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Welcome to the OrganicA Project: Phase 2!
The OrganicA Project is a collaborative partnership among three land-grant universities (two small and one large) and with stakeholders throughout in the region. This project is holistically examining the opportunities and challenges of organic production within the two major orchard systems growers are using to change to new cultivars and with five of the top apple cultivars that growers identified as important to the future of the industry. It includes both research and a closely integrated organic apple outreach program which is disseminating research findings, information, and insights. The project was initiated in 2006 and the first phase (i.e., the 'orchard establishment phase') was completed in 2009. Phase 2 -- 'early bearing years' -- has begun. The long-term goal of this project is to enhance adoption of organic apple production in New England.
Highlights of the OrganicA Project: Phase 2
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Presentation at the CETAB+* Conference
February 9, 2012 in Victoriaville, Quebec (Canada)
International interest in the OrganicA Project led to an invitation to present two talks on
horticultural and pest management topics from the OrganicA research and
demonstration project at the conference. The conference, titled "Organic Apple Production in the Northeastern
United States and in Quebec: Challenges and Opportunities", was attended by 110 people, including farmers,
research and outreach professionals, and undergraduate and graduate
students.
*CETAB+ (Center of Expertise and Transfer in Organic and Local
Agriculture) is a component of the CEGEP (College of General and
Vocational Education) of Victoriaville. The purpose of CETAB+ is to
support the development and sustainability of organic farming. CETAB+
also works to support local agriculture and added value to the farm. |
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Webinar presented through eXtension and eOrganic
January 24, 2012
Participants from across the United States, Canada, and Chile attended. Evaluation and input on their most critical research and educational needs were collected from participants. In an evaluation, nearly all participants (98%) found the webinar increased their knowledge and over half (59%) of participants planned on using the information presented at the session. All participants (100%) rated it important to continue organic apple research and extension/outreach programs like OrganicA. |
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Posters presented at the Northeast Organic Research Symposium
January 19-20, 2012 in Saratoga Springs, NY
Held in conjunction with the NOFA-NY Annual Winter Organic Farming and Gardening Conference. Attended by nearly 1,400 farmers, researchers, gardeners and friends of organic farming from the Northeast and across the country.
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Organic Apple Session at the 2011 New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference
December 15, 2011 in Manchester, NH
This session was organized by the OrganicA Project to present insights gained from the project. There was tremendous interest in the session: over 70
people were in attendance in a room that was filled
to capacity with an overflow of people in the
hallways outside the doors wanting to come into the
session to hear the speakers.
   
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Presentations at the 73rd New England, NY and Canadian Fruit Pest Management Workshop
October 19-20, 2011 in Burlington, VT
This annual meeting of university, government, and private researchers and consultants from Canada, NY, CT, NH, VT, ME, MA, RI, WV was attended by about 50 people. Terry Bradshaw presented "The OrganicA Project: Update on Organic Apple Arthropod Management". Morgan Cromwell presented "The OrganicA Project: Update on Organic Apple Disease Management". |
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OrganicA at the 2011 ASHS Annual Conference
September 25-28, 2011 in Waikoloa, HI
The Organic Weed Management Strategies for Apple
Trees poster was viewed in the Organic Horticulture session and the poster was selected by NIFA to be featured as a USDA OREI "success story" at the conference.
- Moran, R., Garcia, M.E., Berkett, L., Bradshaw, T., Kingsley-Richards, S, and M. Cromwell. 2011. Organic Weed Management Strategies for Apple Trees.
Proceedings ASHS Annual Conference, Hawaii. 25.
Also, our own Lorraine Berkett was a panelist at the OREI Project Directors Workshop at the conference.
Panel Discussion: Secrets of Highly Effective Proposal Writing: Selling the idea to the Panel and Best Practices for Describing the Management, Evaluation, and Impact
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Open House at the OrganicA Project
August 19, 2011 in South Burlington, VT
A HUGE success. Even with a little rain and threatening clouds, over 100 people
attended. The audience was multi-generational -- from young children and parents
to a minivan of senior citizens -- and the audience spanned the range of
interests, i.e., commercial apple growers seeking new information, home orchardists needing help, and the general public who wanted to see and learn about
organic apples. People came from VT, NY, MA, NH, and Quebec. All
participants (100%) who responded to an evaluation of the Open House
agreed that the event increased their awareness and knowledge of organic apple
production and 94% rated the OrganicA Project as very to extremely
important to increasing information and insights into organic apple production.
