June 2011

Photo of the Month, by Scott White
Wild, or lowbush, blueberries have begun to blossom in the Maritime provinces. Organic management of these wild blueberry stands can be particularly challenging. To help address these challenges, organic weed management strategies for this perennial plant are being evaluated by researchers at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College who are participating in 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
• Organic Science Cluster
• Research Articles

Newspaper Articles

• The Ubiquitous Use of Plastic Mulch in Organic Systems
• AAFC gets the dirt on organic fruit crops in BC
• Organic Greenhouse Tomatoes Pick of the Crop
• The Western Producer's Organic Matters Column:
  • Organic farmers share Canada thistle tales of woe

Extension

About Organic

• Organic Products Regulations – How Do They Impact Your Activities (OFC)
• Profiles in Sustainable Agriculture (Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture)

Soils and Fertility

• Advanced Soil Organic Matter Management (Michigan State University's Organic Farming Exchange)
• Building Soil for Organic and Sustainable Farms, Where to Start? (Michigan State University's Organic Farming Exchange)

Horticulture

• Orchard Management (OMAFRA)
  • Site Selection for New Orchard Plantings
  • Nursery Trees for the New Orchard
  • Preparing for Planting the New Apple Orchard
• Using Biological Control for Root Weevils in Strawberries (OMAFRA)

Field Crops

• Flaming as a Method of Weed Control in Organic Farming Systems (Michigan State University's Organic Farming Exchange)

Livestock

• Green is Good for Organic Beef (OMAFRA)

Organic Science Cluster

Research Updates

A.2: Predictive tools for characterizing mycorrhizal contributions to phosphorus uptake by organic crops

• Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) and Non-AM Endophytic Fungal Proliferation in Prairie Wheat Fields is Related to Soil Properties, Management, and Plant Nutrient Update
• Soil type and properties influence the abundance of fungal root endophytes and wheat productivity in the Canadian Prairie

B.2: Organic cereal crop breeding

• Realized gains from selection for spring wheat grain yield are different in conventional and organically managed systems
• The soil microbial community and grain micronutrient concentration of historical and modern hard red spring wheat cultivars grown organically and conventionally in the black soil zone of the Canadian Prairies

B.6: Integrated grain-based cropping systems for biological and economic sustainability

• High yielding organic crop management decreases plant-available but not recalcitrant soil phosphorus

C.5: Development of an organic greenhouse growing system for tomato that improves energy use efficiency and reuses the crop effluent as nutrient solution

• Constructed wetlands implanted with Iris versicolor, Juncus sp. and Phragmites australis as a potential treatment for greenhouse effluents
• Removal of Pythium ultimum propagules in recycled greenhouse nutrient solution using artifical wetlands
• The use of artificial wetlands to treat greenhouse effluents

C.8: Optimizing fertilization and irrigation management for a closed greenhouse organic tomato growing system

• Organic Greenhouse Tomato Production in Raised Bed Containers under Commercial Conditions: Conclusion of a 3-Year Study

E.1: Modeling farm scale energy and nutrient efficiency, and Global Warming Potential, as affected by management

• The Carbon and Global Warming Potential Impacts of Organic Farming: Does It Have a Significant Role in an Energy Constrained World?

I.1: Over-Wintering of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Organic Sheep Production

• Handbook for the Control of Internal Parasites of Sheep

Research Articles

Soils & Fertility

• Altered food web structure and C-flux pathways associated with mineralisation of organic amendments to agricultural soil
• Earthworm abundance and species composition in organic forage production systems of northern Colorado receiving different soil amendments
• Soil organic matter pools and crop yields as affected by the rate of farmyard manure and use of biodynamic preparations in a sandy soil
• The study of secondary successional patterns in soil using network analysis: The case of conversion from conventional to organic farming

Horticulture

• Are there alternatives to copper for controlling grapevine downy mildew in organic viticulture?
• Effects of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on yield, growth and nutrient contents in organically growing raspberry
• Peach brown rot incidence related to pathogen infection at different stages of fruit development in an organic peach production system

Field Crops

• The competitive ability of pea–barley intercrops against weeds and the interactions with crop productivity and soil N availability
• Evaluation of winter wheat breeding lines for traits related to nitrogen use under organic management
• Pea green manure management affects organic winter wheat yield and quality in semiarid Montana
• Spring wheat genotypes differentially alter soil microbial communities and wheat breadmaking quality in organic and conventional systems

Livestock

• Ecological and economic evaluation of Dutch egg production systems
• Maximizing profit on New England organic dairy farms: An economic comparison of 4 total mixed rations for organic Holsteins and Jerseys
• Nutritionally related strategies for organic goat production

Food & Health

• Increasing organic consumption through school meals—lessons learned in the iPOPY project

Ecology & Environment

• Decreased Functional Diversity and Biological Pest Control in Conventional Compared to Organic Crop Fields
• Rainfed crop energy balance of different farming systems and crop rotations in a semi-arid environment: Results of a long-term trial
• The Value of Woody Hedgerows for Moth Diversity on Organic and Conventional Farms

Consumers

• Consumers’ purchase of organic food products. A matter of convenience and reflexive practices
• Health and environmental consciousness, costs of behaviour and the purchase of organic food
• Lifestyle segmentation of US food shoppers to examine organic and local food consumption
• Organic food choices and Protection Motivation Theory: Addressing the psychological sources of heterogeneity

Social Science

• Social dynamics for sustainable food systems. Actors' orientations towards sustainability in primary production and public consumption