April 2010

Photo of the Month by Karen Nelson
On-farm blackcurrant research plots in Prince Edward Island sprout their first buds of spring. These plots are part of on-going OACC research trials initiated in 2009.

In this issue:

• Research Articles
• Extension Information
• Courses
• Virtual Farm Tours
• Student & Job Opportunities
• Newspaper Articles
• Issues

Research

Have Your Say

• Contribute scientific papers to Organic Agriculture, a new new international journal and venue for scientific findings related to organic agriculture
• Participate in a survey by the Agriculture Section of the Goetheanum exploring organic consumer behaviour
• Volunteer to help researchers at the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre in Swift Current who are looking at the contribution of mycorrhizae to soil fertility
• Share your research ideas with the OACC research community

Soils and Fertility

• Soil organic carbon fractions after 16-years of applications of fertilizers and organic manure
• Landscape and management effects on structure and function of soil arthropod communities in winter wheat
• Effects of land application of municipal biosolids on nitrogen-fixing bacteria in agricultural soil
• Influence of biodynamic preparations on compost development and resultant compost extracts on wheat seedling growth

Field Crops

• The efficiency of a durum wheat-winter pea intercrop to improve yield and wheat grain protein concentration depends on N availability during early growth
• Dynamic analysis of competition and complementarity for light and N use to understand the yield and the protein content of a durum wheat–winter pea intercrop
  

Horticulture

• Effect of organic production and fertilizer variables on the sensory properties of pac choi and tomato
• Effect of Surround WP on Behavior and Mortality of Apple Maggot
• Factors affecting soil microbial community structure in tomato cropping systems
• Yield and Nutrient Content of Bell Pepper Pods from Plants Developed from Seedlings Inoculated, or Not, with Microorganisms

Livestock

• Effects of maternal protein nutrition and subsequent grazing on chicory on parasitism and performance of lambs
• Feeding weaned piglets and growing-finishing pigs with diets based on mainly home-grown organic feedstuffs
• Milk yield, udder health and reproductive performance in Swedish organic and conventional dairy herds

Ecology & Environment

• Utilizing intrinsic robustness in agricultural production systems: Inventions for a sustainable development of agriculture
• Specialist response to proportion of arable land and pesticide input in agricultural landscapes

Social Science

• Proceedings of the 2010 Social Sciences Research Symposium at the Guelph Organic Conference

Consumer Behaviour

• Consumer Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Locally Grown Organic Apples
  

Organic Science Cluster Background Information and Supporting Documents
Project B: Integrated Grain-Based Cropping Systems

Activity B.1: Changing weed populations under long-term organic crop production

• Effect of cover cropping systems on invertebrate seed predation
• Impact of agricultural management systems on carabid beetle communities and invertebrate weed seed predation
• See more...

Activity B.2: Organic cereal crop breeding

• Competitive ability of wheat in conventional and organic management systems: A review of the literature
• Cultivar and seeding rate effects on the competitive ability of spring cereals grown under organic production in northern Canada
• Evidence of varietal adaptation to organic farming systems
• See more...

Activity B.4: Low-tillage grain production systems that suppress weeds and minimize tillage

• Using high-residue cover crop mulch for weed management in organic no-till potato production systems
• New Tools for Organic No-Till (Rodale Institute)
• Potential long-term benefits of no-tillage and organic cropping systems for grain production and soil improvement
• See more...

Activity 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
• See more...

Extension

OACC 2010 Technical Bulletins

• Management Practices for Control of European Wireworms in Canada
• Soil P Status and Nitrogen Fixation on Organic Dairy Farms in Ontario and Nova Scotia
• Sustainable Organic Vegetable Systems: Evaluating Green Manure and Biowaste Composts
• Organic Blackcurrant Production: Fertility Amendments and Weed Control
• Winter and Spring Cereal Production in the Maritimes
• Phosphorus Availablilty of Organic Dairy Farms: A Closer Look at the Role of Soil Microorganisms
• Whole Farm NPK Balances on Maritime Dairy Farms

Other Extension Materials

• Integrated Pest Management Guide for Organic Dairies (Cornell) (PDF, 2.85MB)
• Organic Farming for Bees (Xerces Society) (PDF, 3.56MB)
• Cover Crops to Reduce Nematodes (OMAFRA)
• An Agricultural Heavyweight: Strategies for Beating European Wireworms (Rural Delivery)

Courses

• Sustainable Local Food Certificate at St. Lawrence College
  
  

Virtual Farm Tours

• Angelhoeve Organic Farm, Nova Scotia
  
  

Student & Job Opportunities

• Graduate Student Opportunity at NSAC - Soil carbon cycling as influenced by Collembola diet switching (M.Sc.)
• R.E.A.P. Canada International Youth Internship Postings
  • Renewable Energy Intern (The Gambia, Senegal)
  • Ecological Farming Systems Development Intern (The Gambia, Senegal)

Newspaper Articles

• Facing the Challenges to Organic Grain Pricing
  
  

Issues

• Nanotechnology: No Free Lunch
• Organic Agriculture – A Guide to Climate Change and Food Security (IFOAM) (PDF, 892kb)
• The Contribution of Organic Agriculture to Climate Change Mitigation (IFOAM) (PDF, 1.3MB)
• The Future of Food: Scenarios for 2050