PUYALLUP, Wash. – Demonstrations of a device called a chicken tractor that enables farmers to raise pastured poultry while fertilizing their fields will highlight the Washington State University BIOAg field day and farmer listening session on Monday, July 10. The field day will begin at 10 a.m. at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center, 7612 Pioneer Way E., Puyallup.
Participants also will tour research plots and hear the results of research on using organic systems to improve soil quality and biology, inter-seeding cover crops, and monitoring systems for beneficial insects. A farmer listening session and hosted lunch will follow the field day at 12:30 p.m., to give growers an opportunity to voice their priorities for research and education under the WSU BIOAg Initiative.
BIOAg, or biologically intensive agriculture and organic farming, refers to the use of natural and biological systems to control pests and enhance crop growth, thus reducing dependence on costly chemical amendments and improving farm profitability.
Thanks to the support of an unprecedented coalition of grassroots supporters and organizations, the state Legislature last session provided $400,000 in initial funding for WSU’s BIOAg initiative to support research, demonstrations and grower education.
More information about the BIOAg Initiative can be found WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Web site, http://www.csanr.wsu.edu/BIOAg/. There is no cost to attend either session, but pre-registration is required for the lunch and listening session.
For more information or to register for lunch and the listening session, contact Andy Bary at (253) 445-4588 or bary@wsu.edu/ CSANR’s BIOAg Initiative and Small Farms Program. The Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems are sponsoring the day’s events.
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