Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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UI CALS News: Fort Hall Green-Manure Project Hosts Field Day and
Chili Feed Oct. 17

 

Contact: Pamela Hutchinson at (208) 397-4181 or phutch@udiaho.edu in
Aberdeen, Jennifer Miller at (208) 433-1827 or millerjen@cableone.net in
Boise, or communications specialist Marlene Fritz at (208) 364-6165 or
mfritz@uidaho.edu in Boise.

Fort Hall Green-Manure Project Hosts

Field Day and Chili Feed Oct. 17

        FORT HALL, Idaho-On Oct. 17 at the Fort Hall Indian Reservation,
University of Idaho research and extension scientist Pamela Hutchinson will
lead a tour of a 5-acre green-manure field trial that was initiated this
fall by UI scientists and their research partners. Participants will be
able
to see six different green-manure crops, including mustards, arugula and an
oilseed radish.


        Grown for a period of weeks after the fall wheat harvest, green
manures are increasingly being chopped and incorporated into Idaho fields
to
improve their soils' physical, chemical and biological properties and to
reduce pest problems in the following year's potatoes.


        "This is a great opportunity to learn about the different options
for green manures," says Jennifer Miller, sustainable agriculture program
coordinator for the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, a
project partner. "We've never before shown this many green-manure crops
growing at once, and it's really helpful to see how much biomass different
ones produce."


        Hutchinson, potato cropping systems weed scientist and coordinator
of the UI's contributions to the study, says scientists are measuring the
costs and benefits associated with growing green-manure crops and
determining the best methods for producing them.


        The work is supported by a two-year $69,000 grant from the American
Farmland Trust and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, landed by the
Three Rivers Resource Conservation and Development Council in Pocatello.
NCAP and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have been jointly exploring mustard
green-manure cropping for pest control and improved soil health on the
reservation since 2002.


        The field day will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Fort Hall Housing
Authority, where participants will enjoy a free chili-and-vegetable-soup
lunch before heading to the nearby field.
It will conclude at 2 p.m. In addition to the tour of the green-manure
plots, growers will hear an update on the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service's EQIP cost-share program for biofumigants and learn
about a small incentive program that will give nine growers on the
reservation and neighboring Soil Conservation Districts seed for 50 acres
to
be planted next August.


        Participants should RSVP for the chili lunch by contacting Miller
at
(208) 850-6504 or millerjen@cableone.net by Oct. 13.

 

        To reach the Housing Authority, take Exit 80 off Interstate 15,
turn
west and travel 0.4 miles, turn north on Eagle Road and travel 0.3 miles,
then turn west and travel another 0.2 miles.