MU Bradford Research Center holds first organic field day

COLUMBIA, Mo.–The University of Missouri Bradford Research Center in Columbia will hold its first Organic Field Day, Aug. 1 from 1-6 p.m. The field day will feature a variety of tours, demonstrations and activities.

Researchers in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources are looking at greenhouse gas emissions when using cover crops and compost in organic production, organic no-till planting, organic vegetable production, and how to transition from conventional to organic production. Funding is through grants from the Ceres Trust and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“As part of these grants we do a lot of outreach activities,” says Kerry Clark, a research specialist at Bradford. “We have an organic page on Bradford’s website, we present at field days, and the apex of our outreach activities is this field day.”

Visitors can choose from three concurrent wagon tours: One will look at organic vegetable production, hoop house production and soil health assessment. Another will highlight organic grain production, winter cover crops and the use of cover crops and no-till. The third tour will cover heirloom tomato production, composting, soil amendments and trap cropping for insects in vegetable production.

There will be presentations on equipment for organic farming, adding native plants and pollinators, and using your soil test results. The Missouri Department of Agriculture will demonstrate a mobile flash freezer facility, which will also be open for tours. Visitors can try organic snacks made from food grown at the Bradford Research Center.

“Not only do we hope we can get new information out to farmers, this is also an opportunity for us to network with farmers and get their experiences and their ideas for further research,” Clark says.

The Bradford Research Center Organic Field Day is free and open to the public, but attendees are asked to register by contacting Clark at 573-884-7945 or [email protected].

For more information about organic research at Bradford, go to aes.missouri.edu/bradford/research/organic. For directions, go to aes.missouri.edu/bradford/contact.php.