January 2011

Photo of the Month, by Karen Nelson
A view of spring in the dead of winter. Graduate students and research assistants till beside rows and apply spring fertility treatments at an on-farm site in PEI for OACC’s Black Currant Fertility Management Trial, part of the Organic Science Cluster. 

In this issue:

Editor's Note: Organic practitioners may find the information presented in the Newspaper Articles and Extension Information sections to be the most easily accessible and applicable.

• Newspaper Articles
• Extension Information
• Research Articles
• Courses
• Virtual Tours
• Student and Job Opportunities
• Market Information
• Events
• Animal Welfare

Newspaper Articles

• Making the Organic Choice
• Using acetic acid to control weeds in organic potatoes
• The Western Producer's Organic Matters Column:
  • Farm to TV dinners: Supporting community a forkful at a time
  • Organic soil busier place than conventionally farmed soil

Extension Information

Horticulture

• Organic Black Currant Production Manual (Anne’s PEI Farm & PEI Horticulture Association)
• High Tunnels for Season Extension Webinars (Great Lakes Vegetable Working Group)
• Most Popular Pests on the Farm (OMAFRA)

Field Crops

• Organic producers eager for Canada thistle control (Western Producer)

Livestock

• Organic milk production in Great Britain (Valacta)

Research Articles

Soils and Fertility

• Nitrogen Availability in an Organic Potato Crop Following 3-Year Transition under Contrasting Farming Systems 
• Quality of soil organic matter and C storage as influenced by cropping systems in northwestern Alberta, Canada
• Chemical properties, microbial biomass, and activity differ between soils of organic and conventional horticultural systems under greenhouse and open field management: a case study

Horticulture

• Current World Status of Organic Temperate Fruits
• Organic Horticulture Expands Globally

Field Crops

• Cereal yield and quality as affected by nitrogen availability in organic and conventional arable crop rotations: A combined modeling and experimental approach
• Organic Maize Growth and Mycorrhizal Root Colonization Response to Tillage and Organic Fertilization 
• Reduced tillage effects on soil properties and growth of cereals and associated weeds under organic farming

Livestock

• The effect of a diet with fructan-rich chicory roots on intestinal helminths and microbiota with special focus on Bifidobacteria and Campylobacter in piglets around weaning
• Italian ryegrass silage in winter feeding of organic dairy cows: forage intake, milk yield and composition

Ecology and Environment

• Carbon and Global Warming Potential Footprint of Organic Farming (Report to OVCRT)
• A safe operating space for humanity
• Effects of input management and crop diversity on non-renewable energy use efficiency of cropping systems in the Canadian Prairie
• Landscape composition influences farm management effects on farmland birds in winter: A pan-European approach
• A Life-Cycle Approach to Characterising Environmental and Economic Impacts of Multifunctional Land-Use Systems: An Integrated Assessment in the UK
• Soil properties, crop production and greenhouse gas emissions from organic and inorganic fertilizer-based arable cropping systems

Consumer Behaviour and Marketing

• Functional and organic eggs as an alternative to conventional production: a conjoint analysis of consumers' preferences

Courses

• Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Institute for Sustainable Horticulture Richmond Farm School

Virtual Tours

	Dominion Farms Ltd.

Student and Job Opportunities

• M.Sc. Opportunity at NSAC - Nutrient management for wine grape production
• Organic Farming Institute of BC - Request for Proposals for Development of an Online Organic Farming Course
• Alberta Sustainable Agriculture Apprenticeship Program
• Everdale Organic Farming Certificate and Summer Internship (Ontario)
  • See Everdale's YouTube Channel to learn more about the experiences of Everdale's 2010 Organic Interns
• Ignatius Farm Community Shared Agriculture (Ontario)
  • 3 full season internships, 1 short term internship
• Job Opportunity at Four Seasons Farm: Assistant Farm Manager (Nova Scotia)
• Organic Farm Internship at Drumlin Farm (Ontario)
• C.R.A.F.T. Ontario Internships on Ecological Farms

Market Information

• U.S. consumer survey finds 41% of parents buying more organic foods than a year ago (OTA)
• Organic Farm Incomes in England and Wales
  • 2008-2009
  • 2007-2008
  • 2006-2007

Events

• OACC Research Needs Workshop - You are invited to suggest what research OACC should be initiating to meet the needs of organic farmers.
  • Saturday, January 29 from 12:30 - 3:00 pm
  • Guelph Organic Conference, U.C. Room 332

Animal Welfare

• Influence of rearing and lay risk factors on propensity for feather damage in laying hens