Top 5 for Dec. 5: Organic news to help you grow

Testing limestone’s ability to capture carbon from air

Sprinkling crushed rock onto farmland could remove billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually—and successfully trap it for tens of thousands of years. A Northwestern University-led team of interdisciplinary researchers has received $5.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to test the efficacy of enhanced weathering, a relatively new strategy to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the ever-warming atmosphere. Learn more at Northwestern Now...

Research team receives $3.5 million grant to study coatings to protect organic produce

Consumers choose organic produce for many reasons. One reason is to avoid most synthetic pesticides. However, just like conventional produce, organic produce can be susceptible to foodborne pathogens and decay in storage. A team of researchers has been awarded a USDA grant to study ways to use organic essential oils to protect organic produce and its consumers. Read about it in Morning Ag Clips…

Huge organic farm in Iowa thrives without chemicals

People who think seriously about how to limit the toll industrialized American agriculture takes on communities, land, and water may want to visit the Fehr family’s organic Clear Creek Acres in northern Iowa. With just shy of 800 residents, West Bend is barely a blip on a prairie landscape, but it has become home base for an uncommonly large expanse of organically grown crops—operations that have found success in challenging the popular convention that pesticides and other agricultural chemicals are needed to feed the world. Take a closer look at the Iowa Capital Dispatch…

Study affirms that organic farming improves soil health, microbial life and pathogen resistance

An international team of researchers has found that organic farming increases the quantity and diversity of crop plant microbiota, further safeguarding crops with enhanced pathogen resistance. Their recent study, published in Plants, People, Planet, builds on the legacy of decades of peer-reviewed research and centuries of agricultural systems that do not rely on toxic, petrochemical-based products (e.g., fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) as the driving force for agricultural productivity. Get the details in Beyond Pesticides...

USDA expands revenue protection to flax producers, expands options for specialty and organic growers

Flax producers can now benefit from revenue protection, a crop insurance option available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has expanded Small Grains Crop Provisions to now offer revenue protection for flax for the 2025 crop year, which is already offered for barley, rye, wheat and oats. “Expanding revenue protection for flax producers represents a critical step in strengthening the agricultural safety net,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. For details go to WRAM…