The Organic Center will be presenting at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Rice Field Day on July 13, 2017 in Beaumont, Texas.  The afternoon will feature information about our organic rice program, with the objectives of providing updated information about organic rice production and management, reporting on the progress of our project, and getting input from our stakeholder advisory board.  We’ll also be giving an organic rice field tour to talk about disease control, nutrient management, insect control, and variety performance.  Field tours will be followed by an organic rice workshop and an advisory board meeting for our project.  The workshop will cover disease management and research updates from Texas, information about nutrients and agronomy, weed management, insect management, updates from Arkansas and South Carolina, details about our outreach program (including this website!), an update on our cost-benefit analysis and plenty of time for questions.

The Inter-American Commission for Organic Agriculture (ICOA), which comprises the organic competent authorities of countries of the Americas, is holding its Annual Meeting from July 15 – 21 in Portland Oregon. In June 2008, the ministers of agriculture of the western hemisphere created the ICOA for the purpose of contributing to the further development of organic agriculture in their countries and facilitating trade of organic produce.  ICOA is a sub group of Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) supporting cooperation on agriculture in the Americas since 1942.  OTA is honored to plan and host this meeting. Thursday, July 20, is an open to the public day where guests will learn about organic in the Americas and hear from industry experts on growing organic in the western hemisphere.  For information or to RSVP please contact Monique Marez.

The Ukraine Organic Farming Integrity Tour led by FiBl and IFOAM E.U. will be held September 21-22, 2017 in Odessa, Ukraine. Ukraine is quickly becoming a major exporter of organic products especially feed grains for livestock.  This conference and tour will address organic supply chain integrity.  Representatives from the National Organic Program, Organic Trade Assocation, and U.S. industry are welcome to participate. The full agenda is now available. Please contact Monique Marez to learn more.

ANUGA will take place October 6-11 in Cologne, Germany. OTA will once again participate in ANUGA the largest food trade fair in the world for 2017.  OTA will host 8 companies at Anuga in the Organic Hall.  The OTA participant package includes 1 round trip flight, 1 hotel room for the duration of the show, 1m tabletop space, and signage at the show. In order to qualify you must promote certified organic product of 51% or more U.S. origin ingredients by value or volume.  Contact Monique Marez if you are interested.