Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed near Philomath, Ore., picks apart an ear of corn during a recent field day organized by the Northern Organic Vegetable Improvement Collaborative.
Organic crops, unlike their conventional counterparts, can't depend on synthetic chemicals for protection.
For that reason, some organic growers suspect that seeds produced by conventional breeders may be ill-equipped for the challenge of thriving on their farms.
"When they breed, they con ...
Thursday, September 02, 2010 10:48 AM
STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- It's hard for Brian Bruno to fathom what went on at two Iowa egg farms that has resulted in the recall of about 550 million eggs from store shelves across the country.
The nation's major egg production farms house thousands of chickens with hundreds of employee ...
Sunday, August 29, 2010 9:09 AM
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Diana Ambauen-Meade's business isn't just chicken feed. It's also turkey, goat, sheep, pig and pigeon feed.
But it was a chicken feed recipe that got her started on the road to her new business, the newly operational Scratch and Peck feed mill.
A few years ago, her fel ...
Saturday, August 28, 2010 10:09 AM
A hop farm and a nursery recently added solar electricity to their harvests in a move that their owners hope will also bolster their bottom lines.
Goschie Farms, a 1,000-acre farm with 360 acres in hops in Silverton, Ore., installed a 17.6-kilowatt system projected to supply 20 to 25 percent ...
Saturday, August 28, 2010 9:08 AM
The owners' plan at Riverbend Organic Farms to transition from conventional farming practices on their 500 acres of mostly blueberries to certified organic production has a few bugs in it, but not nearly enough.
The farm, a few miles southeast of Jefferson, Ore., currently includes 212 acres of ...
Sunday, August 22, 2010 12:09 AM
ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Fear of supermarket food is rising.
That's how Greg and Sue Lutovsky read garden seed market trends from their vantage point as owners of producer-handler-marketer Irish Eyes seed company.
"Up until the last two years, our average customers were females in their mid-50s, ...
Sunday, August 22, 2010 12:09 AM
Seven years ago an Orland, Calif., olive and almond grower teamed up with a chemistry professor from California State University at Chico to create an organic home olive preservative.
The goal was to take the bitterness out of the olives, but retain firmness, color and texture for an extended ...
Saturday, August 21, 2010 10:09 AM
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- The first thing you notice when you get to Rick Bellagh's place on Shelter Island is a large creepy weather-beaten stuffed Big Bird figure with a pipe in its beak. Next to it stands a sign that reads, "Welcome to Shelter Skelter Wilderness Farm," followed by ...
Sunday, August 15, 2010 8:39 AM
JACKSONVILLE, Ore. -- Don't toss that wine bottle cork into the trash. Or the soft metal bottle cap. And save the bottle.
The cork and bottle can be reused. The metal can be recycled.
That's the message Bill and Barbara Steele are preaching as they attempt to establish a closed loop system th ...
Sunday, August 15, 2010 12:18 AM
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- State regulators are asking a judge for control of a defunct grain elevator in northeastern North Dakota.
Records show Organic Grain and Milling has more than $200,000 in unpaid claims from five grain sellers. The largest is a $180,000 claim from Kodiak Farms of southe ...
Friday, August 13, 2010 1:38 PM
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Two Clark County commissioners plan to meet with residents in a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood about noxious odors emanating from a nearby commercial composting business.
A1 Organics chief Chuck Wilson says the company wants to be a good neighbor in its eco-friend ...
Saturday, August 07, 2010 9:18 AM
An organization that provides cattle producers with talking points about the benefits of conventional production is taking its message to the public.
Established by the animal health industry, the Growth Enhancement Technology Information Team, or GET IT, is changing its name and mission, sai ...
Saturday, August 07, 2010 10:18 AM
A federal appeals court has cleared the way for California almond farmers to sue the USDA over mandatory fumigation or pasteurization of the crop.
The food safety rule, which requires such treatments, was enacted in 2007 after several salmonella outbreaks.