Ninety-five percent (95%) of participants planned on using the
information presented at the Open House. |
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Across the Fence: Organic Apple Research at the UVM Horticultural Research Center
August 2, 2011 airdate
Across the Fence is the longest-running daily farm and home television program in the country. Programs are seen in 25,000 households that include all of Vermont, and parts of New York, New Hampshire, and Quebec. Programs air Monday through Friday at 12:10 p.m. on WCAX-TV Channel 3. |
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Colleagues from Quebec visit the OrganicA Project
July 21, 2011 in South Burlington, VT
We had an excellent exchange of information and ideas from a group of colleagues from Quebec which included a researcher, an agro-economist, a government official, advisors, and apple producers that visited the organic apple orchards associated with the OrganicA Project. The meeting was organized by Dr. Mirella Aoun of the Centre of Expertise and Technology Transfer in Organic Agriculture and Local Food Systems which is located in Victoriaville, Quebec. We thank everyone for sharing their knowledge and insights with us! |
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New Orchard Planted at the OrganicA Project
Spring 2011 in South Burlington, VT
Insights gained from management of the original OrganicA orchards, established in 2006, was used to optimize a new companion orchard installation and potentially increase its horticultural productivity. A primary consideration in development of this orchard was the use of scab-resistant cultivars (SRCs).
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Presentations at the 2011 USDA Organic Farming Systems Conference
March 16-18, 2011 in Washington, DC
USDA sponsored conference to examine findings from research on organic farming systems, including many longstanding projects. The audience included researchers, policymakers, farmers, ranchers and others who are interested in exploring the implications of organic farming systems research. |
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Poster presented at the 29th Annual NOFA-VT Winter Conference
February 12-13, 2011 in Burlington, VT
The NOFA-VT Winter Conference was attended by an estimated 1,000 local organic farmers, students, and professionals. The Room at the Table theme emphasized food systems research and the importance of working together locally for our food future. |
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Presentation at the Vermont Tree Fruit Growers' Association Annual Conference
February 18, 2011 in Middlebury, VT
This annual event was attended by over 50 growers, state ag. agency personnel, and industry representatives. A presentation was given by Lorraine Berkett summarizing the 2009 and 2010 disease, insect, and horticultural data from Orchards 1 & 2.
The slide presentation (with audio)
of the Update on OrganicA Project Research, 2009 & 2010 is
on the web.
[Please note: This Power Point presentation is very big.
It will take 8-10 minutes to download. Enjoy an organic apple while you wait !!] |
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Poster presented at the University of Vermont Food Systems Symposium
November 1, 2010 in Burlington, VT
A poster was presented at the
symposium. Approximately 245 faculty, students, and
professionals attended.
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Presentations at the 72nd New England, NY and Canadian Fruit Pest Management Workshop
October 19-20, 2010 in Burlington, VT
This annual meeting of university, government, and private researchers and consultants from Canada, NY, CT, NH, VT, ME, MA, RI, WV was attended by about 40 people. Terry Bradshaw presented on the Lepidoptera problems we saw this year in the organic orchards and how pesticide timing and material selection caused significant codling moth damages at harvest. Morgan Cromwell presented about the discrepancies of estimating secondary apple scab infection periods. |
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Presentation at the 2010 ISHS Organic Fruit Conference
September 30, 2010 in Vignola, Italy
*International Society for Horticultural Science
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Poster presented at the 28th International Horticulture Conference
August 22-27, 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal
The IHC was attended by an estimated 3,200 international researcher professionals. The Science and Horticulture for People theme emphasized horticulture scientific components and how they relate to scientists, producers, consumers and society at large through a diversified program with colloquia, symposia, seminars, thematic sessions, workshops, poster sessions and exhibitions. |
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Organic Apple Tour at the University of Maine's Highmoor Farm
July 21, 2010 in Monmouth, Maine
Twenty people from Maine, Vermont, and surrounding states attended presentations by Lorraine Berkett, Terry Bradshaw and Renae Moran then toured the demonstration and research orchard. |
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Presentation at the Vermont Tree Fruit Growers' Association Annual Conference
February 18, 2010 in Middlebury, VT
This annual event was attended by over 70 people including growers,
state ag. agency personnel, industry representatives from VT, ME and NY. An update of research findings was given including some of the first-year results of Terry Bradshaw's Masters Thesis research on the effects of two kelp products used in Orchard 1 in
20009. |
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Across the Fence: Organic Apple Research at the UVM Horticultural Research Center
October 21, 2009 airdate
Across the Fence is the longest-running daily farm and home television program in the country. Programs are seen in 25,000 households that include all of Vermont, and parts of New York, New Hampshire, and Quebec. Programs air Monday through Friday at 12:10 p.m. on WCAX-TV Channel 3. |
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Presentation at the 71st New England, NY and Canadian Fruit Pest Management Workshop
October 20-21, 2009 in Burlington, VT
This annual meeting of university, government, and private researchers and consultants from Canada, NY, NH, VT, ME, MA, RI, WV was attended by about 40 people. Lorraine Berkett presented an update on the OrganicA Project. |
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OrganicA Workshop and Orchard Tour at the OrganicA Project
August 13, 2009 in South Burlington, VT
Co-sponsored by NOFA-VT and rated highly in educational content by participants! |
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Presentation at the American Phytopathological Society (APS) Annual Meeting
August 1-5, 2009 in Portland, OR
Complementary organic research entitled ‘Evaluation of alternative fungicides for organic apple production in Vermont’, conducted as a Graduate Research Project by graduate student Morgan Cromwell, was presented. |
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Presentation at the Vermont Tree Fruit Growers' Association Annual Conference
February 10, 2009 in Middlebury, VT
This annual event was attended by over 80 people including growers,
state ag. agency personnel, industry representatives from VT, NY, MA, and NH.
