Recently in Sustainability Category

By following intensive biological farming practices, Sustainable Cotton Project growers reduced the use of the most toxic pesticides on their cotton. Moreover, they slashed overall pesticide use by up to 70%.

A short documentary produced by the Davis, California-based Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP)has been produced by Gibbs and videographer Liam Creighton. The "Cleaner Cotton" video documents the cotton project's impressive campaign to improve the environment, public health and agriculture economy of Firebaugh, a small rural Central Valley farming town about 40 miles west of Fresno.

"Look at the things we're doing for the community, reducing pesticides in the watershed," Firebaugh grower John Texeira says in the video. The eco-friendly farming practices paid off at harvest, too. "We had yields better than our neighbors."

Indeed, Sustainable Cotton Project growers are leaving an imprint on the San Joaquin Valley, which produces some of the finest cotton in the world, a high-quality fiber that can command a premium price.

The region produces about 90% of the nation's Pima cotton, the Cadillac of cotton in the U.S., rivaling the fine Egyptian quality.

Global Green Cotton Market

In the past six years, participating farmers have produced more than one million pounds of Sustainable Cotton Project's trademarked Cleaner Cotton® for the $5 billion-a-year global green cotton market. The project is working with major retailers such as Gap Inc, Levi Strauss & Co, Williams Sonoma, North Face and others to incorporate the eco-friendly cotton into their product lines.

View "Cleaner Cotton" Online

The cotton video is part of the work of the Sustainable Cotton Project. Learn more at: Cleaner Cotton. The Sustainable Cotton Project is a private non-profit working under the direction of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers in Davis.

"Killer spices" provide eco-friendly pesticides for organic fruits and veggies

Rosemary, thyme, clove, and mint are well-known spices that are emerging as organic agriculture's key weapons against insect pests.

Scientists in Canada are reporting new research on these so-called "essential oil pesticides" or "killer spices." These pesticides have added to the crop-preserving arsenal of organic growers and offer several advantages over their counterparts -- they're readily available and don't require lots of regulatory approval.

And they're safer for gardeners and farm workers, who are at high risk for pesticide exposure.

Murray Isman, Ph.D., of the University of British Columbia is developing these pesticides.

So, just what is it exactly about these spices that allow them to work their magic outside the kitchen? Here's Dr. Isman again:

"It turns out that some of these oils and some of the chemical constituents in the oils are neurotoxic to many types of insects. At least one of their actions, and we're not certain about all of their actions, one of their actions is they interfere with a neuromodulator in insects called octopamine. It's sort of an internal valium for insects, it sort of calms them down so their nervous systems
don't get overstimulated by external stimuli. If you remove that octopamine, which is what
some of these oils do, they get hyperexcited and eventually die."

These pesticides, usually a combination of spices diluted with water, have added to the crop-preserving arsenal of organic growers and offer several advantages over their counterparts. First, they are readily available and don't require lots of regulatory approval. Also, insects exposed to the spices are less likely to evolve resistance to the toxins. And, they're safer for farm workers, who are at high risk for pesticide exposure. 

"Some of these oils, as some other people have mentioned, are very good antimicrobials,
so they could be very useful against food spoilage organisms, for example. They are useful
against certain plant pathogenic fungi and bacteria, and they do have this phytotoxic effect
on plants, so at high concentrations they can be used as natural herbicides."

These "killer spices" aren't just limited to agricultural use. Some show promise in the home as eco-friendly repellents against mosquitoes, flies and roaches. And, perhaps as an unexpected bonus, these natural pesticides can have a pleasant, spicy aroma. Some in fact contain the same oils used in aromatherapy products, including cinnamon and peppermint.

A recent study at Oregon State University has shown that native bumble bee species have consistently high pollination and seed production levels in red clover.

The bumble bee pollination findings offer promise for the use of bumble bee crop pollinators as an alternative to European honey bees, whose populations have recently declined in many areas of the United States.

