In mid-August OSA’s Micaela Colley and Laurie McKenzie joined our Carrot Improvement for Organic Agriculture (CIOA) research partners from University of Wisconsin-Madison and Washington State University to harvest and evaluate carrots from the project at the Mercer Canyon Ranch in Kennewick, WA.
The trial included a diverse collection of colored carrots trialed in both organic and conventional plots. All of the carrots are being evaluated for nutritional and flavor components at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the direction of CIOA project leader Dr. Phil Simon.
Following the harvest, the research team hosted a well-attended field day at the WSU Extension field station in Pasco, WA. OSA and Dr. Simon presented the CIOA project to the group of farmers and seed industry representatives at the field day. Participants also taste-tested a sampling of CIOA carrots. Interesting and useful dialogue about the differences between carrot types, colors, and uses was spurred as everyone gathered around the tasting table.
