Organic News

Illinois organic farmers file lawsuit against hog confinement

An Illinois organic farming couple, Randy and Crystal Clair, have joined one of two lawsuits filed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency against Carroll Family Farms, LLC, which owns a 5,000-hog confinement called County Line Swine in northern Adams County. The lawsuits claim Carroll Family Farms is operating the hog confinement with improper methods that […]

Flame weeding: a sustainable, cost-effective approach for weed management in organic corn

Conventional corn and soy rotation farmers have relied on herbicides and GM seed varieties to kill weeds. Organic production uses soil tilling to achieve mastery over weeds—though that method hampers carbon sequestration. Is there an alternative to these practices? Sustainability has published a study introducing flame weeding as a suitable option. The report compared using […]

Did Sri Lanka’s transition to organic farming cause political crisis?

With the Sri Lankan president forced to resign and the country in economic shambles, did a sudden ban on chemical fertilizers play a role? Although right-wing herbicide proponents claim it did, David LaBorde of the International Food Policy Research Institute sees it otherwise. He noted that while Rajapaksa’s abrupt ban on chemical fertilizers did jolt […]

Organic expands “carbon farming” to much more than storing carbon, IFOAM says

The EU branch of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) wants to recognize organic’s status as a “carbon farming” practice, beyond its ability to store carbon in soil. “Practices…common in organic farming are already contributing to higher soil carbon stocks…while providing benefits for soil health, water quality, and biodiversity protection,” said Jan Plagge, IFOAM Organics […]

Syngenta CEO blasted for comments saying that organic farming is contributing to global hunger

In a move that the Syngenta boss says is “in no way linked to Syngenta’s business objectives,” CEO Erik Fyrwald recently called for an abandonment of organic farming to focus on increased yields to avert rising global food insecurity. The solution, in his view, is for rich countries to improve yields to better feed the […]