Enhancing Farmers Capacity to Produce High Quality Organic Bread Wheat

Non-Technical Summary: Demand for local organic food has inspired new interest in growing bread-quality wheat in New England. Our region's farmers have long produced small grains for animal feed on dairy and crop farms, but lack local knowledge and research information regarding production for the organic bread market. We aim to build farmers' capacity to produce high quality organic bread wheat. Our objectives are: 1. Actively partner with organic farmers, millers, and bakers to develop strategies for organic bread wheat production that satisfy multiple criteria: productivity, profitability, milling and baking quality, and flavor. On-farm and on-station trials will: - Test innovative weed management strategies from Europe that offer fundamentally new approaches for organic cereal production - Develop critically-needed organic fertility strategies for high grain protein - Identify cultivars suited to organic production in our region - Determine how cultivar performance and disease incidence are influenced by weed and fertility management 2. Develop information and tools for farmers to evaluate the economic and agronomic opportunities of diversifying their enterprises with bread wheat, including interactive enterprise budgets and a whole farm systems model. 3. Provide peer-learning opportunities within and beyond our region. Build connections with accomplished organic wheat farmers, millers, and researchers in Denmark and Quebec through farmer exchanges, video case studies (posted on eXtension), and on-line participation in workshops. A guide to "Organic Wheat Production in New England" will be developed from research data and farmer case studies collected over the project period. The guide will include information on the production, harvest, storage, processing, and economics of organic bread wheat, as well as farmer/baker profiles and perspectives on the challenges and benefits of growing and using local wheat. This will be available in print and online formats and posted on eOrganic. Research results will also be reported in at least three peer-reviewed journal manuscripts. The knowledge, products, and linkages developed in this project will contribute to vibrant and sustainable organic bread wheat production in our region and nationally. <P> Approach: Methods for Objective 1: Our field research will involve two phases. In Phase 1, we will conduct extensive screening of spring and winter wheat cultivars and component studies of fertility and weed management practices for organic production in northern New England. In Phase 2 we will initiate more intensive characterization of regionally adapted genotypes, with an expanded range of grain quality and hedonic tests. Furthermore, recognizing the likelihood of important genetic by environment interactions, either to avoid or exploit, we will explicitly test top performing cultivars in a factorial combination of weed and fertility management treatments. Methods for Objective 2: To consider the performance of organic bread wheat in representative feed-based cropping systems, including silage corn, forages, and other feed grains, we will modify selected entries in the University of Maine's on-going Organic Dairy Cropping Systems Project (2005-51106-02390 "Reducing Off-Farm Grain Inputs on Northeast Organic Dairy Farms."). We will evaluate various cropping system entry points for dairy farmers to incorporate spring and winter bread wheat into their rotations. These will be further broken down into four systems. Two of these will include corn silage and two will not, but will include other annuals such as soybeans, sorghum sudan grass (BMRSS) and cereals for forage and pasture. This cropping systems data set will provide the opportunity to use the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM) (Rotz, 2007) to estimate variation in yield over time and a wide range of cropping scenarios and local weather conditions. Data from the replicated cropping systems (nutrient balance, yield, weed pressure, disease, and rotation effects) along with participatory farmer field data and production costs will be used to populate the IFSM model for Northern New England. In addition, we will develop enterprise budgets to assist producers evaluating the potential profitability (or loss) of a particular enterprise. We will use regional data from the field experiments and from the rejection frequency of organic grain from local mills to incorporate risk values. Methods for Objective 3: New England farmers and millers will have the opportunity to participate in tours/exchanges with accomplished organic bread wheat farmers, millers, and researchers in Quebec and Denmark. Locally, we will host several outreach events as an effort to continue to build and strengthen our regional network of growers, millers, bakers, research, and extension. Each year, will organize winter "farmer to farmer" conferences held in each state in alternating years. The outreach component will also include existing regional audiences, such as the Maine KNEADING conference, NOFA-VT and NY winter conferences, and New England Agricultural Service Provider Trainings. Lastly, on-farm field days in years 2-4 will be an effective part of our effort to promote particular production strategies that improve wheat yield and quality.