Soil Health

Nov 06, 2023

USDA-imposed wait periods effectively reduce food safety risks on organic farms and other cultural practices increase effectiveness of shorter wait periods

Organic farming practices regulated by the USDA successfully limit soil risk to colonization by pathogenic bacteria, according to a recent American study published in the journal Frontiers in...

Aug 23, 2023

Replacing synthetic with organic fertilizer improves pineapple yield, mitigates climate change

Researchers have found that reducing the amount of synthetic fertilizer used in pineapple production increases crop yields while maintaining soil quality and lowering greenhouse gas emissions,...

Aug 16, 2023

Conservation tillage in organic farms does not reduce crop yields

In organic farms, reduced tillage for soil conservation does not significantly decrease marketable crop yield, according to a recent Dutch study. Despite concerns of increased weed activity,...

Jul 17, 2023

Organically managed land contains beneficial soil microbes that help control soil diseases

Organically cultivated soil hosts a more diverse microbiome than that of conventionally-farmed land, where many farmers treat their crops with synthetic chemicals to fight soil borne diseases....

Nov 22, 2022

Healthy soils produce more nutrient dense food

By David Montgomery and Anne Biklé

The original proponents of organic agriculture argued that healthy soils produced healthier food, a...

Sep 23, 2022

Scientists develop land-use decision-making tool for organic

Biodiversity is a term used to refer to the number of species in one region or ecosystem, and for the first time,...

Aug 29, 2022

Combining organic wheat farming and sheep grazing can lower global warming potential

A collaborative study from USDA and Montana State University scientists delved “far into the weeds” in evaluating the global warming potential in farming organic wheat when combining sheep grazing...