Organic Friends' E‑zine: January 2016

Mark your calendars for the Second Canadian Organic Science Conference, being held from September 19-21, 2016 in Montreal-Longueuil, QC! Under the theme "Sharing research that grows organic", world renowned international and Canadian scientists will present their work in all aspects of organic agriculture. Interested in presenting? The Call for Abstracts is now open and will close on April 15. Visit the conference website at www.craaq.qc.ca/cosc2016 for more information.

In this issue:

• Organic Science Cluster II
  
• Practical Resources
• Scientific Results
• Organic in Canada
• News & Articles of Interest
• Student and Job Opportunities
  
• Events

Organic Science Cluster II

Organic producers engaging in research and innovation

As Organic Science Cluster II (OSCII) completes the third year of activities, the Organic Federation of Canada and OACC have created a series of eight short films that present organic producers engaged in research and innovation in close cooperation with OSCII researchers. These videos, four of which are featured here, illustrate the important cooperation between researchers and producers in advancing the science of organic production to benefit organic yields and quality.

Organic flowers that are good for the environment: Frank Zyromski Greenhouses

Silicon, a valuable fungicide: Fraises de l’Île d’Orléans

Organic nutraceuticals: Nutra Canada

Geothermal and organic vegetables: Abri végétal

Practical Resources

Horticulture

• Exclusion fence technique for cabbage maggot management in Brassica vegetable crops [PDF - 1.0 MB]
  
  • AAAFC Pesticide Risk Reduction Program. 2015
• Can You Keep Spotted Wing Drosophila Out? – Exclusion Netting Trial
  • OMAFRA. 2015

Field Crops

• Guidelines for Estimating Organic Crop Production Costs 2016 [PDF - 916 kB]
  
  • Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. 2016

Seed Production and Plant Breeding

• Plant Breeding Techniques: An assessment for organic farming
  • FiBL. 2015

Livestock

• Managing Dairy Nutrition for the Organic Herd: Assessing the Feeding Program
  • eOrganic. 2015

Scientific Results

Soils and Fertility

• Drivers of nitrogen dynamics in ecologically based agriculture revealed by long-term, high frequency field measurements
  • Ecological Applications (2015) 25: 2210-2227
• Going with the flow: Landscape position drives differences in microbial biomass and activity in conventional, low input, and organic agricultural systems in the Midwestern U.S.
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2016) 218: 1-10
• Mineralization of legume seed meals as organic fertilizers affected by their quality at low temperatures
  • Biological Agriculture & Horticulture (2015) 31: 91-107
• Role of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in the Nitrogen Uptake of Plants: Current Knowledge and Research Gaps
  • Agronomy (2015) 5: 587-612

Horticulture

• Effects of Organic and Waste-Derived Fertilizers on Yield, Nitrogen and Glucosinolate Contents, and Sensory Quality of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica)
  • Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2015) 63: 10757-10767

Field Crops

• Flaws and criteria for design and evaluation of comparative organic and conventional cropping systems
  • Field Crops Research (2016) 186: 99-106

Crop Rotation

• Carbon and Nitrogen Release from Legume Crop Residues for Three Subsequent Crops
  • Soil Science Society of America Journal (2015) 79: 1650-1659
• Cover Crop Impact on Nitrogen Availability and Dry Bean in an Organic System
  • Agronomy Journal (2016) 108: 329-341
• Effect of spring fertilization on ecosystem services of organic wheat and clover relay intercrops
  • European Journal of Agronomy (2016) 73: 73-82
• Short-term nitrogen mineralization from warm-season cover crops in organic farming systems
  • Plant and Soil (2015) 396: 353-367

Pest Management

• Weed management by upstate New York organic farmers: Strategies, techniques and research priorities
  • Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (2015) 30: 418-427

Livestock

• Comparing ELISA test-positive prevalence, risk factors and management recommendations for Johne’s disease prevention between organic and conventional dairy farms in Ontario, Canada
  • Preventative Veterinary Medicine (2015) 122: 83-91
• Foraging behaviour, nutrient intake from pasture and performance of free-range growing pigs in relation to feed CP level in two organic cropping systems
  • Animal (2015) 9: 2006-2016
• Impact of integrated sheep grazing for cover crop termination on weed and ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2016) 218: 141-149
• Tradeoffs between production and perennial vegetation in dairy farming systems vary among counties in the northeastern U.S.
  • Agricultural Systems (2015) 139: 17-28

Ecology and Environment

• Life cycle assessment of organic versus conventional agriculture. A case study of lettuce cultivation in Greece
  • Journal of Cleaner Production (2016) 112: 2462-2471

Nutrition, Safety and Health of Organic Foods

• Cultivar and Year Rather than Agricultural Practices Affect Primary and Secondary Metabolites in Apple Fruit
  • PLoS ONE (2015) 10(11): e0141916
• Effects of organic and conventional production systems on the content of bioactive substances in four species of medicinal plants
  • Biological Agriculture & Horticulture (2015) 31: 91-107
• Integrated mass spectrometric and multivariate data analysis approaches for the discrimination of organic and conventional strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) crops
  • Food Research International (2015) 77: 264-272

Social Science

• Impact of marketing channels on perceptions of quality of life and profitability for Wisconsin's organic vegetable farmers
  • Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (2015) 30: 428-438
• Tourism and Willing Workers on Organic Farms: a collision of two spaces in sustainable agriculture
  • Journal of Cleaner Production (2016) 111: 421-429

Marketing and Economics

• An analysis of purchase intentions toward organic food on health consciousness and food safety with/under structural equation modeling
  • British Food Journal (2016) 118: 200-216
• How important is local food to organic-minded consumers?
  • Appetite (2016) 96: 309-318
• Intention to purchase organic food among young consumers: Evidences from a developing nation
  • Appetite (2016) 96: 122-128
• Predicting intentions to purchase organic food: the moderating effects of organic food prices
  • British Food Journal (2016) 118: 183-199
• Putting the organic label in context: Examining the interactions between the organic label, product type, and retail outlet
  • Food Quality and Preference (2016) 49: 140-150

Organic in Canada

• New comment period for Standards Interpretation Committee's Questions and Answers Regarding the National Standards for Organic Agriculture
  • Comment period open until February 15, 2016

News & Articles of Interest

• Canada’s organic market to focus on special crops in 2016
  • Grainews. 2016
• Harrington Research Farm expanding use of land for organic farming
  • The Guardian. 2015

Student and Job Opportunities

• Soil Science Instructor - Richmond Farm School, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  

Events