This resource reviews anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) techniques for managing soil-borne pathogens, with a focus on strawberry production in California, discussing efficacy, disease suppression mechanisms, and practical insights from growers' experiences.

Join this webinar to learn about Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD) for managing soilborne pests. Discover carbon sources, application rates, and research findings for sustainable specialty crops in Florida and Pennsylvania.

Organic strawberry production in coastal California faces challenges from soil-borne diseases and high weed management costs. Verticillium wilt, caused by […]

Biosolarization is a new innovation in the realm of weed control. Different from the commonly known practice of solarization, which […]

Low soil fertility, intense weed pressure, and climate disruption threaten the economic viability of organic dryland wheat production in the western US. Previous OREI-funded research indicated that a one-time application of composted cattle manure + bedding can double soil organic carbon (SOC) and organic dryland wheat yields for at least 15 years after application. The current study explores this compost legacy effect in greater depth, its underlying mechanisms, and the scope and duration of benefits.

In this study, 113 meta-analyses from around the globe were reviewed in order to assess broad impacts of crop management measures, soil and water measures, soil amendments, fertilizer use, and 4R (right source, rate, timing, and placement) fertilizer strategies on outcome metrics including crop yield, crop N and P, soil quality indicators, soil greenhouse gas emissions, and nutrient losses.

Integrating livestock into organic production systems can provide several benefits, including (1) improving soil health and structure, (2) boosting soil nutrient cycling and availability, (3) increasing crop yield, and (4) enhancing overall farm resiliency. This study assesses the impacts of poultry integration on soil health, crop yield, and weed/cover crop biomass in several vegetable crop rotations.

This paper reviews pertinent research concerning organic teas, noting that the results of studies on the effects of such teas, […]

This study analyzes the impacts of organic management practices on soil health indicators within an organic corn/soybean/oat/alfalfa system and an organic pasture system both over time and in comparison to a conventional corn/soybean system.

Determining how much fertilizer to apply is a delicate process. Applying too much can waste money and lead to nutrient […]

High tunnel production requires careful management of temperature, humidity, and intensive crop rotations, and can entail new soil, nutrient, pest, and disease management issues. This University of Florida-led project conducted field station and on-farm research into management of the physical environment, crops, nutrients, soil health, pests, and diseases in organic high tunnel vegetable production in the Southern region.

The Farming Systems Trial (FST) at Pennsylvania’s Rodale Institute is the longest-running comparative ecological study of conventional and organic corn and soybean cropping systems in North America. This study, which utilizes data from the 34th consecutive year of Rodale’s Farming Systems Trial, analyzes SOC and TN for conventional and organic grain cropping systems.

Compared with black plastic mulch, biomulches are a more sustainable option because they break down in the soil. However, they can degrade slowly and may not meet organic standards. This study looked at how different methods affect how quickly two types of biomulch break down in the hopes of finding ways that farmers can make biomulch decompose faster.

Research has shown that different cover crops can have varying impacts on soil health, potentially influencing the timeline for observing these changes. This study examined soil health in plots under conventional and recently transitioned organic management using four cover crop treatments (rye, radish, rye/vetch mix, and rye/vetch/radish mix) and a conventional fallow.

Building soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important management practice in organic agriculture. Management practices are known to increase SOC, but there are also ways in which adjusting crop resource availability can induce a physiological shift in plant C allocation, resulting in the deposition of carbon-rich exudates into soils and accumulation of SOC. This study reviews the existing literature on belowground C deposition and posits several ways in which farmers might tap into the physiological responses of crops to enhance SOC.

How much nitrogen (N) does an organic grain or silage corn crop need? This project team, led by Jason Kaye at Penn State University, developed a model that predicts unfertilized corn yield, based on the N contributions of SOM and decomposing cover crops. This model has been integrated into an N decision support tool, which calculates the supplemental N fertilizer requirements for organic grain and silage corn in Pennsylvania.

Organic rice is cultivated on 14,000 hectares in the U.S., with California as the top producer, growing 6,000 hectares primarily […]

Predicting the capacity of soil to supply nitrogen is an ongoing challenge in organic farming. Simple and affordable soil tests […]

The purpose of this project is to determine whether an unfavorable balance among soil potassium (K), sodium (Na), calcium (Ca) […]

The goal of this project was to identify critical grass-fed dairy management practices to optimize herd and environmental health, economically viability, milk quality, and marketing success. Researchers addressed knowledge gaps through benchmarking surveys, on-farm studies, sensory analyses of grass-fed milk flavor components, and research into consumer expectations. The project has built a robust knowledge network among organic dairy farmers, processors, and service providers.