Red clover, which is grown for forage and as a rotation crop to improve soil, is raised for seed in western Oregon's Willamette Valley. It will not produce seed without pollination, so growers typically place two to five European honey bee hives on each hectare. 

Search for Alternative Pollinators

Bee diseases, mites, and colony collapse disorder have recently limited availability and resulted in higher costs for hive rentals. Given these changes, an alternative pollinator for red clover seed crops is needed.

Worldwide there are over 200 species of bumble bees; some of whom are known to pollinate red clover. While commercially reared bumble bee species are available to growers elsewhere, they are considered exotic species in Oregon and cannot be introduced into the state. This leaves Oregon growers dependent on naturally occurring populations of bumble bees as pollinators. However, there is currently no information on the pollination efficiency of native bumble bee species.

Scientific Evaluation of Blooms and Seed Set

Through funding from the Clover Commission, scientists at Oregon State University investigated native bumble bees in commercial fields of red clover seed crops in the Polk County region of the Willamette Valley. Prior to bloom, researchers covered plants with mesh-screened cages. European honey bee hives were placed in some cages and nests of B. vosnesenskii, a native Oregon bumble bee,in others. Some cages were also left vacant. After bloom, seed yield and seed set were compared amongst the different cages. Seed set was also evaluated in four different fields without cages to assess the efficiency of existing bee pollinators. In addition to analyzing seed set, researchers assessed the diversity and abundance of native bumble bees through visual observations of foragers on red clover flowers and through trapping bumble bees in blue vane traps. 

Pollination Differences between Bumble Bees and Honey Bees

While there were no differences in seed yield or average seed set in cages with bumble bees compared to honey bees, the study revealed:

• Variability across cages was lower with bumble bees indicating that bumble bee pollination is more uniform than pollination by European honey bees.
  
• The abundance of bumble bee peaked during mid-to-late bloom.
  
• They recorded six species of bumble bees gathering pollen from red clover flowers. Of these, more than 92% consisted of B. vosnesenskii, indicating that it is the key pollinator in Oregon.
  
• 25 more species of native solitary bees, belonging to 12 genera and five families, were collected in the bee traps.

Research Findings

The study has not only documented a great diversity of native bees in synchrony with red clover bloom, but it has also found that seed set was uniform and high across four fields. Under current pollinator regimes, researchers believe red clover seed production is close to its maximum in Oregon.

Solutions for Pollination

"To sustain these high yields in Oregon, we must

• Conserve the habitat of bees,
  
• Use pesticides judiciously and
  
• Provide floral resources prior to red clover bloom

Oregon State University entomologist Sujaya Rao, one of the researchers on the study, concluded,  "Globally, where red clover seed is produced, similar studies are needed. If seed set is found to be well below the maximum, appropriate alternative options such as augmentation with commercial bumble bees could be considered."

Research is ongoing at Oregon State University to determine whether high yields can be achieved by native pollinators alone. If so, European honey bee hive rentals would not be required, and this could lead to more economic red clover seed production in Oregon.

The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), founded in 1955, is an international scientific society comprised of 6,000+ members with its headquarters in Madison, WI. Members advance the discipline of crop science by acquiring and disseminating information about crop breeding and genetics; crop physiology; crop ecology, management, and quality; seed physiology, production, and technology; turfgrass science; forage and grazinglands; genomics, molecular genetics, and biotechnology; and biomedical and enhanced plants.

SOURCE:  ©2009 Newswise, Inc

Organics are usually considered part of the resulting crops...not the value of the land itself.  But that might be changing.  In New Jersey, the residual pesticides in the soil of farmland is being looked at carefully for the implications on future residents.  Hmmm....

A New Jersey case raises questions about what restrictions should be placed on builders seeking to develop former farmland where pesticides were used.

Long-term exposure to the contaminants found in the soil, arsenic and dieldrin, can lead to skin, liver and pancreatic cancer, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Web site. No illnesses have been reported among residents, but the uncertainty has altered daily routines.

