Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) will deliver a training to help vegetable growers mitigate climatic risks in Northwest seed production on November 6, 2013, in Olympia, Washington. The training will take place on Common Ground Farm and The Evergreen State College.
Thanks to support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency, OSA will release a new publication, titled: Climatic Considerations in Organic and Specialty Seed Production in the Northwest. The guide is forming the basis of the Olympia training and five others this fall, and will be available in English and Spanish.
The Northwest region contains some of the best seed producing areas in the world. In 2009, there were 27,000 acres in vegetable seed production in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon combined, representing about 80% of the total vegetable seed acreage in the U.S. and valued at over $50 million. The growing organic seed market presents an excellent opportunity for organic farmers to diversify into seed production.
Seed production requires specialized skills and knowledge to produce quality seed of specific crops. Understanding local environmental conditions and their impact on the feasibility of quality seed production is critical to a seed producer’s success. In any given climatic region there are certain crops and cultivars that are best suited to the environmental conditions.
The Olympia, WA, training will run from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at Common Ground Farm, located at 4004 11th Ave NW, Olympia, Washington, 98502.
This is the last of six trainings that OSA is hosting this fall. There is also an October 19, 2013, training at Washington State University in Mt. Vernon, Washington.
Both trainings will provide growers an understanding of climatic challenges in their region and how to mitigate these challenges through risk management strategies. Growers will also learn which crops are best suited to their local climate.
Pre-registration is required for both of these events at http://seedalliance.org/events.
