News from CORE Organic

The huge online database "Organic Eprints" was developed 20 years ago, and soon after, it was closely associated to the first CORE Organic Programme.

Defoliated stems or squeezed pulp from legumes forages are high in moisture and low in sugars and not likely to be well preserved by ensiling. If soluble sugars or dry feeds are added, silages of optimal quality and good nutritional value can be produced. This was shown in the ProRefine project.

The EU FarmBook is a new online platform, which will bring together the practical farming and forestry knowledge produced by EU multi-actor projects funded under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe in one central place.

Researchers and organic pig producers from eight European countries have developed measures that aim to increase animal health and welfare of organic pigs while reducing the environmental footprint of the farming systems.

To prevent health problems, calves should be fed only high-quality colostrum containing at least 50 g/L of immunoglobulins. A study, carried out within the ProYoungStock project, leads to the recommendation that cows should get 300 g linseeds (rich in Omega-3 FA) daily at least 30 days before calving until 30 days after calving.

As part of the ProYoungStock project, on-farm trials were conducted on two commercial organic dairy farms in Sweden. Cows on both farms were loose-housed and milked in automatic milking systems. Some of the cows and calves on these farms were included in the study.

As part of the ProRefine project, the PremAlfa Mini leaf stripping machine was tested in mixed leys of grass and red clover in Northern Sweden. Results suggest that the machine is able to primarily harvest clover leaves, leaving the remaining clover stems and grass for conventional harvest.

The GREENRESILIENT project (Organic and bio-dynamic vegetable production in low-energy GREENhouses – sustainable, RESILIENT and innovative food production systems), which ran from April 2018 to October 2021, demonstrates that an agroecological approach to greenhouse production is feasible and allows the establishment of robust agroecosystems in different European areas.

The project DOMINO was meant to increase biodiversity and use of organic residues, reducing external inputs and improving sustainability in intensive organic fruit systems. It achieved the objectives and potentially introduced a new orchard design.

The project POWER evaluated innovative grazing systems in Denmark, Italy and Switzerland. Common features are rotational systems protecting pasture areas as regards vegetation cover and nutrient leaching besides focus on natural behaviour.