In Vienna, consultants, organic farmers and green-minded consumers have developed a new concept of urban organic farming, called Selbsternte (’self-harvest‘). Organic farmers prepare a plot of arable land (the Selbsternte plot) and sow or plant rows composed of 18–23 plant species. In mid-May the plots are divided into subplots that contain 2–6 m of every sown species and are rented to so-called self-harvesters for a period of about 136 days. In 2002 Selbsternte was being practiced at 15 plots in Vienna or in neighboring cities, represented by 861 subplots, with a total area of 68,740 m2, and managed by 12 organic farmers for 861 registered self-harvesters. At the Roter Berg plot, experimental subplots were established to evaluate yields and the value of the harvested produce, and interviews were conducted with 27 self-harvesters, the eight Selbsternte farmers and one Selbsternte consultant. The experimental subplots were managed in two different ways, namely, ’with low intensity‘ (LIS) and ’with high intensity‘ (HIS; meaning additional harrowing, mulching and sowing of additional plants). At the LIS 24.2 h and at the HIS 38.9 h of work were invested over 51 days. Monetary investment was US$184 for the LIS and US$259 for the HIS subplots. The total harvest of fresh produce was: 163 kg subplot–1 for LIS and 208 kg subplot–1 for HIS subplots. The total value of the harvest at the HIS was US$364 for conventional and US$766 for organic prices. All self-harvesters saw the rental of a subplot and the work as an activity of leisure. More than half of the self-harvesters reported ’trying something new‘ at their subplots. The most frequently mentioned innovation for them was growing an unknown species. Twenty-five self-harvesters sowed 54 different, additional plant species. The motivating factors in establishing Selbsternte plots, as reported by all the farmers, were, primarily, better relations with consumers and work diversification, and only then were economic factors a consideration. The contribution of Selbsternte to income varied at the farms, being between 0 and 30% of the total farm income. As a main success factor, all of the farmers reported a close relationship between the self-harvesters and the farmers. Selbsternte subplots can be understood as small experimental stations where self-harvesters merge traditional horticultural techniques with urban ideas on permaculture, sustainable land use and participatory farming. Selbsternte has potential value for the improvement of urban agriculture, but also for the development of organic farming in general.

Based on citizen demand, Iowa State University (ISU) established the first organic specialist faculty position at a US land grant university in 1997, as a shared appointment in the departments of horticulture and agronomy, with a 70% extension and 30% research split. By 1999, a national survey determined that ISU had reached the upper percentile of organic research, extension and educational activities at land grant universities in the US. This result was attributed to a series of successful Organic Agriculture Focus Groups in 1998, convened to help direct the new organic research and extension program at ISU. Partnerships with the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the College of Agriculture facilitated the ISU sustainable agriculture extension leader and organic specialist‘s participation in an extensive focus group dialogue with a diverse group of farmers (organic and conventional), agribusiness professionals, bankers and consumers in six agricultural communities across Iowa. Focus group responses included the need for organic research at the university level, since the majority of organic farmers (65%) were receiving their information from other organic farmers and non-governmental publications. Paramount in the needs assessment was the establishment of organic research sites across the state to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits associated with organic farming practices over the long term. Specific outcomes-based extension needs were articulated, which led to the development of an annual schedule of organic workshops, field days and conferences. In 2001, in a survey of 300 farmers to assess the outcomes of the Organic Agriculture Program, all respondents (39% return rate) reported benefiting from an extension organic program. Similar to focus group results, farmers rated workshops and field days as the most likely venue for information dissemination. As a result of organic farming practices, 90% of respondents reported an increase in soil quality and 67% reported a 6–30% increase in farm income. The success of land grant university organic programs will be dependent upon administrative support, sufficient resources and community involvement in the decision-making process.

