Tom Frantzen, an organic farmer from Alta Vista, Iowa, will provide the keynote address on how to grow organic forage crops during the second annual New York Organic Crops and Soils Field Day, Aug. 12, at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y.
Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Northeast Organic Network, New York Certified Organic and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York sponsor the field day.
The Frantzen farm operation includes about 300 crop acres, 75 beef cows and 100 sows. The meat is sold through Organic Valley http://www.organicvalley.com, a Wisconsin-based cooperative with more than 460 farmer-members in 17 states. The farm has been organic since 1995.
Other field day subjects and field demonstrations will include the latest information in weed management, soil health, organic grain markets, open pollinated corn varieties, and the beneficial connections between livestock and crop production. Organic field crop, dairy/livestock farmers and researchers will share their expertise in roundtable discussions and farm field stops.
Points on an afternoon bus tour will include the Horst Farm in Penn Yan, N.Y., where Edwin and Lucille Horst milk about 40 cows with 40 young stock. The cows rotationally graze 80 acres of pasture, and the Horsts harvest about 100 acres of hay plus a small acreage of corn grain.
Preregistration and payment are required. The fee is $25 per person and $15 per person for additional participants from the same farm. Lunch will be served. To register, contact Maxine Welcome at 255-5439 or through e-mail at mw45@cornell.edu.
For more information on the Northeast Organic Network, visit http://www.neon.cornell.edu.
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