Organic Agriculture

Overview

As with the rest of the US, interest in organic agriculture in Georgia is growing. As of 2008, the USDA reports that there were 67 certified organic farming operations in Georgia with a total of 4,341 acres in production. Organic agriculture relies on "ecosystem management" to enrich the soil, manage pests and disease, and produce a healthy product, rather than turning to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that may pollute the environment and prove to be unsustainable.

Publications

Commercial and Professional Publications

• Organic Vidalia Onion Production
• Managing Organic Refuse: Options for Green Industry Professionals
• Food Waste Composting: Institutional and Industrial Application
• Simulating Crop Rotations in the Coastal Plain with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation 2
• Compost Utilization for Erosion Control

General Publications

• Composting and Mulching
• How to Convert an Inorganic Fertilizer Recommendation to an Organic One
• Growing Vegetables Organically

To see other publications, go to the CAES Publications site or the FACS Publications listing.

News

For the latest news about Extension, visit Georgia FACES. News you can use about Georgia family, agricultural, consumer and enviromental sciences.

• Growing vegetables organically doesn't mean you can't use chemicals
• Extension faculty to demonstrate sustainable farming know how at Georgia Organics Conference
• Don't let nagging leaf piles drive you to a hasty shredder or chipper purchase
• Fall is the time to plant cover crops to boost next summer's harvest
• Researcher at UGA-Tifton working to increase Georgia's organic peanut production
• Parents and children can team up to reduce household waste
• Twilight tour of the University of Georgia's organic farm slated for July 19
• Gardeners often unaware of exposing tomatoes to herbicides
• Alien-looking slime molds come from mulch not Mars
• The squash vine borer: A difficult but manageable garden pest

Websites

UGA-affiliated sites

• Impact Statements: Organic Agriculture
  Descriptions of Extension efforts to improve knowledge & practices related to organic agriculture.
• Organic Foods — The Facts
  Explains how to identify organic food at the grocery and how producers earn this designation.
• Organic Gardening
  Presentation slides give a comprehensive and moderately detailed summary of growing plants organically.
• Organic Production
  Briefly explains how organic production fits into sustainable agriculture and provides a few links.
• Organic Soil Nutrient Management
  Describes in detail the characteristics of quality soil.

External sites

• Georgia Organics
  Organization promotes sustainable and community-based agriculture with resources for farmers and consumers, education for schoolchildren and home growers, news reports and annual conference.
• USDA National Organic Program
  Information for producers and consumers on the federal government's standards program for organic agricultural products.