The Organic Report, Fall 2013
25 Organic News • Assisting transitioning farmers: The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced a new pilot program designed to assist farmers transitioning their land or livestock to certified organic status. The program is the first in the nation to provide an incentive for farmers to work with a USDA-accredited organic certifying agency during the transition period, which typically lasts 36 months. During that time, certifying agencies visit farms and verify that the farmer’s practices comply with federal organic regulations. Other reimbursable costs include soil testing and registration fees to attend an organic education conference. Farmers transitioning to organic can receive a rebate of 75 percent of eligible costs, with a maximum payment of $750 per year for three years or until achieving organic certification, whichever comes first. Application forms and a Frequently Asked Questions fact sheet are available by calling 651-201-6012. The deadline to apply for the 2013 program is February 14, 2014. • Organic pioneers: Rodale Institute honored Chef Alice Waters, Bob Quinn (President and Founder of Kamut International) and Dr. David Pimentel (Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University) with Rodale Institute’s 2013 Organic Pioneer Awards. • Cost share: During Fiscal Year 2012, almost 9,600 certified organic farms and businesses participated in the Organic Certification Cost Share Programs, according to the 2013 Cost Share Report to Congress. These programs reimbursed farmers and businesses over $6.6 million for organic certification expenses, at an average of $688 per operation. In Fiscal Year 2013, this program is available to farmers in 16 States. • Retailer of the Year: The World Retail Congress named Whole Foods Market Inc. as its Retailer of the Year. The World Retail Awards are designed to recognize global excellence across key areas of retail, including advertising, corporate responsibility, leadership, and innovation, with the top award the Retailer of the Year. Winners are selected by a Grand Jury made up of leading retail CEOs from around the world. • Organic at ALDI: Discount grocer ALDI has launched a new brand, ‘’SimplyNature,” that features foods made with only all-natural or organic ingredients. Products range from cereal, honey, fruit bars and apple juice, to pasta sauce, pizza, salsa and various snacks. Additionally, ALDI offers several organic produce items in most stores. These include bananas, apples, tomatoes, baby carrots and salad mixes. • Organic in C-stores: Convenience retailer 7-Eleven Inc. has rolled out a healthy snack section at participating stores nationwide that will stock products that include organic offerings such as trail mix. The section includes 7-Select store brands as well as branded products. • Organic in parks: Dane County, Wisconsin, officials are introducing organic farming at one of the county’s parks in a new initiative geared toward community land use. The county will lease 24 acres of the park for a five-year term to a farmer to grow organic crops on the property. The project is part of an Organic Agriculture Lands initiative. • Organic community garden: Fifty middle and high school students helped pull weeds, spread compost and built and prepped 26 grow boxes during a recent expansion of South Lake Hospital’s organic community garden, located on the hospital campus in Clermont, FL. OTA member company Uncle Matt’s Organic is a co-sponsor of the garden. • Biopesticide approval: The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has approved Botector® as an organic biological product for the prevention of grey mold in grape and berry production and to address several rots on berries. Developed by bio-ferm GmbH of Tulin, Austria, it is exclusively marketed in the United States by OTA member Westbridge Agricultural Products of Vista, CA. Botector® works by natural competition for space and nutrients. It is approved for use in organic grape and berry production by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Organic Food Program. Research Findings • Converting to organic: In a study published in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, researchers examined 31 documented cases of Latin American and African farmers converting from conventional systems to organic and resourceconserving agriculture to examine the impact this conversion had on their livelihoods. The study found yields improved in 76 percent of observed cases, food security improved in 87.5 percent of cases, and net income improved in 82.6 percent of cases. While the size of the sampling in this study is small, the strong findings suggest that organic agriculture has the potential to improve livelihood factors for farmers. • Organic production of citrus: A study out of Sicily analyzing the sustainability of organic versus conventional orange and lemon orchards found that organic management brings better environmental and energy performance than their conventional counterparts. Researchers used a lifecycle assessment to examine the production cycle over 50 years, focusing on energy use, environmental impacts, and economic analyses. In addition to being more sustainable than conventional production, organic citrus had lower production costs, showing that organic production is both cost effective and sustainable over the long term. • Crop rotation: A recent study published in Nature’s The ISME Journal reveals the profound effects crop rotations have on enriching soil with bacteria, fungi and protozoa. The study examined how alternating crop species can change the microbial content of soil, thus aiding plants in Continued on Page 26 FALL 2013 • THE ORGANIC REPORT
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