Jul 7, 2016

Organic ag tour set at Carrington Research Center

Organic crop production management, organic variety trials and organic vegetable research are the focus of a tour being held during the North Dakota State University Carrington Research Extension Center’s annual field tours July 19.

This is the center’s fifth annual organic/sustainable agriculture tour and the 12th year since an organic field was established at the center. The center has added land to the certified organic program this year as well.

The organic/sustainable agriculture program will begin at 9 a.m. with registration, coffee and a welcome. Brad Brummond, an Extension agent for Walsh County and chair of the North Dakota Organic Advisory Board, will host the tour.

This year’s organic tour topics and speakers are:

• Organic field pea variety development and more -— Byron Lannoye, general manager, and Emily Paul, sales representative, Pulse USA
• Overview of the center’s organic program — Steve Zwinger, research specialist at the center
• Organic weed management — Greta Gramig, weed scientist, NDSU Plant Sciences Department
• Buckwheat as a phosphorous amendment to the soil — Mike Ostlie, agronomist at the center
• Warm-season annual grasses for forage and cover crops — Zwinger
• Oat breeding and variety performance results — Joel Ransom, Extension agronomist, NDSU Plant Sciences Department
• Organic oat development, production and marketing — Tom Rabaey, principle agronomist for crop production systems, General Mills
• Einkorn accession evaluation and development — Frank Kutka, Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society Farm Breeding Club coordinator
• Collaborative organic vegetable research — Kutka and Chiwon Lee, professor, greenhouse production, vegetable culture and breeding, NDSU Plant Sciences Department

The organic program will continue in the afternoon with an einkorn field evaluation. Participants will help in the selection process of developing a variety. The expanded organic land will be viewed during an informal tour.

Agronomy, horticulture/fruit and livestock tours also will be held in the morning. The tours will depart at 9:30 a.m. and run until noon. Also, a general agronomy tour will be held in the afternoon.

For more information about the organic/sustainable agriculture program, contact Steve Zwinger or Karl Hoppe at 701-652-2951.