The following year, 10 farmers fi ...
Saturday, August 07, 2010 10:18 AM
The new American farmer seeks to do right by the land and the community, including consumers and farmworkers, says Guy Evans, Chelan, Wash., farmer.
"In production agriculture, disparity of power between Anglos and Hispanic is potential for disrespect and lack of care. It's easy for that to happe ...
Saturday, August 07, 2010 10:18 AM
CHELAN, Wash. -- Seven years ago, a man who grew up on a Chelan apple orchard gained notoriety for a documentary video called "Broken Limbs."
It depicted his father on the edge of losing the orchard and told about foreclosures of other north central Washington orchards. Times were tough for s ...
Saturday, August 07, 2010 10:18 AM
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) -- Organic farmers in Whatcom County say that a herbicide contamination in the manure and compost they obtain from non-organic farms is causing severe crop damage.
The Bellingham Herald reports that farmers are linking the herbicide aminopyralid. They say cows ingest t ...
Wednesday, August 04, 2010 7:59 AM
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A disagreement among poultry producers about whether chicken injected with salt, water and other ingredients can be promoted as "natural" has prompted federal officials to consider changing labeling guidelines.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture had maintai ...
Sunday, August 01, 2010 8:39 AM
While CSAs are growing in popularity, the decision for producers to start one of their own requires some special consideration, said Larry Lev, professor in agricultural and resource economics at Oregon State University.
One consideration is that the farmer is signing a contract with the customer ...
Saturday, August 28, 2010 9:28 AM
RIDGEFIELD, Wash. -- During a recent tour of organic farms, prospective and starting farmers got an earful about why to do it.
Lyle Stanley, who described himself as "a functioning anarchist," raises a variety of crops at Gee Creek Farms. He told his visitors, "Farming is the best lifestyle ...
Saturday, August 28, 2010 10:29 AM
Elizabeth Miller knew early in life that farming was in her blood.
After graduating from a small liberal arts college in Colorado, she interned for a year on an organic farm in California and made her way back to the family farm in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
"I always knew that I wanted t ...
Saturday, August 28, 2010 9:28 AM
USDA lawyers say a U.S. Supreme Court decision on genetically engineered alfalfa supports their argument against a total ban of biotech sugar beets.
USDA argued in a court brief filed July 15 that instead of a total injunction against the production and planting of Monsanto Co.'s Roundup Read ...
Saturday, August 21, 2010 8:29 AM
RIDGEFIELD, Wash. -- Beginning and prospective organic farmers heard from voices of experience during a farm tour July 15.
Erin Mirrett, organics inspector with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, said many growers' claims that "I'm organic but not certified" can be tricky. "Unles ...
Saturday, August 21, 2010 10:29 AM
A farm advocacy group last week aired findings of a scientific panel challenging an environmental group's contention that pesticide residues on some fruits and vegetables pose health risks to consumers.
The Alliance for Food and Farming, based in Watsonville, Calif., said the Environmental Wo ...
Saturday, August 21, 2010 11:29 AM
DENVER (AP) -- A deal for the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming to sell organic, grass-fed beef to Whole Foods Market Inc. has fallen through, a beef distributor said Wednesday.
Panorama Meats Inc., which bought the beef from the tribe and sold it to Whole Foods, said the agreement ended ...
Friday, July 16, 2010 11:50 AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- It's been barely a year since Luis Miranda began selling organic produce at farmers markets near his home in California's Central Valley, but he's already seen every trick in the book.
Scanning the stands recently at a market in downtown Sacramento, Mir ...
Thursday, August 19, 2010 12:05 AM
AURORA, Ore. -- Sustainable and organic veterinary treatment and prevention tools were the topic of a July 6 seminar at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center.
Veterinarian Paul Detloff conducted the seminar titled, "Alternative Herd Health for Goats, Sheep and Cattle." He has ...
Saturday, August 07, 2010 9:18 AM
