The Non-GMO Blog

Crisis coalition seeks to help drought-impacted organic dairy farmers

Emergency relief is required for Western organic dairy producers to stave off shutdowns due to ongoing drought conditions. Straus Family Creamery of Petaluma, CA organized the Western Organic Dairy Farming Crisis Coalition in August 2022 to seek immediate help. Several organic dairies anticipate an average loss of $250,000 this year, to follow into 2023 if […]

India’s Supreme Court halts release of GM mustard pending further investigation

In early November, the Supreme Court of India put a stay on a GEAC decision of October 18 that was used by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on October 25 to allow environmental release of GM mustard in five states. The herbicide-tolerant mustard won’t be released, pending further consideration on November 10. Ms. Aruna […]

USDA grant to support intensive research on ecological processes affecting organic farming

Purdue University has received a four-year, $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to explore the ecology of organic cropping systems in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Purdue, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Western Illinois University in Macomb, will assess weed, insect, and pathogen pressure […]

New program will reward organic farmers for conservation practices

The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC), SLM Partners, and Carbon Yield are pleased to announce a project to reward corn and soy farmers in Illinois and Michigan for conservation practices that result in measurable climate impacts. The project will test and streamline the creation and sale of environmental credits from organic farming systems—ESMC’s first project […]

The next Farm Bill can only be “climate-smart” if it reduces agricultural reliance on pesticides, says diverse coalition

Fifty organizations recently sent a public letter to the House Agriculture Committee and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, calling for a transformative 2023 Farm Bill. They urged the legislators to incentivize reductions in pesticide use, include provisions to protect farmworker health, and increase funding and research for organic and regenerative farming, representing fenceline communities, […]