Organic Workshop and Field Day Attracts Growers Interested in Alternative Opportunities and Land Stewardship to the Lane Agriculture Center, 2008

A combined soil management workshop and field day was held July 10 at the Lane Agriculture Center through the combined efforts of Oklahoma State University’s Wes Watkins Agricultural Research and Extension Center, the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and the South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory of the USDA Agricultural Research Service.  Additional support for the event was provided by the Risk Management Agency, the Atoka County Extension Office, and the USDSA Natural Resource Conservation Service.  Approximately 100 attendees joined the staffs of the Lane Ag Center and the Kerr Center for this afternoon and evening event.

The overall objectives of the program were to share the experiences gained by OSU and USDA-ARS programs at the Lane Agriculture Center in development of certified organic vegetable production practices and techniques.  Demonstration of certified organic vegetable production has been underway six years.  Development of research on production practices for organic vegetable growers has been a major focus of activities at the Center for a number of years. 

The program began with a workshop on recognizing and preventing soil erosion.  This was in response to the observation of signs of soil erosion occurrence in certified organic fields at Lane and the need to identify measures to prevent such soil losses.  Mr. Sam Viles of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service provided a presentation on types of erosion and measures to be taken to prevent them.  This was followed tours to view the certified organic vegetable fields and discuss the field situations that can lead to soil loss through erosion.

The second portion of the program started off with a discussion by Dr. Penny Perkins-Veazie on benefits of organic fruits and vegetables and how to handle these products to receive best results at the market.   Dr. Kefy Desta talked on newly established programs on sustainable agriculture at Oklahoma State University.  Of interest to organic growers is a training program that will be held this October on the basics of organic growing.

The final aspect of the program was a tour of organic research and demonstration field projects.  Dr. Benny Bruton, USDA/ARS, discussed “micro-plot” studies on control of soil born diseases.  In this project microbial preparations are used to amend soil as a possible means of controlling the fungus fusarium, a major disease problem of many horticultural crops worldwide.  The next stop was the certified organic vegetable field of the center where Dr. Warren Roberts, OSU, discussed work underway at the center on tomato production and a possible method to prevent foliar diseases.  Dr. Roberts also discussed soil fertility practices used for certified organic growing.  Poultry litter has been a major nutrient source that has given good results.

Dr. Angie Davis, USDA/ARS, talked about organic herb production.  Organic herbs have done well in this trial that used certified organic practices.  The various herbs offer good potential as a specialty crop for small scale growers.

Dr. Vincent Russo, USDA/ARS, discussed the organic production of sweetcorn and other vegetables.  He also discussed vegetable crop rotation projects for organic production.  Dr. Roberts concluded the program with a discussion of vermiculture to produce compost and its use in production.