From left to right, Lauren Gwin, Leonard Freeman Jr., Garry Stephenson, Chris Schreiner and Ben Bowell at the Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems at Oregon State University.
“The partnership between Oregon Tilth and the OSU Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems reaches back decades. The power of our continuous collaboration comes from the complementary strengths of each organization focused on the goal of advancing organic farming.”
- Garry Stephenson, Director, Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems Coordinator,
Small Farms Program
In addition to farmer and handler education, we focus on building organic support networks by providing education to agricultural professionals. By leveraging these networks, our education programs have a ripple effect across the country.
Transition.
We assist producers as they explore the transition to organic certification. Our groundbreaking 12-year national partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides more federal resources to organic and transitioning-to-organic producers. Oregon Tilth has trained NRCS staff across the country.
Conservation.
Organic farming practices regenerate soil, protect water and support biodiversity. Oregon Tilth’s education efforts demonstrate the resiliency in utilizing cover crops, crop rotations, buffers, pollinator plantings and manure management. We help farmers and farm service providers build conservation knowledge, skills and networks for support. Our partnership with NRCS has provided approximately 150 conservation trainings for 3,665 NRCS staff members across the United States.