Resources

Free Ag Information Via Web

Organic Research Data
State of the States, 2nd Edition: Organic Systems Research at Land Grant Institutions, 2001–2003. This update of the original report released in 2001 by the Organic Farming Research Foundation is available at www.ofrf.org/publications/SoS/SoS2.overview.page.html. It catalogues organic research, education, and extension projects at the nation’s 68 public land grant agriculture schools, public research stations and Cooperative Extension, including SAREP. According to the report, though the total number of organic research acres in the U.S. land grant system has more than doubled between 2001 and 2003, it is not keeping pace with the growth of commercial certified organic acreage. Organic research occupies only 0.13% of available research acreage in the land grant system (up from 0.07% in 2001), while 0.3-2% of U.S. farmland is certified organic, depending on crop type. Certified organic research acreage is only 0.06% of the total research acreage available, up from 0.02% in 2001.The report is particularly suited for use in an electronic format, as it contains links to many Web sites. Order hard copies at OFRF, PO Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA, 95061-0440; research@ofrf.org; 831-426-6606. A tax-deductible donation of $10 is requested.

Online farm-to-school manual
Crunch Lunch Manual: A case study of the Davis Joint Unified School District Farmers Market Salad Bar Pilot Program and A Fiscal Analysis Model, by Renata Brillinger, Jeri Ohmart and Gail Feenstra, UC SAREP. A new downloadable version of SAREP’s farm-to-school “how to” manual will be available on its Web site in September 2003. Go to www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/cdpp/farmtoschool/crunchlunch32003.pdf. The manual is part of an effort to support school districts interested in piloting a salad bar project.

Organic ag online database
A new resource for information on organic agriculture is now available at www.organicaginfo.org. OrganicAgInfo is an online database of research reports, farmer-to-farmer information and outreach publications, searchable by keywords, region, crop or livestock type. Information on organic agriculture may be added to the database. OrganicAgInfo, hosted by North Carolina State University, was funded by a grant to the Scientific Congress on Organic Agricultural Research and the Organic Agriculture Consortium from the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems through the USDA/CSREES