Rural Roots

Organic Reduced Tillage in the Maritime Pacific Northwest Symposium and Farmer Engagement
February 24 & 25, 2021 | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM (PST)

Join soil educators on Zoom to learn about Organic Reduced Tillage in the PNW. See the event entry for details and registration information.

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Day 1

• Systems approach to reduced tillage
• Novel cover crop planting
• Termination strategies

Jen Aron, Blue Raven Farm. Jen is an experienced farmer and educator. She worked with Oregon State University Extension teaching beginning farmers for ten years, helping to train over 125 aspiring farmers. At Blue Raven Farm she has focused on soil ecology and no-till techniques. The results have been remarkable and Jen will share results to help inspire farmers to rethink their soil management practices.

Nick Andrews, Oregon State University Organic Vegetable Extension agent. Nick will share recent research on inter-planting cover crops in summer annual vegetables.

Doug Collins, Washington State University Extension Specialist and Soil Scientist. Doug will share recent experience and research using a no-till drill to establish cover crops following summer annual vegetable harvest

Day 2

• Tarping (occulation)
• Shallow disturbance
• Other approaches to controlling weeds and succeeding with reduced tillage in organic systems.

Natalie Lounsbury, Doctoral Candidate, Agroecology, University of New Hampshire. Natalie has been researching reduced tillage vegetable production for over 10 years, including evaluating tarping and cover crop combinations. She has managed organic vegetable farms and worked as an organic crop inspector in Maine. She is passionate about soil and science and created a podcast, Priming for Production, to help spread the latest understanding of soil organic matter.

Doug Collins, Washington State University Extension Specialist and Soil Scientist. Doug will share recent experience using a no-till transplanter to plant into summer cover crops for shoulder-season brassica production.