News & Views

U.S. House of Representatives Gives $3.2 Million Boost to USDA Organic Research Program

The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF )has announced that the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment to its 2007 Agriculture Appropriations Bill on May 23rd increasing funds for the USDA Organic Transitions research program from $1.8 million to $5 million for the next fiscal year.

The Organic Transitions program provides competitive grant funding to research, education, and extension projects that help farmers address the challenges of modern organic production and marketing.

"The broad support for the amendment was likely a result of so many members of Congress hearing directly from constituents about the importance of this program," said Brise Tencer, Legislative Coordinator for OFRF. Many members of OFRF's Organic Farmers Action Network, along with colleagues in the rapidly growing organic industry, contacted their Representatives to urge them to support the amendment.

The Senate will now develop its own version of the 2007 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. The two chambers will then reconcile differing provisions of the legislation in a conference committee. If the Senate includes the same $5 million for the Organic Transitions program in its version, the change is very likely to be included in the final bill.

To read more, check out OFRF's press release

German Biotech Firm Cancels Potato Trials in Ireland

Amid protests from the Irish Green Party and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association, the German Chemical Giant BASF has cancelled trials of a strain of genetically modified potatoes. According to the RTÉ, Ireland's Public Service Broadcaster, the trials, designed to test against late blight, the cause of the Irish Potato Famine, were withdrawn because of severe restrictions placed on the company by the country's Environmental Protection Agency. The license, which gives BASF the right to conduct trials for five years, will remain active but an EPA spokesman says that the EPA will not make any moves to relax the conditions. Environmentalists are urging the agency to reverse the decision to leave the license open and keep Ireland a GMO free island.

To read more, visit www.gmfreeireland.org/

Organic Seed Alliance Announces "Producing Organic Seed" Field Days

The Organic Seed Alliance has announced two more dates in their annual series of organic seed production field days. The first will be held on July 19, 2006 from 9am to 5 pm at Gathering Together Farm in Philomath Oregon and co-hosted by Wild Garden Seed. It will cover organic lettuce and brassica seed production, crop-improvement strategies, and harvest and cleaning techniques. The workshop will include presentations from Frank Morton (Wild Garden Seed), Ken Johnson (Oregon State University), Jim Meyers (Oregon State University), John Navazio and Micaela Colley (OSA), and possibly others.

The second upcoming field day will be on August 22, 2006 at Eel River Produce in Shively, California. Topics covered will include diverse organic seed production, crop-improvement strategies and seed-cleaning techniques. A variety of seed crops will be on view. This workshop will include presentations from Bill Reynolds (Eel River Produce), Steve Peters (Seeds of Change), and John Navazio and Micaela Colley (OSA).

To learn more, check out the OSA website www.seedalliance.org/

Forest Gardening Workshop at the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute June 17th and 18th

Dave Jacke will offer an inspiring and practical workshop on the vision, ecology, design, and stewardship of forest gardens: perennial polycultures of multipurpose plants in small-scale settings. Jacke (www.edibleforestgardens.com) is a well-respected teacher and designer who recently released Edible Forest Gardens, an extensive two-volume book on the subject.

Learn about consciously applying the principles of ecology to the design of home-scale gardens that mimic forest ecosystem structure. Participants can earn permaculture certificate credit: 1 Forests and Trees (C10), 1 Cultivated Ecology (C11). Saturday's schedule will be 9:00am–4:00pm (workshop), and 5:00pm–9:30pm (potluck and lecture). Sunday, June 18th, the workshop will run from 9:00am–4:00pm.

Presented by the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute www.fingerlakespermaculture.org in Ithaca, NY. Visit their website for directions and registration information.

Permaculture Design Course in Maine—September 11th–24th, 2006

Moose Pond Arts+Ecology (MPA+E) in Otisfield, Maine will host a permaculture design course taught by long-time permaculturist and teacher Andrew Jones. The two-week course will cover a broad range of permaculture topics with a student design exercise focused on developing a site plan for the Moose Pond Arts+Ecology's more than 70 acres of woodlands and an acre or so of organic gardens and buildings under construction. The course will allow participants to earn the internationally recognized Permaculture Designer's Certificate and get hands-on experience in organic gardening, green building, horse logging, and more.

For more information please call MPA+E at 207-739-2409 or send an email to info@moosepondarts.com Details are available on the MPA+E website: www.moosepondarts.com