May 18, 2007

An organic farm tour in the Panhandle June 26 will explore organic farming systems under irrigated and dryland conditions.

The tour is sponsored by UNL Extension, Chapter 2 of the Organic Crop Improvement Association and the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education and will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Legion Hall in Lodgepole.

The first stop on the tour will be Ken Disney's farm. Participants will observe green manure plowdown of peas, wheat and millet fields and fallow with green manure of oats. Disney has been a certified organic farmer for several years and will answer questions about the process of certification and available markets, said Chuck Francis, UNL sustainable agriculture specialist and one of the tour coordinators.

At 11:30 a.m., there will be a free organic lunch and presentation on organic certification, the requirements, logical steps and ideas from growers on how to become an organic operation.

In the afternoon, the group will tour Larry Glassburn's farm to see weed control techniques, including flamer and cultivators, observe organic corn fields and discuss rotations and soil fertility. The day will conclude with a discussion with the growers.

For more information or to register, contact Karen Spath at (402) 472-8616.

IANR News Release