Switzerland and France, benchmarking and model calculations
  • Organic Eprints. 2014
    
• Mixed crop–livestock farming systems: a sustainable way to produce beef? Commercial farms results, questions and perspectives
  • Animal (2014) 8: 1218-1228
• Organic growing pigs in pasture systems – effect of feeding strategy and cropping system on foraging activity, nutrient intake from the range area and pig performance
  • Organic Eprints. 2014
    

Pest Management

• Effect of Sprayer Output Volume and Adjuvants on Efficacy of Clove Oil for Weed Control in Organic Vidalia® Sweet Onion
  • HortTechnology (2014) 24: 428-432
• Identifying the challenges of promoting ecological weed management (EWM) in organic agroecosystems through the lens of behavioral decision making
  • Agriculture and Human Values (2014) 31: 355-370
• Weed Management Practice Selection Among Midwest U.S. Organic Growers
  • Weed Science (2014) 62: 520-531

Food, Nutrition and Health

• ¹H NMR Profiling as an Approach To Differentiate Conventionally and Organically Grown Tomatoes
  • Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2014) 62: 8530-8540
• High Concentrations of Furan Fatty Acids in Organic Butter Samples from the German Market
  • Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2014) 62: 8740-8744
• The influence of organic production on food quality – research findings, gaps and future challenges
  • Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2014) 94: 2600-2604
• Metabolite profiling on wheat grain to enable a distinction of samples from organic and conventional farming systems
  • Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2014) 94: 2605-2612
• Stable isotope analysis of plant-derived nitrate – Novel method for discrimination between organically and conventionally grown vegetables
  • Organic Eprints. 2014
    
• Status quo and future research challenges on organic food quality determination with focus on laboratory methods
  • Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2014) 94: 2595-2599

Post-harvest Handling, Storage and Processing

• Organic food processing: a framework for concept, starting definitions and evaluation
  • Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2014) 94: 2582-2594
• A review on the use of essential oils for postharvest decay control and maintenance of fruit quality during storage
  • Crop Protection (2014) 64: 27-37

Marketing and Economics

• Can increased organic consumption mitigate climate changes?
  • British Food Journal (2014) 116: 1314-1329
• Does Organic Command a Premium When the Food is Already Local?
  • American Journal of Agricultural Economics (2014) 96: 1102-1116
• Understanding organic food consumption: attitude as a mediator
  • International Journal of Consumer Studies (2014) 38: 337-345

Organic Standards

The Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) has released draft editions of the revised Organic Agriculture Standards, which can now be downloaded for public review. The first period of public review will be for a minimum of 60 days in accordance with the development of a National Standard of Canada and will be opened for comments until September 22, 2014.

Two versions of each draft are available, a copy showing the proposed changes since the last edition, and a copy not showing these proposed changes, to facilitate reading. No changes have been balloted for approval by the committee to date. In addition, copies of the minutes of the two meetings for the development of these standards are available and detail the rationale for the changes and items rejected.

• Draft CAN/CGSB 32.310 - English - With changes identified [PDF - 659 kB]
  
• Draft CAN/CGSB 32.310 - English - Changes not identified [PDF - 533 kB]
• Draft CAN/CGSB 32.311 - English - With changes identified  [PDF - 837 kB]
• Draft CAN/CGSB 32.311 - English - Changes not identified [PDF - 595 kB]
  
• Comment form
  
• Minutes of December 2013 Meeting [PDF - 2.8 MB]
  
• Draft Minutes of April 2014 Meeting [PDF - 3.8 MB]

Members of the committee, organisations, institutions and the public are encouraged to submit comments, with supporting rationale, for any recommended changes. Technical changes, translation issues and major editorial improvements are welcome, but minor editorial changes are not recommended. Only submissions sent via the Change Form with the appropriate supporting information will be accepted.
 

Student, Job and Apprentice Opportunities

• Post-doctoral fellow opportunity at the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre
  Working within a multidisciplinary team, the post-doctoral fellow (PDF) will undertake research activities in the area of sustainable organic production systems for the Brown Soil zone. Under the supervision of, and in collaboration with, a team of research scientists and assisted by technical staff and/or students, the PDF will conduct field trials under organic methods.  The objective of the main field trial is to determine if diversified crop rotations and reduced tillage under organic management can keep weed populations at low levels, soil fertility at adequate levels, and plants healthy for sustainable and profitable production of annual crops under the water-limited and variable environmental conditions of the Brown Soil Zone of western Canada. For more information, please contact Myriam Fernandez at myriam.fernandez@agr.gc.ca.
• Please let us know about current opportunities you wish to announce by emailing oacc@dal.ca.

Organic Events