Recently in Sustainability Category
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."
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.
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.
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:
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.
"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.
