Starting up fruit, greenhouse and vegetable production projects
Since coming to MSU I have initiated or become involved in several new projects in small and tree fruit, and presently I am developing projects in organic greenhouse and vegetable production. The first of these projects is a baseline study exploring the interaction between insect pollinators and mummy berry, a serious pathogen of Michigan blueberries. The initial approach of this project has been the use of digital video recorders as a means of determining what pollinator species are most likely to vector the pathogen. Projects in tree fruit include an examination of the impact of flash grazing organically grown hogs on weed, insect and pathogen management in organic apples as well as a pilot study exploring the potential of mating disruption for the dogwood borer.

My planned work in organic greenhouses will be the development and refinement of regenerative biological control tactics for insect pests. While my initial work in vegetable crops will be on the impact of no-till techniques on insect and pathogen management in organic pumpkins as well as efficacy trials for OMRI-approved insecticides.

Broadly stated my future research and extension goals are to facilitate the development and adoption of crop and pest management techniques that reduce off-farm inputs and reduce negative environmental impacts of farming. In my opinion, the organic agricultural movement is at the forefront of developing new approaches to farming and the diversity of crops grown in Michigan and the upper Midwest and presents an incredible opportunity to develop alternative cropping systems. I am especially excited about the possibility of reintegrating animal agriculture into plant-based agriculture because of the potential of developing new markets for producers while managing pests and nutrients in crops. This said, I also maintain an interest in the refinement of more traditional pest management approaches.

As my program is just beginning, I am very interested in developing new collaborative partnerships with growers and researchers in the upper Midwest. I can be contacted via email at grieshop@msu.edu, by phone at 517-432-8034 or via post at 205 CIPS, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI 48824.  

After over a year of continuous work by Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the Organic Trade Association, the National Organic Coalition and other allies, the 2008 Farm Bill holds a number of significant provisions to advance organic farming and the supply of organic foods. Below is a brief summary of the major provisions related to organic agriculture.

Organic research and extension
$78 million in mandatory funding is allocated to the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), USDA's main competitive grants program for organic studies. This funding is spread out over four years (FYs 09-12), and represents a five-fold increase over the 2002 bill. There is also authority for additional discretionary annual appropriations up to $25 Million per year. This program is OFRF's top priority in the bill.

Organic market data collection
$5 million in new mandatory funding over the life of the bill is assigned to collect and analyze economic information for organic agriculture. Authority is given for additional discretionary annual appropriations up to $5 million per year. The 2002 provision for organic data collection had no mandatory funding at all.

Certification cost-share
Cost-share payments for organic producers and handlers are renewed and funding over the life of the bill is increased to $22 million (up from $5 million in the 2002 law). A maximum of $750 per year (increased from $500) is available to any certified producer or handler, to reimburse up to 75 percent of annual certification costs. This provision was important for many smaller organic farms and processors.

Crop insurance fairness
The final bill requires USDA to develop improvements in crop insurance policies for organic producers. Although the 5 percent premium surcharge for organic farmers will not immediately be removed, the review of the necessity of the surcharge that is required to be conducted in the provision, will likely result in a reduction or elimination of the surcharge. In addition, the provision changes the practice of paying organic farmers at the conventional rather than the organic rate should they experience a crop loss, by requiring the development and implementation of options for organic payouts with the goal of offering the payout for all organic crops within five years as sufficient data becomes available. Organic payout prices when an organic crop loss occurs and directs USDA to complete a review of crop insurance underwriting for organic producers. The review is intended to determine the necessity of current procedures requiring a 5 percent premium surcharge for organic producers. This provision changes the practice of paying organic farmers at the conventional rather than the organic rate should they experience a crop loss but falls short of our goals to directly eliminate the organic surcharge. However, it will force the issues to be confronted as the studies are conducted and presented in coming years.

Organic conversion assistance
A new provision to support the transition to organic production is included as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Transition to organic is included as a new qualifying purpose for receiving EQIP payments. Support payments may be up to $20,000 per year, but no more than $80,000 over six years. Support is also available for technical assistance in making the transition, within the general technical assistance system of the USDA's conservation programs.

Conservation stewardship program
Formerly the Conservation Security Program, CSP receives a large increase in mandatory funding, making it a truly national program to reward stewardship performance. The new bill includes a provision streamlining coordination between CSP and the National Organic Program. This "cross-walk" provision is intended to make it much easier and simpler for organic producers to qualify for CSP and be rewarded for the conservation benefits of their organic system.

National Organic Program funding
The final bill provides new discretionary appropriations authority for the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) that regulates organic standards and certification. Under-funding of this program has been a severe problem as the organic sector has grown so rapidly in recent years. The bill urges the administration and Congressional appropriators to increase NOP funding to $5 million now (currently at $3.1 million), rising to $11 million by 2012.

