Browse Organic Stories

57 results found for Organic
2023 02 16 GO Conference 0689 Cropped Resized CAES News
Organic Production
What began as a grassroots growers cooperative in the 1970s has become one of the Southeast’s most prestigious, member-supported nonprofit farming organizations. Having just wrapped up its 25th annual conference in Perry, Georgia, the organization continues its long-standing partnership with the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension.
Horticulture Assistant Professor Kate Cassity-Duffey specializes in organic production. (Submitted photo) CAES News
Organic Transition
As demand for organic food continues to rise, organic agriculture has attracted both longtime producers and new farmers into the industry. University of Georgia researchers are working on a new study meant to develop best practices for transitioning farmers starting out with land that has been used for grazing or has lain fallow.
According to Georgia Organics, “Land Steward award winners not only foster a better environment through the soil, but through their larger community through leadership, education, and outreach.” CAES News
Land Steward Award
For nearly three decades, Juan Carlos Díaz-Pérez has been contributing to the field of sustainable vegetable production, focusing on organic agriculture as a professor in the University of Georgia Department of Horticulture. This month, Georgia Organics is recognizing his work with the 2022 Land Steward Award.
“Anytime we leave the farm, we come back inspired by places we have visited and that gives us ideas on how we can do things differently or better than we were doing,” said Mandy O’Shea, UGA horticulture alum and co-owner of 3 Porch Farm in Comer, Georgia. CAES News
3 Porch Farm
Principles before profit has been 3 Porch Farm’s business model from the beginning. When the farm was just a dream, Steve and Mandy O’Shea — owners and operators of 3 Porch Farm — knew that they wanted to use their business to do as much good as possible. And now, with more than 10 years of farming under their belts, the couple’s commitment to sustainability is evident in everything they do on the farm.
Blubaugh Lab manager Katherine Hagan and master’s student Allison Stawara scout squash for various beneficial and pest insects as part of a living mulch study at the Durham Horticulture Research Farm in Watkinsville, Georgia. CAES News
Organic Pest Control
The hot, humid climate in the Southeast lends itself to nearly year-round insect, weed and disease pressure, and growing is especially tough if you’re an organic farmer.
Freshly picked blueberries sit in baskets at the University of Georgia horticulture farm in Athens, Ga. CAES News
Essential Oil Grant
Organic fruit and vegetable growers want to meet the recent uptick in national consumer demand, but they need additional tools to battle pests and diseases that often accompany organic crop growth.
Brown thrasher CAES News
Birds thrive on farms
A study by the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and collaborators at The Nature Conservancy and Washington State University challenges the notion that native bird species only belong in wooded habitats. This study has found that diversified farms are mutually beneficial for producers and native wildlife, creating a system where conservation and production are equal priorities.
Sustainable agriculture experts at the University of Georgia are offering a two-day intensive workshop March 23 and 24 to help small growers make the most of the upcoming season and build their farms into strong, productive businesses. CAES News
UGArden History
There is a lot more growing at UGArden — the University of Georgia’s student-run community farm — than just vegetables. Student involvement, community outreach and adoption of sustainable practices are all products of the work of students and staff at the garden. 
San Jose scale is a sucking insect pest which damages fruit, like this peach, and can eventually kill a tree by injecting toxins. CAES News
Peach Pest
Using horticultural oil sprays as an integrated pest management strategy to control San Jose scale in peach trees can be an effective alternative to chemical applications, and a University of Georgia study finds that the best control comes after trees have been pruned, allowing for lower application rates than previously recommended.
Broccoli grown on the UGA Tifton Campus is pictured growing on wheat straw mulch, plastic mulch and on bare soil. CAES News
Organic Weed Control
If they start now, Georgia organic farmers can use mulch and cultivation to manage young weeds, according to Juan Carlos Diaz-Perez, vegetable scientist on the University of Georgia Tifton campus. If weeds are not controlled successfully and are allowed to grow throughout May and June, they can compete with crops for nutrients, water and sunlight.