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The goal of this planning grant is to bring together a multi-disciplinary, multi-state team to develop a full proposal in which the effects of organic crop and animal farming systems on soil and water will be simultaneously investigated using a multi-scale watershed approach. This will be accomplished by assembling a select group of approximately 20 organic producers, cropping systems specialists, environmental scientists, and watershed researchers from Ohio, Wisconsin, West Virginia, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania for a two-day meeting at the North Appalachian Experimental Watershed near Coshocton, Ohio for a two-day meeting in October 2010. Specific objectives for the project will be developed during this meeting and group leaders will be selected with the responsibility of formulating and writing each component of the grant proposal. After the initial meeting, the group leaders will visit the proposed research locations in each state in order to assess the specific requirements needed to perform the research. This core group will also visit various organic research institutes in Europe to consult with researchers that have conducted similar research to build on their expertise and avoid duplication of their efforts. A completed draft proposal for internal review will be prepared by mid-January 2011 and a final proposal submitted before the 2011 deadline for submission as specified in the 2011 OREI request for applications.
Non-Technical Summary: Organic farming practices can reduce the levels of pesticides in the environment while not necessarily being sustainable. Because of frequent reliance on tillage for weed control and the use of animal manure to supplement soil fertility in lieu of herbicides and mineral fertilizers, potential negative effects include excessive loss of soil, nutrients, and animal wastes in surface and ground water and a reduction in soil organic matter levels and soil quality. These concerns have been addressed in a piecemeal fashion using small research plots and on-farm evaluations, but have not been addressed comprehensively. What is needed is a holistic examination of organic production systems in terms of a full suite of water and soil quality parameters (i.e., ecosystem services), including actual measurements of the volume and quality of surface runoff in order to truly assess the environmental sustainability of organic production systems. Therefore, the objective of this planning grant is to design a project to evaluate the effects of innovative organic farming systems using a multi-scale watershed, systems-based, approach. The research will be guided by small farmer needs and adapted to local conditions characteristic of the US Midwest and Northeast. The plan will include a modeling component so that the results can be scaled to larger systems and ungauged watersheds. The full proposal to be developed as a product of this planning grant will benefit producers of organic crops and animals by identifying and developing practical methods of organic production with reduced environmental impact. <P> Approach: This planning grant will be used to develop a full proposal to evaluate the environmental sustainability of organic farming practices. This will be accomplished by bringing together a group of organic producers, cropping systems specialists, environmental scientists, and watershed researchers for a two-day planning meeting. Background information on each participant will be collected and circulated before the meeting and a conference facilitator will be used to keep the group focused and on task. The outcome of this meeting will be clearly defined, researchable, objectives and specific investigators assigned to write each component of the proposal. Additional participants may be recruited to join the project if their expertise is required to fulfill the objectives. The investigators charged with writing each component will travel to the proposed research sites to gain additional knowledge of the capabilities at each location and the specific needs to address the objectives. They will develop and circulate their draft components to the other project participants and organic producers in order to refine the proposal in an iterative manner.