Sustainable
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For February, 1997, from the Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture.
Headlines:
Study
Finds Little Commitment to Organic Research
Worldwide
Fertilizer Use on the Decline
Resources
Fund for
Rural America Launched, Grants to be Awarded
Move
Toward IPM is Led by Farmers, Businesses
Von
Humboldt Award Seeks Nominations
Positions
Upcoming
Events
©1997, Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture, 9200 Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD 20770. Phone:
(301) 441-8777. E-mail: hawiaa@access.digex.net.
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In addition to this monthly newsletter, the Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture publishes the American Journal of Alternative
Agriculture, a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of research on alternative
agriculture. It is a scientific forum for disseminating technical, economic,
and social research findings about the character and requirements of alternative
agriculture systems. The current double issue (Volume 11, Numbers 2 and 3)
features the 13 papers presented by U.S. scientists at a U.S.- Middle East
Conference and Workshop on "Dryland Farming Systems and Technologies for a
More Sustainable Agriculture," held in October, 1993, in Moscow, Idaho.
That landmark conference was conducted under the auspices of the
Multilateral Working Group on Economic Development of the Middle East Peace
Process, and was attended by approximately 50 scientists from the United States,
Russia, Egypt, Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Jordan, Oman, and the emerging Palestine
State. Topics of the papers include farming systems and conservation needs in
the Northwest Wheat Region; water conservation practices for sustainable dryland
farming systems in the Pacific Northwest; agricultural wind erosion and air
quality impacts; advances in the production of cool season food legumes;
diversification for new management systems opportunities in the Pacific
Northwest; and crop traits for water stress tolerance.
Subscriptions
to AJAA are $44 for libraries; $24 for individuals; and $12 for students.
Study Finds Little Institutional Commitment to Organic Research
The
organic products industry has grown significantly during the past six years "with
almost no institutional support and often outright hostility from the research
community," according to a summary of the National Organic Research Policy
Analysis project conducted by the Organic Farming Research Foundation. The
two-year study reviewed the "organic content" of the USDA's
agricultural research programs, and assessed the quality of existing organic
research. The study's report, entitled "Searching for the 'O' Word,"
concludes that "systematic research on organic farming is still taboo in
many institutions.
"Sixteen years after the Task Force
[Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming/USDA] report, despite a stated
national goal to dramatically reduce pesticide use, despite more than a decade
of debate about the meaning and content of 'sustainable agriculture,' there has
been no deliberate implementation of the 1980 Report's recommendations for
organic farming research. There is no analysis of the role that organic farming
can play in meeting national agricultural and environmental needs, and there is
no explicit policy commitment to even explore these questions. For these
reasons, research projects pertinent to organic farming are relatively few and
far between. Some do exist, and they represent some interesting possibilities,
but they are not the result of any coherent policy, nor are most of them
purposefully related to organic farmers' needs."
To assess
the organic content of the USDA's research programs, the Foundation used the
Internet to search the Current Research Information System (CRIS), a database
containing short abstracts for 30,000 research projects which received federal
funding through the USDA. The search was narrowed to 75 key words to identify
projects as "organic research;" 300 projects were identified as "pertinent
to organic farming systems." Of those projects, the study found only 15 "high-grade,
truly pertinent, organic systems research projects," or 5% of the total
selected. It also found 42 "organic-potential" projects which appear
to be "examining the underlying processes that make natural farming systems
work;" they represent 13% of all organic- pertinent projects.
The
Foundation's report makes several recommendations, among them:
- The USDA should issue a basic policy statement recognizing that organic
farming can play a significant role in meeting the nation's agricultural,
environmental, and economic development needs. Each relevant agency should have
designated staff responsible for the collection and dissemination of information
on organic farming that is appropriate to its Mission.
- Implementation of programs under the Fund for Rural America should support
and utilize organic farming research and education; organic farmers should be
represented on the review and implementation panels for these programs.