NJ SUITS PUT FARMLAND DEVELOPMENT UNDER MICROSCOPE"

A tangle of New Jersey lawsuits raises issues about what restrictions
should be placed on builders seeking to develop farmland where
pesticides were formerly used. David Porter reports for the Associated
Press August 2, 2009.

Who, if anyone, was legally obligated to notify the homeowners is at the heart of the case, and the answer isn't readily apparent in existing state and federal environmental law.

New Jersey and other states have laws that require property owners to notify potential buyers if a property is near a former toxic waste site, for example, but those laws generally don't apply to farmland where pesticides were used.

Decontaminating soil isn't just about immediate food or crop production.  It also has long term land value implications, and risk management.  There are ways today to quickly decontaminate soils using new methods.  The solution is to decontaminate soil of toxic chemicals in a cost efficient way.  The value is immediate and long term.

 

The American Farmland Trust is about more than farms. These folks are concerned about the food supply for everyone -- from rural areas to big cities.

An elaborate food distribution system has beveloped between producers and consumer that has matured into delivering inexpensive, standardized food products. But times are changing because of organic food trends, and scares about contaminated foods from afar. The US food system is evolving in the direction of delivering the "story behind the food" in response to growing consumer demand. But it has a long way to go.

Food that is identifiable as "local," including food that is organically or "sustainably" produced, is a very small fraction of both total regional agricultural production (0.5 percent) and of total U.S. retail sales (2.8 percent). This sustainable sector of the food system is growing rapidly.

Despite the challenges of locating locally grown foods for families and local restaurants and institutions such as schools, there are significant opportunities to increase "eating locally" in San Francisco and the Bay Area. The local food movement in the region has as much momentum as anywhere in the country. Strong Farmers Coops, Farmers Markets, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operations make it almost convenient!

Many public and private institutions (such as schools and hospitals) are now seeking to source food locally. As the fossil fuel era wanes, fresh, local food may gain an advantage in the marketplace over food that is processed and shipped long distances.

Read more about the growing local food trend in the San Francisco Foodshed Report.

The Organic Center has researched a new method to quickly and cost-effectively track changes in soil quality brought about by the transition to organic farming.

Alan Franzluebbers, Ph.D. and Richard Haney, Ph.D., two leading soil scientists working for the Agricultural Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wrote The Organic Center's Critical Issue Report (CIR 2006.2), "Assessing Soil Quality in Organic Agriculture." The full report is available for free at: http://www.organic-center.org/science.environment.php.

The report explains why better tools are needed to manage the transition of soils when farming methods change from chemical-based to organic.

"How we manage soil and how the soil responds to this management are critical issues facing the long-term success of our society," says Alan Franzluebbers, ecologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Watkinsville, Georgia and co-author of the report. The proposed minimum-data-set (MDS) approach for assessing soil quality is composed of routine chemical and biological assays that can be carried out in most soil testing laboratories for a collective cost of less than $100 per sample.

In 2007, The Organic Center plans to begin a national survey of soil quality on conventional, transitional and organic acreage. The Center's project will apply, test and refine the MDS approach, and integrate the measures into an index of soil quality.

"Farmers and scientists have recognized for decades that well-managed organic systems improve soil quality," says Chuck Benbrook, Ph.D., and chief scientist of The Organic Center. "But better tools and solid data are needed to quantify these benefits and identify the best strategies to maximize them."

The degradation of soil quality continues in the United States as a result of erosion, the compaction of soils, leaching of nutrients, and loss of soil structure and biodiversity.

Organic farming methods have great potential to reverse these losses by increasing soil organic matter content, building the pools of nutrients cycling within soils, and enhancing soil microbial communities. The Organic Center's work on soil quality seeks to accomplish two goals.

