Ithaca, New York
December 21, 2004
The demand for organic food in the
United States has increased by approximately 200 percent over
the past 10 years, a trend that is expected to accelerate in the
coming decade. Organic farmers in New York state will be better
able to capitalize on this trend thanks to three new grants from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) received by
researchers in Cornell
University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
(CALS). The programs address seed viability, dairy herd health
and improved crop production.
The grants, worth $1,987,784, represent 43 percent of the $4.6
million awarded in September by the USDA's Cooperative State
Research, Education and Extension Services' (CSREES) Integrated
Organic Program.
"Organic farmers face a unique set of challenges," said Sarah
Johnston, executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming
Association of New York (NOFA-NY). "While research on organic
techniques attracts only a fraction of the resources dedicated
to improving conventional practices, the lift given to each of
the newly funded projects will go a long way toward
strengthening the vitality of organic farming in New York, the
Northeast and the nation as a whole."
In its first grant to Cornell, CSREES awarded $894,450 to the
Organic Seed Partnership (OSP) to improve organic seed quality
and farm profitability. The grant will help build a large
community of growers and breeders in the Northeast who can
readily share information gathered from organic seed-breeding
field trials.
"Our successful local model of cooperative plant breeding will
be used to develop varieties selected for superior performance
in organically managed systems that will be specifically adapted
to climates, soils and markets across the country," said Molly
Jahn, Cornell professor of plant breeding and plant biology and
leader of the OSP research team. "The OSP can be seen as an
extension of our Public Seed Initiative extended
nationally.""The quality of organic seeds and breeding for
organic agriculture has never been a focus of the public
breeding community. Molly Jahn has picked up this need and run
with it," said Johnston.
With the demand for hormone-free and organic dairy products on
the rise, more dairies are expected to adopt organic production
methods. New York state has the nation's third-highest census of
organically raised cows. NOFA-NY counts 89 dairies that
currently are certified organic and 15 that are transitioning to
organic production.
To assist them, Linda Tikofsky from the Quality Milk Production
Services program of Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, in
collaboration with Ruth Zadoks from the Department of Food
Science, will use an award of $518,306 to study dairies in
transition. The project will study milk quality and herd udder
health in five farms making the transition from conventional
dairying methods to organic milk production over a four-year
period. These data will allow researchers to develop strategic
approaches and best practices for use in advising dairies
seeking the transition from non-organic production.
Organic growers also will participate in and benefit from an
award of $575,028 that will be used to investigate a wide range
of issues facing organic farmers, from staying competitive
during the transition from conventional to organic, to measuring
soil health's impact on weeds, pests and disease, to training
extension personnel and "farmer-mentors."
"This multi-sided study will address a number of challenges
facing organic growers while using field teaching laboratories
to test and demonstrate successful, market-viable, efficient
organic practices," said Charles Mohler, senior research
associate in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and the
study's director.
Researchers will partner with model organic farms and
demonstrate how their procedures make the farms successful.
Klaas Marten of the organic Martens' Farm in Penn Yan, N.Y., is
helping design the grain experiments. Eric and Anne Nordell of
Beech Grove Farm in Trout Run, Pa., will serve as advisers on
the vegetable experiments. |