Northeast Buckwheat Field Day

Buckwheat can be a valuable rotation crop on organic farms, and is also well suited to new farms and to part-time farming. The production costs are relatively low, and the management attention it requires comes in a few short, but intense, bursts.  The price paid to growers has tripled in the last few years, which has brought it much more attention.

Thomas Björkman of Cornell will review buckwheat grain production methods, both for new and advanced buckwheat producers. Field demonstrations will show how planting methods and plant populations affect the structure of the plant and how well it suppresses weeds. The discussion will also review how the growing season will affect harvest timing, and how to assess it on your farm.

Elizabeth Dyck of OGRIN will speak about producing buckwheat covercrop seed, and marketing it to local organic vegetable farmers. This crop and income diversification can help build local organic economies, and make organic practices easier on vegetable farms. Meeting the requirements for good cover crops seed takes special attention and equipment, but Dr. Dyck has found cost-effective tools for small scale processing to make high-quality seed.

In 2011, the Buckwheat Field Day will be in the Southern Tier, home to some prime buckwheat-producing land. The site is easily accessible from the southern Finger Lakes, the Genesee Valley,  Cortland County, and northern Pennsylvania, where there are also many current growers. The field day will be rewarding whether you are an expert, trying it for the first time, or just considering the possibility.

The USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Center develops and tests new crops for conservation use. Their mission is to make it easier to protect the environment by planting suitable vegetation. They have been the source of many new cover crops, including Aroostook rye. They also develop trees for erodible land and streambanks, wildflower varieties for conservation and recreation land, stress tolerant native plants for reclamation sites, as well as bioenergy crops that are well matched to their location. Martin Vander Grinten and Paul Salon are the lead scientists on the projects at the center.

No pre-registration is required for this event, but more information is available on the web here: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/bjorkman/lab/buck/fieldday11.php.

The field day is sponsored by the Northeast Buckwheat Growers Association and is funded by USDA Smith-Lever. Dr. Dyck's work is sponsored by the USDA Organic Research and Extension Initiative.