Learning What's Possible—WVU
Research Farm Goes Organic
With suburban growth creeping into some
of West Virginia’s farm country, growers
who raise vegetables and field crops among
the steep slopes of this mountainous state
are considering organic production as a way
to improve profits and stay in harmony with
their new neighbors. Responding to their
needs, researchers at West Virginia University
launched a comprehensive, SARE-funded study
examining best transition strategies, with
a focus on soil fertility.
“There’s a desire to move to
more sustainable practices on some of the
farms now surrounded by houses, especially
by reducing potential conflicts over pesticide
spraying,” said James Kotcon, WVU researcher
and leader of the project. Since converting
to organic requires a 3-year transition,
Kotcon set out to research this phase to
smooth the way for producers.
With growers’ needs in mind, WVU researchers
worked throughout the project—from
setting objectives to experimental design
to farming techniques—with members
of the Mountain State Organic Growers and
Buyers Association and focused on yields,
soil quality, pest management, and economics.
The project converted WVU’s 60-acre
Horticulture Farm to organic by 2003.
Four field days drew interested growers. “So
many people go, and it exposes people to
these options—they get a better handle
on what’s possible,” said Susan
Sauter, an organic farmer from Bruceton Mills,
WV, who worked on the project’s steering
committee and benefited from demonstrations
of a new pest management product for squash. “It
[organic transition] is not so scary.”
Scientists tested soil management strategies
in two systems—small-scale vegetables
and field crops with livestock. Their main
thrust was comparing fertility sources: cover
crops only versus a combination of cover
crops and compost amendments. In the first
season of the vegetable trial, they sowed
rye, clover, and vetch cover crops and plowed
them under as a green manure in the cover-crops-only
treat-ment, followed by a 4-year rotation
of legumes, leafy vegetables, tomatoes/ peppers,
and cucurbits. In the compost-plus-cover-crops
treatment, researchers amended the soil with
10 tons of dairy manure compost per acre
and began harvesting the first season. They
mirrored this test on the 3-acre crop-livestock
trial, which included wheat, potatoes, soybeans,
and lamb.
Adding compost along with cover crops added
organic matter to the soil and boosted yields
for vegetables, compared to the cover-crops-only
plots, with economic returns up to three
times greater. Yields for pepper, pumpkin,
and spinach were significantly higher, Kotcon
said, while yields for other vegetables were
comparable to national averages. Field crop
yields were inconsistent, although they produced
healthy lambs each year.
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