Benbrook to Keynote Organic Agriculture Research Symposium

Researcher Chuck Benbrook will be the featured keynote speaker at the first Organic Agriculture Research Symposium (OARS), to be held February 25 and 26 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. The title of his speech is “The Benefits of Organic Agriculture: Evidence Based Results.” The symposium will be on the theme of building a solid foundation for organic agriculture to provide healthy food for the future in a sustainable and ecologically sound way.

Benbrook is at Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources where he leads the program Measure to Manage: Farm and Food Diagnostics for Sustainability and Health (M2M). He recently published “Organic Production Enhances Milk Nutritional Quality by Shifting Fatty Acid Composition: A United States-Wide, 18-Month Study”  in PLOS ONE on December 2013. See also major findings and other information.

The two day Symposium, immediately preceding the Organic Farming Conference,  is intended to provide farmers and other practitioners results from current and on-going research. Panels and posters will feature organic farming systems, seeds and breeds suitable for organic farming, care and feeding of organic livestock, the economics of organic agriculture and the biological control of pests and diseases of organic farms. Panelists will include experts in organic farming and food systems with national and international reputations, as well as up and coming researchers who are taking fresh and innovative approaches to the daunting challenges that face agriculture.

The OARS will also conduct a listening session on the research priorities that organic farmers are particularly encouraged to attend. Outcomes of the listening session will be used to advance the research, innovation and technology transfer. The conference is hosted by the University of Wisconsin Center for Integrated Agriculture Systems and Department of Agronomy, and sponsored by The US Department of Agriculture’s Organic Research and Education Initiative, The Organic Center and Ceres Trust.

For more information and to register for the event, visit the OARS website:

http://www.cias.wisc.edu/oars/

 

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Agriculture, Food & Beverage Industry Cluster Analysis

Doesn’t it seem like there is a lot going on in the Driftless around food and drink? Well, the economic development folks think so, too.

MadREP wrote a comprehensive industry analysis for the Madison Region’s Agriculture, Food & Beverage (AFB) sector examines the cluster in a way that identifies its potential comparative advantages. The analysis includes information on food & beverage manufacturing employment and establishments, agricultural production and employment, support industries and supply chain considerations, human capital, and cluster positioning. The report is authored on behalf of MadREP by Matt Kures of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Center for Community and Economic Development.

MadREP wrote and submitted an application to the federal government’s Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) for the Madison Region’s Agriculture, Food & Beverage (AFB) sector. The document serves as a regional business model for the AFB industry, including $200+ million worth of active and potential projects, industry and workforce data, supply chain, infrastructure, R&D, and capital assessments.

For more on MadREP’s work, go to:

http://www.thrivehere.org/industry-and-innovation/global-industry-leadership/agriculture/afb-analysis/

Field days at West Madison Agricultural Research Station focus on vegetable flavor

This year at West Madison, Horticulture professor Julie Dawson planted trials of several
species of vegetables with a particular focus on flavor, with varieties selected by plant breeders at UW Madison and by seed companies with organic seed offerings for direct-market growers.

They have beets, carrots, onion, lettuce, hot and sweet peppers, melons, winter squash, cabbage, tomato, potato and sweet corn in collaboration with plant breeders at UW Madison and the West Madison demonstration gardens.

Field days are each month from 3-5 pm. Participants will tour a breeding nursery or larger trial each time, and also look at all the crops in the demonstration gardens and do a taste test.

  • Wednesday August 27th: tomatoes, sweet corn, melons, peppers
  • Monday September 22nd: beets, carrots, onions, tomatoes
  • Tuesday October 21st: potatoes, winter squash, carrots

All the field days will be held at the West Madison Agricultural Research Station 8502 Mineral Point Rd, Verona WI 53593, universitydisplaygardens.com.

For more information and to receive information on project results, contact Julie Dawson,
Department of Horticulture, dawson@hort.wisc.edu.

Strengthen your values-based supply chain connections

Remember the talk about a trade association for regional food? the Local Food Association, based in Lexington, KY,  is organizing just such a service! The director bio is awesome and they have a great board of directors. They are hosting a first conference November 6th for supply chain businesses, including farmers / shippers, to meet and do business.

http://www.infoinc.com/LFA/0814.html

Food System Governance

For all of you working to recreate our food system, I thought you might enjoy this short piece by Kate Clancy. She discusses the promise of the collective impact process to change complex systems.

Clancy, K. (2014). Food system governance. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 4 (2), 3–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2014.042.012

The five conditions of collective impact:

  • Common Agenda
  • Shared Measurement
  • Mutually Reinforcing Activities\
  • Continuous Communication
  • Backbone Support

 

Wild ginseng harvest

The harvest season for wild ginseng, one of Wisconsin’s valuable natural resources, opens September 1.  There are regulations and guidelines in place for sustainable harvest and sale of wild ginseng.   Learn about this unique plant and the legal harvest from DNR experts Tuesday, August 19 at noon. Join the conversation on the DNR website or through the DNR Facebook page. You can take part in the conversation by clicking the “Cover it Live Chat” box on the left side of our Facebook page, or by going to our website (http://dnr.wi.gov/) and clicking the graphic there.

IPM for Vineyards workshop July 10

Date: July 10, 2014, 9am-5pm

Location: New Lisbon, WI

This workshop will add to your existing knowledge of pest management for grapes and add to your repertoire of knowledge about spotted wing drosopliha and how to calibrate your sprayers.

  • Gain hands-on experience in scouting for the major grape pests
  • Learn in-field/in-vineyard scouting techniques for major and minor pests of grapes, including flea beetle, grape berry moth, anthracnose, phomopsis, black rot, powdery mildew and downy mildew
  • Learn how to determine thresholds for each of the main pests
  • Discuss options for managing each major pest using organic and non-organic pesticides as well as cultural and biological management options
  • Collaboratively build management plans for the host vineyard and its pests
  • Learn how to calibrate your sprayers

This unique, innovative program provides an intensive, full-day applied workshop including hands-on demonstrations as well as team scouting opportunities.

Registration for the workshop is limited to 40 participants on a first come, first served basis. This class size allows for active discussion and interaction with course instructors. Registration fees cover course materials, refreshments and lunch.

Field guides will be available for purchase during the workshop.

This workshop is a collaborative effort between the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems and UW-Extension.

Registration questions? Contact Regina Hirsch at 608-335-7755 or rmhirsch@wisc.edu.

 

http://www.cias.wisc.edu/beginning-and-advanced-ipm-practices-for-vineyards/