G2120 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Organic...
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® ® Know how. Know now. University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources G2120 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Organic Farming Research Charles A. Shapiro, Soil Scientist Charles A. Francis, Sustainable Agriculture/Landscape Design Specialist Elizabeth A. Sarno, Organic Farming Systems Educator Twyla M. Hansen, Organic Project Assistant • University of Nebraska–Lincoln Organic Farming Research • Transitioning to Organic Farming • Developing a Farm Organic System Plan • Certification Process for Organic Production • Healthy Farm Index • Bird Conservation on Working Farms • Selecting Winter Wheat Cultivars for Organic Production • Flame Weeding in Agronomic Crops • Cover Crops Suitable for Nebraska • Nutrient Management in Organic Farming Organic Farming and Related NebGuides for Nebraska This publication is part of a NebGuide series on organic farming being developed by University of Nebraska– Lincoln Extension. As the publications are completed, they will be available on the UNL Extension Publications website. Go to extension.unl.edu/publications and enter the title into the search box, or contact your local exten- sion office. An overview of the organic farming research and resources available through University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension. The University of Nebraska– Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources is committed to sustainable food, fiber, and natural resource systems that support a bio-based economy, and economics and environments for a sustainable future. To help meet these commitments, four UNL agri - culture research centers have established the infrastructure for organic research with field activities funded by grants from the USDA Integrated Organic Program. Organic crop research is being conducted on USDA National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic land in three of the four Nebraska ecoregions (Western High Plains, Central Great Plains, Nebraska Sandhills, Western Corn Belt) at four agricultural field laboratories across the state on 120 total acres of cropland (Figure 1). • Southeast: Agricultural Research and Develop- ment Center (ARDC) near Mead, Neb., located in the Western Corn Belt Plains (southeast rainfed agroecozone) • Northeast: Haskell Agricultural Laboratory (HAL) near Concord, Neb., located in the Nebraska Loess Hills (northeast rainfed agroecozone) • South Central: South Central Agricultural Labo- ratory (SCAL) near Clay Center, Neb., located in the Central Great Plains (south central irrigated agroecozone) • West: High PlainsAgricultural Laboratory (HPAL) near Sidney, Neb., located in the Western High Plains (western rainfed agroecozone)
Transcript of G2120 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Organic...
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Know how. Know now. University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
G2120
University of Nebraska–LincolnOrganic Farming Research
Charles A. Shapiro, Soil ScientistCharles A. Francis, Sustainable Agriculture/Landscape Design Specialist
Elizabeth A. Sarno, Organic Farming Systems EducatorTwyla M. Hansen, Organic Project Assistant
• UniversityofNebraska–LincolnOrganicFarmingResearch
• TransitioningtoOrganicFarming• DevelopingaFarmOrganicSystemPlan• CertificationProcessforOrganicProduction• HealthyFarmIndex
• BirdConservationonWorkingFarms• SelectingWinterWheatCultivarsforOrganic Production• FlameWeedinginAgronomicCrops• CoverCropsSuitableforNebraska• NutrientManagementinOrganicFarming
Organic Farming and Related NebGuides for Nebraska
ThispublicationispartofaNebGuideseriesonorganicfarmingbeingdevelopedbyUniversityofNebraska–LincolnExtension.Asthepublicationsarecompleted,theywillbeavailableontheUNLExtensionPublicationswebsite.Gotoextension.unl.edu/publications andenterthetitleintothesearchbox,orcontactyourlocalexten-sionoffice.
Anoverviewof theorganic farming researchand resources available through University ofNebraska–LincolnExtension.
TheUniversity ofNebraska–LincolnInstituteofAgricultureandNaturalResourcesiscommittedtosustainablefood,fiber,andnaturalresource systems that support abio-basedeconomy,andeconomicsandenvironmentsforasustainable
future.Tohelpmeetthesecommitments,fourUNLagri-cultureresearchcentershaveestablishedtheinfrastructurefororganicresearchwithfieldactivitiesfundedbygrantsfromtheUSDAIntegratedOrganicProgram.
