Organic Farming School

 Shoppers will have more information about where their food comes from under a new policy recently enacted by Congress. Labels on most fresh meats, along with some fruits, vegetables and other foods, will now list where the food originated. In the case of meats, some labels will list where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered. Even more informative, a  growing trend across the country is buying foods from producers you can see and talk to. And a growing number of consumers are wanting to be sure there are no pesticide or other non-organic residues on their foods…in other words, organic farming which is growing rapidly in the Gem State.

 “We’ve got about 180 certified organic farms statewide, and that covers about 112,000 acres. The national averages, our percentage of acres in organics in Idaho is actually on the higher side, it’s about 2.3% of total acreage.  That’s U of I’s Canyon County Farm Educator Ariel Agenbroad who helps farmers looking to learn some organic growing techniques…such as…”Integrated Pest Management or IPM, is a multi-faceted approach to assessing pests, dealing with pests, using biological, cultural and mechanical controls and when we talk about organic agriculture, we have different tools available to us so we want to give our growers time to learn about this and start to work on IPM plans for their own farms.”