In a world of limited resources and inexorable pressure to produce food for burgeoning populations, innovative approaches are needed to exploit these resources in a sustainable manner. Phosphorous (P) fertilizers are used extensively throughout the world for commercial crop production, and are a major factor in global food security. Yet, in developing countries, limited or no P fertilizer is used, often because of cost and infrastructure constraints, and this is therefore an impediment to sustainable production. The challenge facing soil scientists involved with soil and fertilizer P research is to produce adequate crops on inadequately fertilized soils in poorer countries and, at the same time, improve the efficiency of P use where excessive amounts are used, thus avoiding negative environmental impacts. Soil–plant fungi, especially arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM), may have a role in solving both horns of the P-use dilemma, since such associations have been shown to vary with plant species, and indeed genotypes within species, and to enhance crop utilization and uptake of P from soils low in soluble or available P. Therefore, as corn is an important feed and food crop in the Mediterranean coastal area of Turkey, we conducted two greenhouse studies to assess the P efficiency of a range of widely grown local corn genotypes and to establish the possible role of mycorrhizae in determining differences in observed P efficiency. The nine genotypes were grown with low to high P fertilizer rates (25–200 mg kg–1) and assessed for P efficiency, based on visual observations, dry matter yield, and tissue P concentration. Two efficient and two inefficient genotypes were then grown with and without P fertilizer and added mycorrhizae. The experimental bulk soil had natural mycorrhizal colonization. The genotypes XL 72AA, DK 626 and LG 60, LG 2777 responded differently to both P and mycorrhizal infection. The efficient genotypes were more dependent on added P (twofold yield increase) and mycorrhizae than the inefficient ones. Thus, while mycorrhizal colonization is not a substitute for fertilizer use, it is complementary to it. While difficulties still remain for AM inoculation of crops in the field, more attention to mycorrhizae should be given by plant breeders in the process of crop improvement.

Many investigators have surmised that reduced-chemical and organic crop production require the input of a higher level of human capital than does conventional production. But no previous study has measured and compared whether the amounts of human capital growers use in managing their production systems differ across those systems. To provide the first measure of the time investment made in human capital by conventional and reduced-chemical farmers, we conducted a survey of 1000 Illinois households to obtain estimates of the amount of time spent by these different types of farmers to accumulate the human capital needed in their management practices. Conventional farmers reported spending just over 3 h week–1 ’keeping up‘ with information about their production practices, while reduced-chemical and organic farmers reported a time investment of nearly 4 h week–1. This difference was found to be statistically significant, suggesting that chemical inputs and human capital may be economic substitutes. Farmers who adopted reduced-chemical practices reported a transition period of 1–2 years; during this period, they spent around 3 h week–1 learning about reduced-chemical technology. Adopters of organic practices also reported a transition period of 1–2 years; during this period, they invested 5 h week–1 learning about organic technology. The quantitative results of this study will be useful for future empirical work that investigates the potential costs and benefits of using subsidies to induce conventional farmers to switch to alternative production practices.

This study assesses producer perceptions of traceability issues in organic agriculture, using survey data from the 2001 National Agricultural, Food and Public Policy Preference Survey. The survey provides food policy and socio-economic data that facilitate the examination of traceability issues in organic agriculture. The logistic regression models that are used to examine the relationship between traceability and organic agriculture are robust across models. The models indicate a decreased likelihood for federal government intervention on the part of organic producers for policies that improve traceability from consumer back to producer to improve food safety and tracking. However, the results suggest that organic producers with sales under $US 50,000 are more likely to indicate some willingness for government intervention. The analysis also shows that producers want food products made with biotechnology to be labeled if there is a scientifically determined difference in the product. While education may be an avenue to facilitate greater acceptance of traceability issues, the results indicate a negative relationship between the acceptance of traceability and farmers with a bachelor‘s degree. This finding is surprising given the on-going debate surrounding biotech foods and traceability. Clearly the reluctance on the part of producers with bachelor‘s degrees to embrace tracing could hinder such efforts if those producers assume leadership positions in their communities. Perhaps such results are a reflection of the confidence that those producers have in the quality of organic produce.

The conversion of cropland to the production of woody biomass, or short-rotation woody crops (SRWCs), has the potential to provide an economic alternative to Midwestern farmers, while simultaneously offering an environmental dividend in the form of reduced erosion and nutrient pollution of streams. However, notwithstanding a wealth of plot-scale and anecdotal data suggestive of these benefits, there are few watershed-scale integrated analyses on which to base regional policy decisions regarding incentives to convert fields to SRWCs. This study applied a field-scale runoff, sediment and nutrient transport model (Agricultural Drainage and Pesticide Transport, ADAPT) to a simulation of 10, 20 and 30% cropland conversion to SRWCs, grown on a 5-year rotation, in a representative Minnesota River sub-watershed. While the generation of a highly precise simulation would require extensive calibration of the model, its application with parameters previously calibrated to neighboring, similar watersheds provided reasonably robust results that indicated real differences resulting from cropland conversion. At the highest conversion level, mean annual runoff was reduced by up to 9%, sediment loads by 28% and nitrogen (N) loads by 15%, although total phosphorus (P) loads increased by 2% relative to the no-SRWC scenario. However, the relative benefits of conversion at the field level were contingent on soil type, drainage status and the alternative crop. These differences provide useful insights with respect to the targeting of possible conversion incentives.