Pesticide "non-discrimination" amendment
The final version of the bill removes an amendment from the House bill that would have prevented USDA from "discriminating" against any specific pesticides in providing conservation program benefits to farmers. We were concerned that this provision would have hampered USDA from supporting organic transition and other pesticide reduction strategies. The legal language was removed, marking an important win for the organic and environmental communities. The non-binding, narrative staff report that accompanies the bill still contains similar language, but this is of much less consequence. 

The first Organic Research Symposium  was co-hosted by the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) and Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) February 21-23, in conjunction with The Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference. You can access summaries of the research presented through this pdf file: http://ofrf.org/publications/pubs/moses-ofrf_symposiumproceedings.pdf

The file includes five research summaries on each of the following topics:

• Weed management in organic systems
• Issues in organic vegetable and fruit production
• Issues in organic livestock systems
• Soil, seeds and systems
• Pest and disease management in organic systems
• Economics of organic systems

The report also offers four summaries of student research and 17 poster presentations. 

University of Illinois Extension and the Midwest Organic Tree Fruit Growers Network are co-sponsoring an Organic Apple Field Day from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on August 8th at Dixon Springs Agricultural Center in Simpson. The morning will begin with information about organic certification from Deirdre Birmingham, coordinator of the Midwest Organic Tree Fruit Growers Network. University of Illinois professor and Extension entomologist Richard Weinzierl will discuss disease-resistant cultivars, orchard horticultural practices, insect, disease, and weed management, and pest identification. Horticulture research specialist Jeff Kindhart will give a presentation on small-plot trials and demonstrations and the organic apple block insecticide trial.

A registration fee of $20 per person will be charged for the tour, which includes lunch. Visit web.extension.uiuc.edu/smallfarm/ to register and for more details about each of the tours including a map and agenda. To register by phone, contact Donna Cray at 217-241-4644. 

“The devastated and neglected communities in Chicago have plenty of vacant land and plenty of people who need work. I thought it would be intriguing to put those two elements together to increase employment and beautify Chicago’s neighborhoods,” says Dunn, founder of the Resource Center, a Chicago non-profit organization.

The Resource Center operates City Farm, a project that transforms vacant lots in poor Chicago neighborhoods into small, inner-city “farms,” producing vegetables at cheap prices for the local community. In 2004, they received a SARE grant to experiment with low tunnels, which are miniature hoop houses that extend the growing season on these farms through the winter. The hoop structures were just the latest improvement to an operation that has its roots in the 1960s, when Dunn left his family farm in Kansas to study philosophy at the University of Chicago.

“The thing about philosophy is that it’s not just about reflecting on things, but changing them,” Dunn says. So he decided change was needed in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods and began restoring vacant lots, in cooperation with the city. In 2000, this work officially became known as City Farm.

Today, City Farm operates three inner-city farms, two of which they own—a 1-acre farm and a one-third acre site. In addition to the permanent farms, they have a temporary site at Division and Clybourn Avenues, located right between Cabrini-Green and the highly affluent Gold Coast.

Although City Farm works in some fairly rough areas, Dunn says they have not had any serious safety problems. The workers get started at 6:00 AM  and finish up around 3 PM, before gang members and drug dealers come out on the streets. “We take advantage of the peaceful portion of the day,” he says.

Over the years, the city has allowed City Farm to use, for no charge, numerous temporary sites, but these farms can fall victim to their own success. If the farm helps to make the neighborhood a more attractive place to live, developers may determine that a stronger financial incentive exists to build in the neighborhood; consequently, the farm will have to leave and the developers will build over the farm site.  “Instead of putting down roots and fighting all of the forces that would displace us, we just move on,” says Dunn. “There’s more work elsewhere.”

The vacant lots are often in pretty bad shape when they get started on them, he also explains. Before City Farm works on a lot, they seal the ground with a layer of clay and cover it with about 2 feet of compost. To create compost, City Farm collects scraps from nearby cooking schools, restaurants and hotels.

According to Dunn, the farms sell half of their produce to high-end restaurants in Chicago, which pay a considerable price for their high-quality, organically grown product, particularly tomatoes. This income makes it possible to sell the other half of their produce to the local neighborhood at prices that low-income residents can afford.

“I’m not buying from them because it’s a good cause, although I’m happy it’s a good cause,” says Sarah Stegner, a chef at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. “I’m buying from them because they have great tomatoes.”

The SARE grant made it possible for City Farm to build 12 low tunnels in 2004, each one of them 30 feet long and 7 feet wide, says Tim Wilson, general manager of urban agriculture for the Resource Center. These hoop-like structures are roughly hip height, standing 3 feet tall at the apex. They are held up by PVC pipe, curved like ribs and anchored in running boards. Wilson says they use clear plastic for the cover, the lightest overwintering plastic available.

