News Release

Potato growers encouraged to attend Green Manure Field Day

BLACKFOOT, Idaho — The Potato Growers of Idaho (PGI) is encouraging area potato farmers to attend a Green Manure Crops Field Day, October 17, 2006, at the Housing Authority Building in Fort Hall, Idaho, to become educated on the benefits and costs of green manure cropping. The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a free chili lunch.

Pam Hutchinson, University of Idaho Potato Cropping Systems Weed Scientist, will lead a tour of the 5–acre green–manure field trial, and participants will be able to see five different green–manure crops, which include mustards, arugula and an oil seed radish.

In Idaho, green–manure crops typically act as cover crops grown primarily to return nutrients and improve soil quality. They can also reduce pest problems in fields where potatoes will be produced the following year.

Field day participants will learn of two opportunities for financial assistance to grow green–manure crops, and staff from USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service will provide an update on the EQIP cost–share program for biofumigants. In addition, the Shoshone–Bannock Tribes will offer their 50 acres of green manure seed incentive program for fall 2007.

The trials were established this August through the Shoshone Bannock Tribe’s Green Manure Project team and the University of Idaho. The Shoshone–Bannock Tribes, together with the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), have been exploring mustard green–manure cropping for pest control and improved soil health on the reservation since 2002.

To reach the Housing Authority Building, take I–15 exit 80, turn west toward the business center; turn right immediately after the gas station and bingo hall. At the first road, turn left, travel beyond the houses, over a speed bump, and then turn right into the parking lot of the red roofed, A–frame building.