The most recent example of how we are disseminating OrganicA research results and insights to commercial apple growers in the region. A discussion session
followed the presentation where growers asked questions and provided further input and guidance on their priorities and needs. |
The OrganicA Project Progress Report: June 2006 - March 2009 (Phase 1)
Although the orchards are young and just beginning to produce a crop, the preliminary insights gained during the orchard ‘establishment’ years
have been summarized and are available (see Progress Report for details).
Highlights of the OrganicA Project: Phase 1
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Poster presented at the VII IOBC International conference on Integrated Fruit Production
October 27-30, 2008 in Avignon, France
The IOBC* Working Group Integrated Plant Protection in Fruit Crops meeting, organized by INRA**, was attended by 200 international practitioners, researchers, and extension professionals.There were parallel sessions for pest and disease management in pome fruit, stone fruit and soft fruit crops.
*International Organization for Biological Control
**French National Institute for Agricultural Research |
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Across the Fence: Research on Organic Apple Growing at the UVM Horticultural Research Center
October 14, 2008 airdate
Across the Fence is the longest-running daily farm and home television program in the country. Programs are seen in 25,000 households that include all of Vermont, and parts of New York, New Hampshire, and Quebec. Programs air Monday through Friday at 12:10 p.m. on WCAX-TV Channel 3. |
 
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Meet the OrganicA Interns at the UVM Horticultural Research Center
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Organic Methods: Orchard Tour & Discussion
July 31, 2008 at Pietree Orchard in Sweden, Maine
About 27 people from Maine, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont enthusiastically walked through the organically-managed orchards and listened while Scott Miller described what he has accomplished and his goals for the future. |
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The OrganicA Project Research Apples have been CERTIFIED ORGANIC !!!
June 24, 2008
click here to see our letter and certificate (pdf) |
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Poster presented at the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress Proceedings
June 16-20, 2008 in Modena, Italy.
The congress was structured around the IFOAM* Principles of Organic Agriculture, and addressed a wide range of issues offering platforms to build bridges between different cultures and regions with the help of leading personalities from the Sciences and the Arts. Conferences, workshops, seminars, round tables, forums, active and living poster sessions: many parallel events following different threads, but seamlessly weaved together.
*International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements |
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Presentation at the Tri-State Extension Twilight Meeting
April 16, 2008 at Alyson's Orchard in Walpole, New Hampshire
An example of how we are getting the word out to existing commercial apple growers in the region. Growers were there from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. |
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"A New Look at Organic Apple Production in New England" at the 2007 New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference
December 11, 2007 in Manchester, NH
A session on organic apple production
entitled "A New Look at Organic Apple
Production in New England" was organized by the OrganicA Project. There was
tremendous interest in the session; over 115
people were in attendance in a room that was filled
to capacity with an overflow of people in the
hallways outside the doors wanting to come into the
session to hear the speakers. |
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Organic Fruit Production Course
Fall 2007, Instructor: John Hayden
The Organic Fruit Production course at the University of Vermont, taught by John Hayden, an organic farmer himself, was filled to capacity during the Fall 2007 semester with 19 students. The course explored basic horticultural, ecological, and marketing concepts through hands-on learning. |
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Open House held for Organic Apple Research Project
August 17, 2007
An Open House for the OrganicA Project was held on a sunny Friday afternoon at the University of Vermont Horticultural Research Center (HRC) in South Burlington, Vermont. The event was open to the public and well attended by nearly 50 participants. |
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Across the Fence: Organic Apple Production at the UVM Horticultural Research Center
July 31, 2007 airdate
Across the Fence is the longest-running daily farm and home television program in the country. Programs are seen in 25,000 households that include all of Vermont, and parts of New York, New Hampshire, and Quebec. Programs air Monday through Friday at 12:10 p.m. on WCAX-TV Channel 3. |
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Posters presented at the International Organic Tree Fruit Research Symposium
March 4-7, 2007 in East Lansing, MI
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