The low tunnels were successful, making it possible for the farms to grow vegetables through the winter very effectively, Wilson says. To help maintain warm enough temperatures and fight off wind, they use a double-cover system. Inside the low tunnels, they use smaller hoops, which provide another cover of plastic and another level of protection for the vegetables. City Farm mainly grows winter lettuces in the low tunnels, Wilson says, but they also grow other small greens, such as arugula, claytonia, and mizuna.

Everyone involved with City Farm, from the workers to the people in the community, benefits from these lots, Dunn says. Workers get the satisfaction of running a local food system and residents of the neighborhoods have a more pleasant place to live, as well as new job opportunities. “The city is also a winner,” Dunn says. “The city provides their lots for our use for no charge, but we provide beautification and protection at no charge.” 

Results are in from a Minnesota Department of Agriculture survey that asked certified organic Minnesota growers about their experiences with and opinions about organic. Most reported multiple motivations for using organic practices, including price premiums (86 percent), environment/conservation (80 percent), health/safety (79 percent), and personal satisfaction, or "I enjoy farming this way" (81 percent). About 9 in 10 farmers who returned the survey said they think organic is equally or more profitable than farming non-organically, even as half said they thought production costs were as high, or higher, than conventional farm practices.

Organic farmers also reported a number of challenges and frustrations. Weed control retained its spot as farmers’ top problem. Other major concerns included competition from imported organic products, insect pest management, pollen drift from genetically modified crops, and public confusion about what the term "organic" means. 

I will cultivate soybeans for the first time around the end of this week and plan to finish fertilizing my hay fields this week. Hand-hoeing of thistles and milkweed will take another week or so to finish.

West Central Illinois, Fulton County – Anne Patterson of Living Earth Farm
We had perfect weather on Friday and Saturday of the July 4 weekend, however, I had family in for four days so I got little done in any fields. The past two days we have had rain, which has made it impossible to run a wheel hoe or harvest. We started harvesting at 9 AM today (July 8), but it is still too wet to hoe. It has been hot and humid the past two days, with 86 to 88 degree temperatures. Direct seeded things, such as carrots, kohlrabi and beets, are coming up nicely.

Our current practices include:

• Twice a week harvesting for 38 e-customers along with one mid-week farmer’s market at Peoria Heights, where some farmers sell at very low prices, putting pressure on my moving produce. Key sellers are broccoli, snow peas, summer squash, lettuces, cabbages, beets, onions, kale, garlic scapes and green beans to my e-customers. No one item is selling well at the Peoria Heights Market. I’m also selling arugula, kale, white turnips and lots of herbs.
• Weeding and mulching.
• Seeding and transplanting head lettuces Jericho, Crispino and Buttercrunch every 10 days.

Operations planed over the next two weeks include:

• Direct seed last crop of carrots, beets, cilantro and green beans when it dries out.
• Weed and mulch eggplants, peppers at one-acre plot.
• Plant red mammoth clover as cover crop.
• Weed sunchokes.

All of the pumpkins have been planted; we normally plant on three dates with maturity dates ranging from 85 to 120 days. This season we dropped the long-season varieties and planted all others on the same date due to wet spring conditions and the difficulty of incorporating winter cover crop. A trial of late transplanted tomatoes was completed with the plants hand-planted through a bed of cut and dried rye. Succession plantings of summer squash, beans, carrots, beets and herbs are completed. Harvesting has continued for the following crops of green beans, onions, radishes, peas, potatoes, greens, raspberries, broccoli, cauliflower, beets and herbs. Sales at our local farmer’s markets continue to be brisk with increased interest in local foods.

During the next two weeks we will sow buckwheat in high tunnel for late summer weed control and soil improvement. We are catching up on weeding. With recent rains, it will be critical to get new plantings weeded and cleaned up before they are lost to the new flush of weeds. We plan to clean up the rhubarb patch doing deep cultivation and topdressing of compost. We will be mowing field edges, grass driveways, buffer strips and areas around buildings. A new planting of strawberries will be hand-weeded and we hope to set aside older plantings this coming week. We will also start seeding flats of fall crops for transplants including cabbage and broccoli.

Michigan
East Michigan, Arenac County – Ivan Morley
In my area (Standish, Michigan) we are getting super weather presently. Temperatures have been a little cool at night, but we are receiving good rainfall and the earth is green! I have cultivating yet to do and am summer-fallowing some land to cleanup some thistle patches and nut grass. Over the next two weeks I plan to continue my summer fallowing and keep my migrant workers hoeing.

Question
Same as last time, are there any insect problems?

Minnesota
Western Minnesota – Carmen Fernholz
Crops across Minnesota are looking quite good. Most areas have come out of the cold, late, wet spring and have virtually caught up with the warm weather of the past two weeks. Second cutting hay is about to begin and wheat and other small grain harvest is about 10 days to two weeks away at the earliest. Soybean cultivating is about complete.

In the next two weeks I will be cleaning out storage bins and prepping the windrower and combine. And in the off time, I will be getting ready for a field day at my farm on August 20.