Organic Farming Workshop and Field Day
July 24th • Cullman • 3-8 p.m.

by Tony A. Glover

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) and Alabama Agriculture Experiment Station (AAES) wants to invite you to an organic farming event in Cullman on July 24, 2012, from 3-8 pm. Speakers from ACES and AAES will present organic pest control information. This information will be especially useful to organic farmers and serious gardeners wanting to reduce their chemical use. In addition to traditional production, we will have a short presentation on season extension techniques using a high tunnel greenhouse. We will spend the first three hours on indoor lecture while the weather is hot and then eat a light supper before heading to the North Alabama Horticulture Research Station for a tour of research trials going on this summer.

	Tomato research at the North Alabama Research Station.

Organic farming presents some unique challenges to Alabama growers. The most challenging aspect of organic vegetable production is how to control the pests we have in the deep and mid-South. Extension vegetable pest specialist Dr. Ayanava Majumdar (aka The Bug Doctor) will bring his traveling road show of common vegetable pests and answer your pest questions. Extension pathologist Dr. Jim Jacobi will be discussing disease control strategies for the organic grower. Both speakers will provide practical and timely pest management information. There are many organic-approved products on the market and more coming every year. However, the organic grower should rely on these expensive products as a last resort. Cultural practices are the best and least expensive pest control strategy we have. You will get the straight facts about which products and cultural techniques work best for each crop discussed.

The North Alabama Horticulture Research Station is the only research station in Alabama dedicated solely to horticulture crops. Station Director Arnold Caylor has spent his entire career conducting research projects and he has a vast amount of practical experience including organic vegetable production. The research station has a dedicated area for certified organic research. One stop on the field tour will be to the tomato patch where Arnold will discuss heirloom pros and cons along with some advantages of hybrid tomatoes in organic systems.

If you are interested in this workshop call the Cullman County Extension office at (256) 737-9386 to pre-register. You may get registration details and directions at this web link: http://tinyurl.com/organicJuly1012.

For more information on organic vegetable production, visit the Alabama Cooperative Extension site at http://www.aces.edu/anr/organicveg/. This site has links to resources, research updates and other meetings planned across Alabama and in the South.

Tony A. Glover is a County Extension Coordinator in Cullman County.