- All USDA research programs should assess the potential role and
contribution of organic farming within their Missions and Goals. Resources
should be allocated to strategically increase the investment in organic farming
research, education, and development.
- The USDA should undertake a national initiative for organic farming
research, including evaluation of current efforts, emphasis on on-farm systems
analysis, and establishment of a network of dedicated organic experiment
stations, guided by local organic farmers.
The final report of the National Organic Research Policy Analysis
project will be available after February 1 from the Organic Farming Research
Foundation, P.O. Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. E-mail,
research@ofrf.org. A $15 donation is
requested.
Worldwide Fertilizer Use on the Decline, According to New
Report
Worldwide use of fertilizer has been declining since
1989, according to The State of the World 1997, published last month by the
Worldwatch Institute. Starting in the 1950s, "once fertilizer use began to
increase and yields started to rise in response, the growth in fertilizer use
became one of the most predictable of all global economic indicators,"
Lester Brown writes in the chapter, "Facing the Prospect of Food Scarcity."
"Between 1950 and 1989, fertilizer use went from 14 million tons
to 146 million tons, a tenfold increase. After 1989, usage began to decline.
In many countries, farmers discovered that the amount of fertilizer they were
applying was exceeding the physiological capacity of existing crop varieties to
absorb and use nutrients. In the United States, Western Europe, the former
Soviet Union, and Japan, usage had reached the level where additional fertilizer
had little effect on yields. Fertilizer use by U.S. farmers was actually
roughly one tenth less in the mid-nineties than it was in the early eighties."
Describing the need to ensure food security for the next
generation, Brown writes, "The world now faces an unprecedented challenge.
The old formula that was so remarkably successful in expanding the world's food
supply is no longer working very well, and there is no new one to take its
place." Another chapter, "Preserving Global Cropland," describes
how "yield increases no longer fully compensate for the steady elimination
of grainland," and highlights several soil and land conservation programs
in the United States and other countries.
The State of the World
1997 is $13.95 from Worldwatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW,
Washington, D.C. 20036; (202) 452-1999. E-mail
wwpub@worldwatch.org.
Resources
- "Growing Together: Community Gardening and Food Security" is
free from Sustainable Food Center, 434 Bastrop Hwy., Austin, TX 78741;
1-800-882-5592.
- "Beyond the Last Fencerow: The Future of the Food and Farm System in
Southeast Pennsylvania" is free from Kathy Koehler, Regional Infrastructure
for Sustaining Agriculture, (610) 683- 1400.
- "Composting Grass Seed Straw" is $1.50 from Publication Orders,
Extension and Experiment Station Communications, OSU, 422 Kerr Administration
Bldg, Corvallis, OR 97331.
- Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Fertilizer Research and Education Program
Conference are free from the Program, (916) 653-5340. E-mail
ccady@smtp1.cdfa.ca.gov.
- "Educational and Training Opportunities in Sustainable Agriculture"
is available from Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, National
Agricultural Library, Room 304, 10301 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-2351;
(301) 504-6559. E-mail afsic@nal.usda.gov.
- "Educational and Training Opportunities in Sustainable Agriculture"
is available from Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, National
Agricultural Library, Room 304, 10301 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-2351;
(301) 504-6559. E-mail afsic@nal.usda.gov.
- "Municipal Density and Farmland Protection: An Exploratory Study of
Central Valley Patterns" is $12 from Agricultural Issues Center, University
of California, Davis, CA 95616; (916) 752- 2320.
- "Paying the Piper: Subsidies, Politics, and the Environment" is
$5 plus $4 postage from Worldwatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW,
Washington, D.C. 20036; (202) 452-1999.
- "The Cornerstones Model: Values-Based Planning and Management" is
available from the Heifer Project International, P.O. Box 808, Little Rock, AR
72203; 1-800-422-0474.
- "Grazing on Public Lands" is $20 from Council for Agricultural
Science and Technology, 4420 West Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014-3347; (515)
292-2125 or 1-800-375-CAST.