OrganiccropresearchisbeingconductedonUSDANationalOrganicProgram(NOP)certifiedorganiclandinthreeofthefourNebraskaecoregions(WesternHighPlains,CentralGreatPlains,NebraskaSandhills,Western
CornBelt)atfouragriculturalfieldlaboratoriesacrossthestateon120totalacresofcropland(Figure 1).
• Southeast: Agricultural Research and Develop-mentCenter(ARDC)nearMead,Neb.,locatedintheWestern Corn Belt Plains (southeast rainfedagroecozone)
• Northeast:HaskellAgriculturalLaboratory(HAL)nearConcord,Neb.,locatedintheNebraskaLoessHills(northeastrainfedagroecozone)
• SouthCentral:SouthCentralAgriculturalLabo-ratory(SCAL)nearClayCenter,Neb.,locatedinthe Central Great Plains (south central irrigatedagroecozone)
• West:HighPlainsAgriculturalLaboratory(HPAL)near Sidney, Neb., located in theWestern HighPlains(westernrainfedagroecozone)
Nebraskahasdiverseecologicalandculturalcharac-teristics—averageannualrainfallrangingfrom13inchesinthewestto36inchesintheeast,differinglengthsofgrowingseasons,altitudes,andsoilsthatarevaluableforscreeningcultivarsanddevelopingcropsforadaptationto organic management under a variety of conditions.Researchisconductedoncertifiedorganicland,usingac-ceptedculturalpracticesandcroprotationsforthevaryingconditions,whichhelpsprovideorganiccropproductionsolutionsforfarmersintheirecoregion.
Long-term and Current UNL OrganicFarming Research
Long-termUNLorganicresearchprojectgoalsinclude:
• Provide the organic farming community withresearch-basedsolutionstoproductionissues;
• Developanagroecologicalresearchandeducationsystemthatincorporatesasystematicanalysisoftheecologicalimpactsoforganicproductionsystems;
• Workcollaborativelywithorganicfarmersonin-dependentandUNL-drivenon-farmfieldresearchexperimentstodetermineresearchpriorities,utilizeorganicfarmers;experience,andidentifycommonorganicproductionsolutions;
• Demonstrateanddeliverresearchresultstofarm-ers in extension meetings, field days and tours,and through classroom teaching and curriculuminformation;
• Developinstitutionalcapacityforresearch,teach-ing,andextensioninorganicfarmingpracticesandagroecologicalsystemsdesign,andgreatercross-disciplinaryresearchintegrationofcomponentsinthefoodsystem;
• Developadecisionsupporttool,theHealthyFarmIndex, toutilizequantitativeassessmentsofbio-diversityandecosystemservicestoimprovefarmmanagement;
• Determinethebiodiversity,conservation,andeco-systemservicesvalueoforganicpractices;
• Contributetotheefficientmanagementofresourcesinagroecosystemstobenefitfarmsandnetincomeinalltypesofsystems,andtoprovideguidelinesformoreecologicallybeneficialsystems;
• Provide extension educatorswith research-basedinformationon transitioning land toorganicpro-duction,organicfarming,culturalpractices,croprotations,and theuseofcovercropswithincroprotations.
CurrentUNLorganicresearchincludes:
• Nutrient management: Determine the effects oforganicsoilamendments,andinteractionbetweengeneralfertilitylevelsandintegratedweedcontrol;assess nutrient balance on organic farms; raiseknowledge in organic community of exportednutrients;
Figure1. AgroecozonesofNebraska.CertifiedorganicfarmoperationsacrossNebraska(2006data,whitedots)andtheUNLorganicagriculturalresearchsites()
UNLOrganicResearchSitesOrganicFarms(2004data)
0 15 30 60 90 120Miles
N
AgroecozonesCentralGreatPlains
HighPlainsNebraskaSandHillsNorthwesternGlaciatedPlains
WesternCornBelt
ExtensionisaDivisionoftheInstituteofAgricultureandNaturalResourcesattheUniversityofNebraska–LincolncooperatingwiththeCountiesandtheUnitedStatesDepartmentofAgriculture.
UniversityofNebraska–LincolnExtensioneducationalprogramsabidewiththenondiscriminationpoliciesoftheUniversityofNebraska–LincolnandtheUnitedStatesDepartmentofAgriculture.
