Join the Organic Council of Ontario's Annual General Meeting on March 31st, 2022! We invite OCO members and the general public to attend and participate in exploring priorities for OCO in 2022, informative presentations, and Organic Updates.
The Organic Council of Ontario is looking for an enthusiastic, dedicated and dynamic Events and Communications Specialist who is passionate about agriculture and the environment. Ideal candidates will have a balance of left and right brain thinking with both sharp attention to detail, technical know-how, problem solving skills, administrative and logistical organizational prowess; as well as an eye for digital marketing, the capacity to parse complex issues into clear sentences, strategic thinking and political acumen.
There is a wealth of research that explores the diverse environmental benefits of organic agriculture. Many farmers may want to experiment with practices that carry environmental benefits, but are concerned about potential profit losses or unforeseen consequences. Read on to learn how organic agriculture can be just as profitable as, or even more profitable than, conventional agriculture.
Each organic or regenerative farm is as unique as the farmers who keep it running, especially when it comes to dealing with organic agriculture’s most infamous challenge: weeds. Read on to learn how five organic Ontario-based farmers and researchers use different approaches to achieve this goal in weed management.
The Organic Council of Ontario is conducting a follow up Ontario Agricultural Practices Farmer survey to gain a better understanding...
All around the world, you’ll find farmers who are passionate about restoring their environment through organic and regenerative farming practices. There is a lot of variety in regional approaches to sustainable agriculture, and each of them has something to teach us about Canada’s organic sector.
In 2021, nitrogen fertilizer saw a huge price spike due to a string of severe weather events like Hurricane Ida and the February Texas cold snap. Alongside other supply-chain disruptions, these events have led to global shortages and decade-high consumer prices. Is there a way we can limit our dependance on nitrogen fertilizer?
Regardless of size or location, farms are closely connected to their surrounding environment—through the soil, water systems, insects and wildlife. All organisms within an ecosystem depend on each other, and the healthiest ecosystems contain a wide range of species that interact in diverse and mutually beneficial ways. Agro-biodiversity tries to mimic natural species diversity by increasing the variety of crops and other organisms in a single farming system. It offers farmers many useful tools to improve soil health and reduce reliance on inputs without sacrificing profits. Having more species working together creates more stable farming systems that are resilient against harsh conditions like severe weather, pests and disease.
Although policies and politicians will often attempt to tackle issues like climate change and biodiversity separately, the two problems are deeply intertwined. Climate change and biodiversity loss are two sides of the same crisis and it would be impossible to address one without the other. Agriculture has not traditionally been a champion of biodiversity and has instead been a source of biodiversity loss. However, biodiversity is extremely important, both to agriculture and to humans in general. So is there a balance we can strike between the natural world and agriculture that can allow biodiversity to flourish without getting in the way of our food production?