Fund
for Rural America is Launched -- Competitive Grants to be Awarded
The
USDA last month officially launched the $100 million Fund for Rural America,
designed "to aid critical rural development programs; to boost
agricultural, rural telecommunications, and other high priority research; and
assist beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers."
One third of
the fund is dedicated to rural development programs and another third to
research through competitive research grants. USDA Secretary Dan Glickman can
use the remaining one third of the fund at his discretion for rural programs,
research, or both. Glickman said he will "target approximately $20.5
million in 1997 to rural development, and $10 million to research on key
Secretarial priorities like concentration, food safety, nutrition and gleaning,
as well as $2.8 million for a new research initiative that will investigate the
special needs, applicability, and use of cutting-edge technologies for rural and
agricultural based information users."
The research part of the
fund will be awarded on a competitive grants basis, through a request for
proposals (RFP) which focuses on three objectives: international
competitiveness, environmental preservation and improvement, and rural community
enhancement; priority will be given to projects that address all three
objectives simultaneously. The RFPs for both the general research grants and
the Secretary's telecommunications grants have been published in the Federal
Register and are available at
http://www.reeusda.gov (see
Guidelines for Proposal
Preparation and Submission for Fiscal Year), or by calling Pat O'Brien at
(202) 401- 1761.
Move
Toward IPM is Led by Farmers, Businesses, Says Newspaper
Leadership
in the movement toward integrated pest management (IPM) "is coming from
farmers and businesses convinced that IPM's time has come," according to an
article in The Washington Post (January 13, 1997). "In the past five
years, scientists have been quietly perfecting new products for fighting bugs
that rely less on man-made toxins and more on nature's own methods for keeping
insects in check," the article says.
"Faced with higher
regulatory costs and greater uncertainty about the effectiveness and safety of
chemical pesticides, many farmers and manufacturers are eager to find new
solutions -- even at a higher price." Many of the advances in IPM have
come from start-up companies, according to the article, particularly in the
Pacific Northwest, where "a handful of firms are marketing next-generation
pheromones that appear to be highly effective in controlling codling moths."
Von
Humboldt Award Seeks Nominations
The 1997 Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation Award and Alfred Toepfer Scholarship seek nominations for
the award, which recognizes the person who has made the most significant
contribution to American agriculture during the previous five years. It
includes a $15,000 prize; a student from the recipient's university will be
chosen to receive the Toepfer scholarship, which provides $5,000 for studying
agriculture in Europe.
Nominations are due March 28, 1997. For more information, contact
Dean Roger E. Wyse, Chair, National Selection Committee, College of Agricultural
and Life Sciences, Room 140 Agriculture Hall, 1450 Linden Dr., University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706.
Positions
- Massachusetts Audubon Society's Drumlin Farm has sustainable agriculture
internships available between May 1 and October 31; send cover letter and resume
by March 1 to Stacy Miller, Drumlin Farm, South Great Road, Lincoln, MA 01773;
(617) 259-9807, ext. 7700.
- USDA-ARS, Plant Science Institute, Weed Science Laboratory, seeks
applicants for a Postdoctoral Research Associate; apply to Dr. John Teasdale,
USDA-ARS, Bldg. 264 Room 103, Beltsville, MD 20705; (301) 504-5504; e-mail
teasdale@asrr.arsuda.gov.
- Robert W. Straus Eco-System Farm, MD, seeks applicants for an 18-month farm
apprenticeship starting in April; deadline is March 15; contact Shane LaBrake,
The Accokeek Foundation, 3400 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek, MD 20607; (301)
293-2113.
Upcoming
Events
For additional listings, see the
Sustainable
Agriculture Network's Calendar of Events.
- February 28-March 1, "Farm Direct Marketing Conference" will be
held in Yakima, WA; contact Pacific Northwest Farm Direct Marketing Association,
P.O. Box 4612, Pasco, WA 99302; (509) 547- 5538.
