U of S to Co-ordinate Western Organic Farming

Posted May 05, 2003


For Immediate Release - May 2, 2003 2003-05-04-OTHER

U of S to Co-ordinate Western Organic Farming

The University of Saskatchewan's College of Agriculture has recently become
the new home for an initiative that will take ground-breaking organic
research right to the farmer's field.

The Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (OACC) has hired weed ecologist
Brenda Frick as Prairie Coordinator to foster collaboration between
scientists and organic farmers.

Frick, with more than a decade of experience in organic farming research,
joined the U of S Organic Research Unit last February. Her responsibilities
include building a network of researchers across the Prairie provinces and
co-ordinating organic research at Western Canadian universities, colleges
and research centers.

"We are pleased to have an expert of Dr. Frick's calibre to coordinate and
communicate organic research on the Prairies, avoiding duplication and
ultimately providing the best return on the research dollar," said Graham
Scoles, U of S associate dean of agriculture.

The steering committee for the new position includes organic specialists in
Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, representatives from provincial producer
groups, the U of S, OACC, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Canadian
Wheat Board.

Saskatchewan is home to 48 per cent of Canadian organic producers, and
Canada is among the five top producers of organic grains and oilseeds in the
world.

"There's a growing demand for organic food nation-wide," said Frick. "Access
to organic food used to be through a local farmer's market, but now
organically grown products are getting into major grocery stores across the
country."

Frisk notes that the increased interest in organic production practices has
created a pressing need for research that answers questions specific to
organic farming.

One of her goals is to see research conducted on functioning organic farms
rather than conventionally cropped land because results have a "higher level
of credibility" when the land is already in use for organic production.

Research in the community also involves farmers who literally have
"experience in the field."
"Scientists and producers working together have great ideas and get reliable
scientific data about concerns that are relevant to farmers," she says.
"This co-operation also makes producers part of the process at all stages of
the research."

The biggest challenge producers and agriculturists face is to develop
practices that efficiently use and replace nutrients in the soil, while
increasing product quality and reducing product expense.

The projects with which Frick is involved include studies of pest and weed
control, improving soil nitrogen levels through legume planting or
intercropping (planting lentils or sweet clover with wheat), and using
organic practices to reduce soil erosion.

Frick is a familiar face on campus, having previously worked at the Crop
Development Centre and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Her interest in organic agriculture stems from her Prairie roots. "I am a
child of the Prairies, born in Alberta and raised in Saskatchewan," she
says. "The prairie landscape is a part of me and I hope to use my
scientific expertise to further our understanding of how we relate to the
land."

Frick received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. at the University of Regina and her Ph.D.
at the University of Western Ontario, London.

Funding for the first two years totals $242,000. Funding partners include
the U of S College of Agriculture, the Canadian Adaptation and Rural
Development (CARD) Saskatchewan, the Alberta Agriculture and Food Council,
the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council, the Canadian Wheat Board, Alberta
Agriculture Food and Rural Development, Manitoba Agriculture and Food, and
Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization.

-30-

For more information, contact:

Brenda Frick
Prairie Coordinator, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada
(306) 966-4975
brenda.frick@usask.ca
www.organicagcentre.ca

Kathryn Warden
U of S Research Communications Officer
Office of the Vice-President Research
(306) 966-2506
kathryn.warden@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research