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from the issue of November 2, 2006
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Sidney site is first to earn designation
UNL farm certified organic
BY SANDI ALSWAGER KARSTENS, IANR NEWS SERVICE
The first of four UNL organic research farms has received certification from the Organic Crop Improvement Association International.
Certified organic research will now be taking place on the 75 acres of university-managed grain and legume cropland at the High Plains Agricultural Lab near Sidney, said Liz Sarno, UNL extension educator and the organic project coordinator.
Crops will include wheat, proso millet, peas, forage and green manure crops.
The project - Improving Organic Farming Systems across Nebraska Agroecoregions - will lay the foundation for long-term organic farming research at UNL.
"The overall purpose of the project is to develop research-based solutions to production problems on organic farms," Sarno said. "This will help farmers in the area and serve this group that typically receives less attention than mainstream agriculture."
The research at this location will focus on the semi-arid ecosystem of the High Plains. The certified location will allow for component research on all of the locally adapted dryland crops as well as management treatments, she said.
"This improved capacity for research by the University of Nebraska will help Nebraska organic producers meet the 15 percent annual increase in demand by consumers for organic products," said Ken Disney, an organic farmer from Lodgepole.
The project began in October 2005. A team of Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers received a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service's Integrated Organic Program to expand organic farming research and education, enhance collaborations with growers and develop science-based information for organic food production.
The farm near Sidney is part of three-year transition effort led by David Baltensperger, former crop breeding specialist at UNL's Panhandle Research and Extension Center at Scottsbluff.
Areas at three other research farms at UNL's South Central Agricultural Lab near Clay Center, the Haskell Agricultural Lab near Concord and the Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead are in transition and should be certified in about two years.
GO TO: ISSUE OF NOVEMBER 2
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UNL farm certified organic
732617S36374X
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