OFFER's Mission Statement

To provide outstanding research and educational support for sustainable production, processing, and marketing of organic foods from the field to the table for farmers, gardeners, processors, retailers, and consumers.

What is Organic Agriculture?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Standards Board defines organic agriculture as "an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity."  It is based on minimal off farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, or enhance ecological harmony. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil, life, plants, animals, and people.

Why is Organic Research Needed?

• Demand for organic products is growing rapidly in the U.S. (more than 20% annually for the  last decade) and globally.
• All certified organic food sold in the U.S. must meet strict new national standards.
• Scientific support for organic farming - studying it, understanding it, improving it - is grossly underdeveloped.
• The challenges faced by organic farmers - weed control, disease and insect management, fertility, variety selection - are different than those faced by conventional farmers due to the very definition of organic farming.
• In the OFFER program, we are investigating crop production, variety selection, crop and soil quality, sensory quality, nutrient cycling efficiency, carbon sequestration, soil invertebrate populations, weed ecology and management, disease management, soil microbial ecology, and the profitability of organic or transitional organic systems.