Organic Friends' E‑zine: September 2017

It's Organic Week in Canada, the largest annual celebration of organic food, farming and products across the country!

In this issue:

• Organic Science Cluster II
• Practical Resources
• Scientific Results
• Organic in Canada
  
• News & Articles of Interest
• Courses
• Events

Organic Science Cluster II

• Silicon Transporters and Effects of Silicon Amendments in Strawberry under High Tunnel and Field Conditions
  • Frontiers in Plant Science (2017) 8: 949

Practical Resources

Soils and Fertility

• A Guide to Nutrient Budgeting on Organic Farms [PDF – 274 kB]
  • Institute of Organic Training and Advice. 2017
• Soil Health Webinar
  • Organic Farming Research Foundation. 2017
    

Seed Production and Plant Breeding

• Organic Seed Production Webinar Series: Seed Quality, Harvesting and Equipment
  • Organic Seed Alliance and eOrganic. 2017

Ecology and Environment

• Life cycle assessments of organic foods
  • FiBL. 2017

Marketing and Economics

• The Organic Consumer: 2016 vs. 2006 [PDF – 241 kB]
  • The Hartman Group. 2017

Scientific Results

Soils and Fertility

• Beyond nutrients: a meta-analysis of the diverse effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on plants and soils
  • Ecology (2017) 98: 2111-2119
• High soil phosphorus levels overrule the potential benefits of organic farming on arbuscular mycorrhizal diversity in northern vineyards
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2017) 248: 144-152

Horticulture

• Comparison of invertebrate biodiversity in New Zealand apple orchards using integrated pest management, with or without codling moth mating disruption, or organic pest management
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2017) 247: 379-388

Field Crops

• Phenolic antioxidant-linked anti-hyperglycemic properties of rye cultivars grown under conventional and organic production systems
  • Journal of Cereal Science (2017) 76: 108-115
• Selection of winter durum genotypes grown under conventional and organic conditions in different European regions
  • Euphytica (2017) 213: 169

Crop Rotation

• Cover crops reduce nitrogen leaching and improve food quality in an organic potato and broccoli farming rotation
  • Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (2017) 72: 539-549

Pest Management

• Disentangling the Effects of Tillage Timing and Weather on Weed Community Assembly
  • Agriculture (2017) 7(8): 66
• Timing of Tillage as a Driver of Weed Communities
  • Weed Science (2017) 65: 504-514

Livestock

• Variations of energy intensities and potential for improvements in energy utilisation on conventional and organic Norwegian dairy farms
  • Journal of Cleaner Production (2017) 164: 301-314

Ecology and Environment

• Relationships between greenhouse gas emissions and cultivable bacterial populations in conventional, organic and long-term grass plots as affected by environmental variables and disturbances
  • Soil Biology and Biochemistry (2017) 114: 145-149
• Short-term dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions and cultivable bacterial populations in response to induced and natural disturbances in organically and conventionally managed soils
  • Applied Soil Ecology (2017) 119: 294-306

Nutrition, Safety and Health of Organic Foods

• Organic food consumption during pregnancy and its association with health-related characteristics: the KOALA Birth Cohort Study
  • Public Health Nutrition (2017) 20: 2134-2144

Marketing and Economics

• Assessments of the quality of organic versus conventional products, by category and cognitive style
  • Food Quality and Preference (2017) 62: 31-37
• Organic consumption behavior: A social identification perspective
  • Food Quality and Preference (2017) 62: 190-198
• Organic food consumption during pregnancy is associated with different consumer profiles, food patterns and intake: the KOALA Birth Cohort Study
  • Public Health Nutrition (2017) 20: 2134-2144
• Revisiting consumers’ valuation for local versus organic food using a non-hypothetical choice experiment: Does personality matter?
  • Food Quality and Preference (2017) 62: 144-154

Organic in Canada

• New Data From Canada Organic Trade Association Reveals Dramatic Increase In Canadians Buying Organic Products
  • Canada Organic Trade Association. 2017

News & Articles of Interest

• Agriculture Canada adds certified organic fields in Charlottetown
  • CBC. 2017
• Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) Now Accepting Applications for the 2018 Grant Cycle
  Applicants residing in Canada, Mexico, and the United States are eligible to apply. In particular, OFRF encourages farmers, ranchers, graduate students, early career researchers, veterans, and Extension personnel to consider applying for funding. The deadline for proposals is December 15, 2017.

Courses

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

• Transition to Organic Agriculture
• Composting and Compost Use
• Principles of Organic Horticulture
• Weed Control in Organic Agriculture

Events