First, development of practical tools for farmers, crop consultants, extension specialists, and agronomists to use in the field in mapping the course for cost-effective transitions from conventional production to organic management. New tools are needed to determine how quickly a soil can be transitioned, how resilient the soil is likely to be during the transition process, and how soils and crop yields are likely to respond to key organic farming practices and inputs. Soil microbial activity, in particular, can offer a benchmark for transitioning from conventional to organic farming systems.

"There is a need to provide farmers with a soil test tool to guide a cost-effective transition," says Richard Haney, soil chemist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Temple, Texas. "Microorganisms are very sensitive to changes in the soil and we can take advantage of this fact by tracking the impact our management practices have on soil microbes."


The Organic Center's second goal is to develop methods to quantify the benefits to farmers, rural communities, and the nation from improvements in soil quality possible through organic management. Key benefits that will follow expansion of organic production, and which need to be quantified, include: increased efficiency of nitrogen use; less reliance on purchased sources of nutrients; reduced runoff and leaching of nutrients and pesticides, and hence improved water quality; more stable crop yields; and higher returns to farm labor and management.

The Organic Center's next Critical Issue Report focusing on soil quality will be released in the spring, 2007. It will address the potential of organic farming systems to increase the efficiency of nitrogen use in corn production in the Midwest.

The Organic Center is a 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 2002 to present and provide peer-reviewed scientific evidence on how organic products benefit human and environmental health. The Organic Center's research and educational efforts are funded through individuals, foundations, businesses and government programs.

For information about The Organic Center, its current programs and scientific reports visit www.organic-center.org.

Colorado State University received a three-year $500,000 grant from Aurora Organic Dairy of Boulder, CO, to study animal welfare, veterinary medicine, growing perennial forage crops and optimizing soil fertility for organic pasture development in the Rocky Mountain West.

Aurora announced that it will work with CSU's College of Agricultural Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.

Aurora says it will share its findings with the organic agriculture community.

On April 29, 2008 the long-anticipated report by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (IFAP) was released.  This is a remarkable report that will surely trigger spirited debate for many months, if not years.

"Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production" (Download PDF), covers the history of IFAP and the growth of CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations), the public health risks associated with IFAP, environmental risks, and impacts on rural America (e.g., jobs, quality of life, community institutions, local governance).

A mammoth effort went into the production of the report, spanning 2.5 years and costing $3.4 million

The Commission was chaired by John Carlin, former Governor of Kansas and included 15 well-known members, e.g., the Leopold Center's Fred Kirschenmann, Marion Nestle of New York University, and Dan Glickman, former Secretary of Agriculture. More than a dozen nationally-recognized experts supported the work of the Commission as consultants or authors of background papers.

The Commission's ED Robert Martin are among the most compelling parts of the report.  Martin describes in the Preface how the "agro-industrial complex" tried to thwart the work of the Commission and has for years influenced public policy in these areas:

"...while some industrial agricultural representatives were recommending potential authors for the technical reports to Commission staff, other industrial agriculture representatives were discouraging those same authors from assisting us by threatening to withhold research funding for their college or university.  We found significant influence by industry at every turn: in academic research, agriculture policy development, government regulation, and enforcement."    

"At the end of his second term, President Dwight Eisenhower warned the nation about the dangers of the military-industrial complex – an unhealthy alliance between the defense industry, the Pentagon, and their friends on Capitol Hill.  Now, the agro-industrial complex – an alliance of agriculture commodity groups, scientists at academic institutions who are paid by the industry, and their friends on Capitol Hill – is a concern in animal food production in the 21st century."

"The present system of producing food animals in the United States is not sustainable and presents an unacceptable level of risk to public health and damage to the environment, as well as unnecessary harm to the animals we raise for food."

According to the Organic Center Newsletter, organic farm production and animal care standards meet or exceed the majority of recommendations in the report. Indeed, implementation of the recommendations in the report by conventional livestock producers would substantially "level the playing field" between conventional and organic farm operations.