On January 9, 2025, nearly 40 PSPA members gathered online to hear two lectures on organic farming in the region. Organic agriculture has its scientific and practical roots in the region and has been growing steadily over the last several decades.  This program looked back highlighting those roots, surveyed the current practices, and anticipated what the future will bring.

Joseph R. Heckman, Ph.D., Extension Specialist-Soil Fertility, Cook Campus, Rutgers University spoke on “History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Organic Farming”, offering a genealogy of the roots of organic farming stretching back to the people who brought key ideas and practices from China and India. Hannah Brubaker, Executive Director, Pasa Sustainable Agriculture offered “Scope and Scale of Organic Farming in PA”, a more modern view of organic farming and its grown in the region.

Attendees shared their take-aways, particularly the implications for their own farming practice. For a link to a recording of the session…https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/t1gvZys97eQmRwn8t-p0teDA9Xb_7EnuqXuZWZdpNwngxfvbNfuSvxEk8CgISdI.OAWMs4j4ZeCiFB_Y?startTime=1736445741000 Passcode: $zQ4FCZ!