- February 28 (Washington, D.C.), March 6 (Austin, TX), March 8 (Loveland,
CO), March 10 (Portland, OR), March 15 (Hartford, CT), March 18 (East Troy, WI),
and March 21 (Los Angeles, CA), the Community Food Security Coalition will host
training workshops on community food security, and the Community Food Projects
program; contact Andy Fisher, CFS Coalition, (310) 822- 5410; e-mail
asfisher@aol.com.
- March 1, "Sustainable Farming into the Next Century" will be held
in Columbia, S.C.; contact South Carolina Christian Action Council/S.C.
Sustainable Agriculture Network at (803) 786-7115.
- March 3-5, "Composting/Recycling...What It Takes to Expand Programs"
will be held in San Diego; contact BioCycle magazine, 419 State Ave., Emmaus, PA
18049; 1-800-661-4905.
- March 3-5, "Eco-Ag East," an Acres USA conference on the
technology of eco-agriculture, will be held in Lancaster, PA; contact Acres USA,
P.O. Box 8800, Metairie, LA 70011; 1-800-355- 5313.
- March 4-5, "Strengthening the Experiential Learning Process in
Sustainable Agriculture" will be held in Minneapolis, MN, sponsored by the
University of Minnesota; contact Juanita Reed- Boniface, (612) 753-4636.
- March 5-8, Natural Products Expo West and Fresh Ideas Organic Table Top
Exhibit will be held in Anaheim, CA; contact New Hope Communications, 1301
Spruce St., Boulder, CO 80302; (303) 939-8440.
- March 7-8, "From the Soil to the Sale: Building Farms and Communities,"
the 8th Annual Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference, will be held in
Sinsinawa, WI; contact the Conference line, (715) 772-6819.
- March 7-9 (Willits, CA), and March 21-23 (Chambersberg, PA), Biointensive
Sustainable Mini-Farming Workshops will be held; contact Ecology Action, 5798
Ridgewood Road, Willits, CA 95490; (707) 459-0150.
- March 7-9, Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Annual Conference
will be held in Loveland, CO; contact John Fawcett-Long, Western SAWG
Coordinator, (206) 935-8738.
- March 8-9, Educational Conference of the Northeast Organic Farming
Association of New York will be held in Dryden, N.Y.; contact NOFA-NY, P.O. Box
21, South Butler, N.Y. 13154; (315) 365-2299.
- March 12-13, Farming for the Future Leadership Workshop will be held in
Painted Post, N.Y.; contact Judy Green, Farming Alternatives Program, Dept. of
Rural Sociology, B17 Warren Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853-7801;
(607) 255-9832; e- mail jg16@cornell.edu.
- March 12-14, "Cover Crops, Soil Quality, and Ecosystems" will be
held in Sacramento, CA; contact Soil and Water Conservation Society,
1-800-THE-SOIL; e-mail swcs@netins.net.
- March 13-14, "Innovations in Food and Agriculture" will be held
in Washington, D.C.; contact Public Voice for Food & Health Policy, 1101
14th St., NW, #710, Washington, D.C. 20005; (202) 371-1840.
- March 13-15, "New Connections in the Northeast Food System" will
be held in Hartford, CT; contact Hartford Food System, 509 Wethersfield Ave.,
Hartford, CT 06114; (860) 296-9325.
- March 19-21, International Conference on Agricultural Production and
Nutrition will be held in Boston, MA; contact William Lockeretz, School of
Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155; e-mail
wlockeretz@infonet.tufts.edu.
- March 22, the 4th Annual "Providing Education Through Agriculture for
Students" conference will be held in Natick, MA; contact Stacia Caplanson,
Northeast Organic Farming Association, (413) 245-7402; or Stacy Miller,
Massachusetts Audubon Society, (617) 259-9506.
©1997 Committee for
Sustainable Farm Publishing
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