Organic News

Sustainable Farm Partners acquires Fairfield, Iowa organic farm

Sustainable Farm Partners (SFP), which buys conventional farm land and converts it to organic, recently purchased a 150-acre farm just north of Fairfield, Iowa, from Sustainable Farm Development Group (SFDG). The farm is 150 acres made up of 120 tillable acres with grass waterways and a 25-acre farmstead with a farmhouse, 1500 square foot certified […]

Chipotle slashes purchases of organic beans, produce

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. had been a big proponent of organic food for most of its 25-year history. But that may be changing as the company has decreased its purchased of organic ingredients in the food served in its restaurants. In the company’s 2016 Sustainability Report, Chipotle said that 50 percent of its beans were […]

Cornell faculty receive funding to study organic foods

By Magdalen Lindeberg Organic is one of the most dynamic and fast-growing segments of the U.S. agricultural market. It is also an increasingly important engine of growth for New York State, with more than 1,400 certified organic operations as of 2016. Researchers in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have been granted nearly $1.4 […]

Minnesota farmer goes beyond organic to regenerative agriculture

For Minnesota farmer Luke Peterson, diversity’s role in ecosystem health became clear working on prairie restoration. But later as a conventional farmer, drowning in “the politics behind seed, synthetic fertilizer and pesticide sales,” he saw diversity was sorely missing. He wondered if he was a farmer, or a pawn for Big Agriculture. Transitioning his 80-acre […]

Pipeline Foods hopes to streamline organic supply chain, woo conventional farmers

Growing organic crops—combatting weeds, rotating crops, and maintaining certification—isn’t the only challenge organic presents. Growers also need to locate buyers, build relationships, and secure elevators to store the harvest. Pipeline Foods of Fridley, Minnesota launched two years ago to facilitate handling of organic crops and make growing them more attractive to conventional farmers. The company […]