The United States Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has named the University of Minnesota an “agreement partner� and awarded the university $644,426 to research and develop risk management tools for managing pest and environmental risks in organic crop production. Faculty from the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics (St. Paul) and the Southwest Research and Outreach Center (SWROC) in Lamberton, Minn., spearheaded efforts to establish the partnership with RMA.

Teams comprised of university faculty, regional Extension educators, farmers and members of key nonprofit organizations will work together to complete multiple objectives of the project. The ultimate goal is to develop risk management tools that will help producers choose effective and beneficial practices for managing weeds, fertility, pest insects and disease in organic cropping systems in the upper Midwest.

“This grant gives us the opportunity to address statewide organic production issues in a coordinated manner,â€? said Matt Harbur, SWROC Weed Ecologist and Organic Systems Specialist. “We will be able to develop a collective knowledge of organic management practices to an extent that we’ve never had beforeâ€? Harbur is a member of a research team that also includes agronomists Craig Sheaffer and Donald Wyse and soil scientist Deborah Allan. Read the rest of this entry »