UNL Extension Organic Winter Wheat Tour June 23 or 24 (1006090)

June 09, 2010

LINCOLN, Neb. — A University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Organic Winter Wheat Variety Plot Tour will be June 23 at UNL's South Central Agricultural Laboratory at Clay Center or June 24 at UNL's Haskell Agricultural Laboratory near Concord.

The one-hour tour and presentation will start at 5 p.m.

The UNL Wheat Breeding program is working with millers and bakers to select winter wheat cultivars for the organic market with an emphasis on nutritious whole wheat products. Antioxidants, dietary fiber and gluten strength, as well as yield performance and disease resistance, will be discussed for each of the varieties grown on certified organic research land.

Richard Little, UNL organic wheat breeding specialist, will visit with farmers about experimental wheat lines, and released and potential cultivars for organic wheat production. He also will discuss fertility issues and how various cultivars perform in a crop rotation.

The tour at Haskell Ag Lab also will include reviewing an experiment designed to evaluate the period between harvesting winter wheat and planting the subsequent row crop. Several cover crops were compared and the cover crops were subject to several management methods including: disk, flaming and crimping to prepare for subsequent row crops. There also will be a demonstration of a Rodale design crimper and a flamer.

Farmers considering transitioning to an organic production system also can see how crop rotations are set up at each research location and meet with other organic farmers.

To register, call Pat at (402) 584-3837 or e-mail Liz Sarno, esarno2@unl.edu.

UNL Extension is in the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

6/9/10-SK