©2012,TheBoardofRegentsoftheUniversityofNebraskaonbehalfoftheUniversityofNebraska–LincolnExtension.Allrightsreserved.
• Weed management:Evaluateanintegratedapproachfor weed control usingmechanical methods andflameweeding;
• Cover crops:Determineoptimumselectionofmix-ture,timingofplanting,economics,incorporationmethods,effectsoncropyields,benefitstoincreasesoilnutrientlevels,organicmatter,carbon,water-holdingcapacity,erosionpreventionandmicrobialactivity, increasespeciesbiodiversity,habitat forbeneficialinsects,andweedsuppression;
• Organic small grains breeding and systems develop-ment:Breedcultivarsoptimaltoorganicproductionfordiseaseandpestresistance,responsetofertil-izers,andend-usequality;
• Antioxidant production in organic small grains:Determinelevelsofantioxidantlevelsamongwheatcultivars,andorganicenvironments;
• Biodiversity conservation on working organic farms:Quantifytheeffectoforganicmanagementofbreedingbirdpopulations,andinstitutelong-termecologicalmonitoring;
• Healthy Farm Index assessment of biodiversity indicators and land use patterns:Deliveratooltoorganicfarmersforfarmassessmentandstructureddecisionmaking;
• On-farm/farmer research capability: Provideguid-ance, encouragement, and technical support fororganicfarmersandresearchgroupsinNebraska.
On-goingUNLresearchimpactsorganiceducationinNebraskathrough:
• residentinstruction,especiallyundergraduateedu-cation;
• extensionoutreach;• informationresourcesprovidedtootherpublicagen-cies,colleges,highschooleducators,andothersinNebraska.
UNL Organic Information Resources
Education. Resident education at UNL includesspecificunitsandmaterialsincoursessuchas:
• OrganicFarmingandHorticulture(AGRO/HORT439/839)
• Agroecology(AGRO/HORT/NRES435/835)• AgroecosystemsAnalysis(AGRO/HORT436/836)• AgriculturalandNaturalResourcesSystems(NRES/AGRI103)
• AgroforestryinSustainableAgriculturalSystems(NRES/HORT417/817)
• IntroductiontoConservationBiology(NRES211)
An organic option is now available for studentsmajoringinAgronomyandHorticulture.
Extension outreach.Extensionoutreachisavailableto organic, sustainable, conventional and transitioningfarmers, agronomists, farm technicians, advisors, con-sultants, inspectors and suppliers, teachers, students,governmentofficials,consumers,andthegeneralpublic.SpecificactivitiesincludefielddaysattheUNLorganicresearchsitesandonlocalorganicfarms,organiceduca-tionalseminars,workshops,andconferencepresentationsacrossthestate.Informationalmaterials,mentoring,dis-cussions,andlearningfromorganicfarmersareempha-sizedatallvenues.On-farmorganicresearchiscurrentlytakingplaceonorganicfarmsacrossthestate.
Webresources.TheOrganicWorkingGroupwebsite(organic.unl.edu)islinkedtoUNLCropWatch(cropwatch.unl.edu),allowingresultstoreachabroadaudience.TheOrganicWorkingGroupwebsite includes a section forfarmerfeedbackandresearchsuggestions,linkstopastandcurrentorganicresearch,andlinkstoorganicresearchpublications.
OtherWebresourcesinclude:• OrganicFarming2010(sustainableag.unl.edu/pdf/
OrganicFarming2010.pdf)• Multifunctional Rural Landscapes and theImportance of Ecosystem Services in Farmland(sustainableag.unl.edu/research.shtml)
Inaddition,theOrganicWorkingGroupcanbefoundon:• Twitter(twitter.com/UNL_Organic)• Facebook(www.facebook.com/pages/Lincoln-NE/
UNL-Organic-Working-Group/79073982154)
For more information:
ElizabethSarno,ExtensionEducatorUNLOrganicProjectCoordinatorEmail:[email protected]:402-584-2261
This publication has been peer reviewed.
UNLExtensionpublicationsareavailableonlineathttp://extension.unl.edu/publications.
Index:CropProduction/FieldCropsCropping Practices
IssuedJune2012
