August 28, 2008

A UNL Extension Diversified Ag Tour Sept. 5 will highlight two southeast Nebraska farms, the Kimmel Research and Education Center, and an organic winery.

The third annual tour will begin at 9 a.m. at the Dan Watermeier Farm near Syracuse. Vans will provide transportation from Falls City, Auburn, Nebraska City and Tecumseh. Watermeier organically produces corn, soybeans and hay. He is experimenting with crop rotations to determine what legumes are best for his operation.

The group will return to the Kimmel Orchard in Nebraska City, and Erik Olson, orchard manager, will give a guided hayrack tour of the orchard and vineyard. Participants will be able to see some of the experimental crops they are investigating in cooperation with the Kimmel Education and Research Center. Lunch will be served at the Kimmel center.

Following lunch, Gary Lesoing will talk on the Beginning Farm Program and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Connie Reimers-Hild will talk on AgriTourism and Entrepreneurship, and Sarah Heidzig-Kraeger will talk on Risk Preference through an Entrepreneurship Venture.

Participants then will travel to the Bob Muelleman Organic Vineyard near Union and learn about his approach to organic grape production.

The final stop will be with Chris and Eric Gress of Nebraska City. Chris is the Nebraska City farmer's market manager and Eric is a vegetable producer who sells at the Omaha and Nebraska City farmer's markets. Chris will speak on challenges of operating a farmer's market in a small city, while Eric will address issues of growing and marketing vegetables at a farmer's market.

Cost is $20 which covers the cost of lunch and transportation.

For more information or to participate in this tour, contact Heidzig-Kraeger in Richardson County at (402) 245-4324, Jessica Jones at the Johnson County Extension Office at (402) 335-3669, Vaughn Hammonds at Kimmel at (402) 873-3166 or Lesoing at Nemaha County Extension at (402) 274-4755.