In Business, Creating Sustainable Enterprises & Communities

ADVANCES IN ORGANIC FARMING RESEARCH

In Business, January/February, 2004, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 16

Two-day symposium at professional science societies' meeting in Denver brings outstanding analysts together to discuss latest data on university findings.

Jane Sooby

IN AN HISTORIC development for organic farming research, the first full symposium since 1981was held at the Agronomy, Soil and Crop Science Societies of America annual meetings November 4-5, 2003 in Denver. It has been over 20 years since such a strong program of organic research findings was presented at the generally conservative “trisocieties” event. The two-day Organic Agriculture Symposium featured four sessions - a total of 35 presentations - on organic research findings and related policy issues. In my role with the Organic Farming Research Foundation, I presented a paper on recently released State of the States: Organic Farming Systems Research at Land Grant Institutions 2001-2003 (see side bar).
The first session of the symposium consisted of talks describing the status of organic farming and research in the U.S. and abroad. Agroecologist Miguel Altieri, based at the University of California at Berkeley, started off the symposium by showing slides depicting agriculture from around the world, and challenging organic advocates to go beyond input substitution and to instead focus on cultivating biodiversity. (See “Returning Organic Farming To Its Roots” in this issue.)
Cathy Greene, an economist with USDA's Economic Research Service, presented her data on organic production acres in the U.S., showing that certified organic acreage more than doubled between 1992 and 1997, then doubled again between 1997 and 2001. Organic poultry and dairy are the fastest growing sectors of the organic market. Greene also reported that organic lettuce acreage is a full five percent of the nation's total, and four percent of the total carrot acreage is certified organic. Her overall message is that organic farming continues to expand at a rapid pace.
The session continued with talks by agronomist Charles Francis of the University of Nebraska, who discussed the proliferation of organic academic programs in the Nordic region and elsewhere in Europe; national director of USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) program Jill Auburn reporting on the portfolio of organic research and education projects funded by SARE; Diana Jerkins, a program leader with USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) reporting on federal funding opportunities for organic research; Iowa State entomologist Jerry DeWitt's presentation of photographs of organic farms and commentary on their unique nature; and USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Carolee Bull reporting on ARS organic research activity around the country.
The second session of the symposium discussed specific organic research results. Highlights included a presentation by ARS scientist James Hansen, “Using radio frequency treatments to disinfest arthropod pests from stored products;” Warren Wilson College plant pathologist Mark Boudreau discussing intercropping to control disease in an organic peanut-corn system; Steve Scheuerell from Oregon State University discussing disease control with compost tea; Walter Goldstein with the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute presenting data showing that organic corn yielded more, had less root disease, and lower nitrogen uptake than conventional corn.
Agronomist Paul Porter at the University of Minnesota was key in organizing the symposium. He was pleased with the turnout (which ranged from 30 to almost 200 at times) and stated, “Symposium topics rotate around from year to year. We probably wouldn't do this every year. The structure is not geared toward that. But I don't think it will be 20 years until the next one.”
Charles Francis with the University of Nebraska commented, “Ninety-five percent of the posters and papers presented at the national meetings are focused on minutiae and 'agronomic trivial pursuit.' In this professional setting, the organic symposium was refreshing with its emphasis on whole systems, landscape issues, and the social dimensions of sustainability”

Jane Sooby is the technical program coordinator for the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) based in Santa Cruz, California.

ORGANIC FARMING RESEARCH AT U.S. UNIVERSITIES

COMPILED by the staff of the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), the State of the States: 2001-2003 reports on organic farming systems research at land grant institutions. (The first edition of this report was published in 2001.) SOS II shows dramatic changes in the publically-funded organic research scene in the past two years. Total number of organic research acres in the U.S. land grant system has more than doubled between 2001 and 2003, while the number of certified
organic research acres has trebled. Still, organic research acreage lags far behind the proportion of U.S. farmland that is certified organic.
The OFRF study found that, overall, organic research occupies only 1,160 acres (0.13 percent) of the 885,862 available research acres in the land grant system. A recent USDA report documents that 0.3 percent of all U.S. farmland is certified organic. In high-value crops such as vegetables, a full 2 percent of U.S. acreage is certified organic. OFRF found that certified organic research acreage is only 496 acres (0.06 percent) of the total available research acreage. This represents a trebling of the 154 certified organic research acres that OFRF reported in 2001, a growth trend that OFRF expects will continue. The OFRF Board has set a goal that 10 percent of federal agricultural research funds be directed to organic research by 2006.
The five states having the strongest organic research programs in 2001-Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, North Carolina, and West Virginia-are joined by new programs in Washington and New York. South Carolina, Maryland, Florida, and New Hampshire have emerging organic research programs and are bringing research land through the transition to certified status. Michigan and California both have relatively high numbers of organic research projects being conducted, but lack a centrally coordinated organic research program. Land grants in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have notably few resources for the large numbers of organic farmers in these states.
OFRF considers the effort made to certify research areas as organic to be an indicator of a land grant institution's level of commitment to organic research. “If they have certified organic research acres, they are much more likely to provide accurate information to local organic growers,” said Bob Scowcroft, OFRF executive director.
The State of the States report may be accessed at www.ofrf.org. Printed copies may be ordered for a donation of $10 each to defray printing and postage costs from OFRF, PO Box 440, Santa Cruz, California 95061. (831) 426-6606.