My good friend Brian Baker joined Urs Niggli, Christian Andres, and Helga Willer of FiBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) in assessing the state of organic farming research around the world. Their paper is entitled “Building a global platform for organic farming research, innovation and technology transfer,” and was published August 16, 2017 in Organic […]
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National Geographic ran a June 15, 2017 story by Sarah Gibbens entitled “Renewable Energy Record Set in the U.S.” It’s opening paragraph reports the good news – “The U.S. set a new renewable energy milestone in March, in data released Wednesday. For the first time, wind and solar accounted for 10 percent of all electricity […]
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Guest Blog Note to Readers: In May 2017, a series of messages were posted on organic_ipm@googlegroups.com and the e-list for the Northeastern IPM Center (see the Join the Conversation link on the top right of this News and Information page). Fred Kirschenmann of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and the Leopold Center for Sustainable […]
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Among the fake news making the rounds is that organic food is no safer than conventional food because organic farmers use pesticides too. Ken Roseboro debunks many of the “alternate” facts circulating about pesticide use on organic farms in a well-researched story in The Organic and Non-GMO Report. Of course organic farmers have to manage […]
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China has become the world’s fourth largest consumer of organic food. Demand is driven by food safety concerns, in the wake of a series of food adulteration episodes and a lack of trust in the government’s ability to assure compliance with safety standards. Xinhua Insight reports that more and more young professionals are giving up careers […]
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By Brian Baker Rotenone is a non-synthetic botanical insecticide and piscicide (chemical poisonous to fish) derived from the roots of Derris spp., Lonchocarpus spp. and Tephrosia spp. It has been used historically in organic production, usually with restrictions that limit its impact on human health and the environment. Prior to the isolation and commercialization of organically acceptable formulations […]
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Long-term research has documented the extent to which organic farming improves key indicators of soil quality, including soil organic carbon content (SOC) and particulate organic matter (POC). An important article entitled “Total and Labile Soil Organic Matter in Organic and Conventional Farming Systems” summarizes the findings of nine long-term comparative trials assessing the impacts of […]
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