Organic Friends' E‑zine: December 2016

The Director and staff of the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada would like to wish you and yours every happiness this holiday season and throughout the coming year.

In this issue:

• Practical Resources
• Scientific Results
• Organic in Canada
• News & Articles of Interest
• Courses
• Student, Job and Apprentice Opportunities
• Events

Practical Resources

The Science behind Organic Agriculture

• Systems Research for Agriculture: Innovative Solutions to Complex Challenges
  • SARE. 2016

Field Crops

• From Harvest to Sale: Maintaining food quality in storage [PDF – 1.2 MB]
  • Prairie Organic Grain Initiative. 2016
• Pivot and Grow Video Series by the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative
  
  • Grain Quality: From Producer to Consumer
  • Intercropping: Utilizing More Efficiently the Acres that We Have
  • The Organic Ratio: Eyes per Acre
  • Planning Crop Rotations: The Diversity is What Makes You Sustainable
  • Weeds: The First Emergence after Disturbance

Pest Management

• Stubble cultivation to control rooted weeds in organic agriculture (Video)
  • FiBL. 2016

Seed Production and Plant Breeding

• Organic Seed Production Webinar Series: Seed Contracting and Economics
  • eOrganic. 2016

Livestock

• Parasite control for organic ruminants (Video)
  • CORE Organic/PrOPara. 2016

Scientific Results

Soils and Fertility

• Integrating soil physical and biological properties in contrasting tillage systems in organic and conventional farming
  • European Journal of Soil Biology (2016) 77: 26-33
• Quantification of bacterial non-specific acid (phoC) and alkaline (phoD) phosphatase genes in bulk and rhizosphere soil from organically managed soybean fields
  • Applied Soil Ecology Online, ahead of print
• Short-term nitrogen dynamics in soil amended with poultry litter containing woodchip bedding
  • Canadian Journal of Soil Science (2016) 96: 427-434
• Soil microbial diversity and activity linked to crop yield and quality in a dryland organic wheat production system
  • Applied Soil Ecology (2016) 108: 258-268

Horticulture

• Effect of Cover Crops on Yield and Leaf Nutrient Concentrations in an Organic Honeycrisp Apple (Malus domestica ‘Honeycrisp’) Orchard in Nova Scotia, Canada
  • HortScience (2106) 51: 1378-1383
• Spider predation on rosy apple aphid in conventional, organic and insecticide-free orchards and its impact on aphid populations
  • Biological Control (2016) 104: 57-65

Field Crops

• Row Spacing and Seeding Rate Effects on Canola Population, Weed Competition, and Yield in Winter Organic Canola Production
  • Agronomy Journal (2016) 108: 2425-2432
• Some Agronomic Strategies for Organic Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.)
  • Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science (2016) 202: 454-463
• Yield and herbage quality from organic grass clover leys—a meta-analysis of Norwegian field trials
  • Organic Agriculture (2016) 6: 307-322

Crop Rotation

• Strip-Intercropping of Rye–Vetch Mixtures Affects Biomass, Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio, and Spatial Distribution of Cover Crop Residue
  • Agronomy Journal (2016) 108: 2433-2443

Livestock

• Comparative risk assessment for new cow-level Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis infections between 3 dairy production types: Organic, conventional, and conventional-grazing systems
  • Journal of Dairy Science (2016) 99: 9885-9899
• Organic dairy farmers put more emphasis on production traits than conventional farmers
  • Journal of Dairy Science (2016) 99: 9845-9856
• Review: The effect of grass and herbs in organic egg production on egg fatty acid composition, egg yolk colour and sensory properties
  • Livestock Science (2016) 194: 37-43

Nutrition, Safety and Health of Organic Foods

• Foodborne Disease Outbreaks Associated with Organic Foods in the United States
  • Journal of Food Protection (2016) 11: 1953-1958
    Note: these results are from the U.S. and do not necessarily reflect Canadian data. The paper is not limited to “certified organic” products, but includes all events where the word “organic” has been included in reports or press releases, etc. The study also recognizes that incidences of foodborne illness are increasing also in non-organic products. In Canada, all organic producers and processors must follow the same food safety and handling guidelines as their non-organic counterparts, in addition to meeting the Canadian organic standard. Nevertheless, in the organic sector we must remain vigilant in maintaining the highest food safety standards and continuously work toward improving practices to minimize risk.

Marketing and Economics

• The rationalization and persistence of organic food beliefs in the face of contrary evidence
  • Journal of Cleaner Production (2016) 140: 1007-1013
• Social media mediated interaction with peers, experts and anonymous authors: Conversation partner and message framing effects on risk perception and sense-making of organic food
  • Food Quality and Preference (2016) 56: 107-118
• Word associations with “organic”: what do consumers think of?
  • British Food Journal (2016) 118: 2931-2948

Transition to Organic

• Organic farmers’ motivations and challenges for adopting conservation agriculture in Europe
  • Organic Agriculture (2016) 6: 281-295

Organic in Canada

• Canadian organic organizations addressed the House Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in November
  • Listen to the presentation from COG's Ashley St Hilaire (begins at 10:01:38)
  • Listen to the presentation from COTA's Tia Loftsgard and OACC's Andy Hammermeister
• Canada's organic sector presents their needs, priorities and recommedations for the next Agricultural Policy Framework [PDF - 1.7 MB]
  
  • Prepared by Canadian Organic Growers, Canada Organic Trade Association, Organic Federation of Canada, and USC Canada. 2016
• New comment period for Standards Interpretation Committee's Questions and Answers Regarding the National Standards for Organic Agriculture [PDF - 495 kB]
  Comment period open until January 9, 2017

News & Articles of Interest

• Telling people they’re wrong won’t win their trust: Organic farmers have an opportunity to be leaders in agriculture
  • Manitoba Co-operator. 2016

Courses

Certificate of Specialization in Organic Agriculture - Online Courses Offered in the Winter 2017 Semester

• Key Indicators of Agroecosystem Sustainability
• Organic Field Crop Management
• Organic Livestock Production
• Weed Control in Organic Agriculture

Student, Job and Apprentice Opportunities

• Apply to be one of five 2017 Guelph Organic Conference Eco-Scholars
  The deadline for applications is December 23, 2016

Events