In this project, we finished Texas longhorn beef cattle on the Sunshine Farm by using polywire (temporary electric fence) to break-feed crop residues and forages in a narrow strip cropping system without supplemental feed. To close the nutrient cycle between cattle and crops, the project was recommended February 1995 by the seven-member Farmer Advisory Committee for the Sunshine Farm.
Coordinator: Melissa Matthewson, Southern Oregon Research and Experiment Station, Central Point, OR
Project location: Southwestern Oregon
Many women enjoy learning environments that are geared for women only. Recognizing this interest, the Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Small Farms program, with OFRF support, sponsored four on-farm field days hosted by and for women organic and transitioning farmers.
Coordinator: Ed Maltby, Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance (NODPA), Deerfield, Massachusetts
Stakeholders: U.S. organic dairy producers (and their cows)
Investigator: Kathy Soder, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Pasture Systems and Watershed Research Unit, University Park, PA
Project location: University of New Hampshire Organic Research Dairy, Burley-Demeritt farm, Lee, New Hampshire (certified organic since 2005)
Coordinator: Kristine Swaren, Canadian Organic Growers, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Stakeholders: Organic, transitioning, and conventional livestock producers
COG published the original Organic Livestock Handbook in 2000 (with OFRF funding) and this very popular book needs a complete overhaul for at least three reasons: