Subject: News Item
From: [email-masked] (Kristen Kelleher)
Date: 7 Jun 1994 20:50:32 -0400
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture

Upcoming Sustainable Agriculture Field Day to be held June 23 in Davis, CA.

A news release on the event follows.  If you have any questions, contact
Kristen Kelleher, public information, Western SARE, or Diana Friedman,
project research manager at the numbers noted at the end of the press
release.  Newsletter editors, please include this announcement in
appropriate publications.

-------------------------------------------------

UC sustainable agriculture project yielding answers for Valley farmers

        DAVIS -- A "sustainable agriculture" farming systems experiment is
beginning to yield some answers for Sacramento Valley growers as the
project nears the midway point of its 12-year life.   Agricultural
scientists from the University of California will discuss some of their
findings during a field day June 23 at the Agronomy Department's field
headquarters.
        Farmers, farm advisors, researchers, students and the general
public are invited to join the team of agronomists, pest management and
irrigation specialists, soil scientists, economists and other UC
researchers as they discuss what they are learning about low-input and
organic farming practices.  "We're now past the transitional phase and are
beginning to see some longer term trends," said project leader Steve
Temple, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension agronomist.  "We're not seeing the
great yield differences in conventional and organically grown plots we
observed during the first few years of the project.   Now we're trying to
understand why by focusing on the soil processes and other mechanisms that
affect production."
        One area of great concern to researchers and growers alike is how
changes in production practices affect soil fertility.  Researchers will
discuss new work on developing methodology for studying nitrate leaching
and the impact of organic amendments on nutrient status in processing
tomatoes.  Field day participants will also have an opportunity to visit
"hands-on" laboratories to examine weeds, soil microbes, nematodes and
plant diseases that are prevalent in the experimental plots.
        Temple noted that the format of the program has changed somewhat
from previous years.  As in the past, field day participants will be
transported in tractor-drawn hay wagons to visit the 28-acre main research
plots.  This year visitors will also go to an adjacent "companion"  area to
visit new experiments in progress. The program this year will also include
an equipment demonstration featuring specialized equipment for sustainable
agriculture technologies.  Additionally,  the research presentations from
the main experiment will be given in the afternoon rather than in the
beginning of the morning session.  The day will conclude with a question
and answer panel with the growers, farm advisors and researchers.
        The main part of the study involves a four-year rotation of
processing tomatoes, safflower, field corn and a wheat-bean double crop
grown with conventional, organic and low-input farming techniques.  One of
the experiment's "treatments" involves a two-year rotation of tomatoes and
wheat.
        "The conventional systems are managed with farming practices
typical of the central Sacramento Valley," Temple said.  "The low-input and
organic systems in the experiment incorporate alternatives to conventional
pest management practices and rotational schemes that include
nitrogen-fixing legume cover crops."
        Preregistration for the field day is required. The $15 registration
fee ($10 for students), which includes lunch and an information packet,
should be made payable to UC Regents and mailed to Field Day -- SAFSP,
Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis,
CA 95616.   
        The Agronomy Department's field headquarters is located on
Hutchison Drive just west of Highway 113.  Registration starts at 8 a.m. 
Presentations and tours get under way at 8:30 a.m. and will run until 3
p.m.  The welcoming address will be given by Chancellor Larry N.
Vanderhoef.
        This research project is sponsored by the UC Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education Program;  the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Western Regional Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
 program,  the EnvironmentalProtection Agency-USDA "Agriculture in Concert
with the Environment" program;  the California Department of Food and
Agriculture "Fertilizer Research and Education Program," and the UC
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
        Appropriate PCA credit has been requested.  For additional
information, contact Diana Friedman, Department of Agronomy and Range
Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; (916) 752-2023. 
Interested reporters and editors, contact Kristen Kelleher, public
information for Western USDA SARE at (916) 752-5987.
#  #  #

Kristen Kelleher
Public Information, Western U.S.
USDA SARE/ACE
c/o University of California
(916) 752-5987
[email-masked]