June 17, 2011

Information from a 35-year study comparing organic and conventional cropping systems will be presented June 30 during an online webinar. 

"Long-Term Rotation Experiment Evaluates Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems in Nebraska" will be presented from 10 to 11 a.m. June 30. This is part of the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Webinar Series.

In 1975, Dr. Warren Sahs, Superintendent of the UNL Mead Field Laboratory (now the Agricultural Research and Development Center or ARDC) and other agricultural scientists thought it was important to establish a long-term experiment that evaluated a crop rotation under organic and conventional management systems and a corn monoculture system. The experiment was initiated in 1976.

The experiment was managed consistently from 1976 through 1992. From 1993 through the present, new crop rotations were developed to be consistent with current practices. Gary Lesoing, Nebraska State SARE Coordinator and Extension Educator, managed the experiment from 1980 to 1991. He will provide the background and summarize research data collected during the first 16 years of this project. Sam Wortmann, UNL PhD candidate in agronomy, will explain the rotations and research from more recent years. Wortmann's research for his master's degree was part of this study. 

To connect to the webinar at 10 a.m. June 30 copy and paste this URL into your web browser: https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/nebraska

Gary Lesoing
Nebraska SARE Coordiantor