Main Conference > Program > Farm Tour
SOLD OUT
Date: Thursday, February 27th, 2025
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Location: Oregon State University, 725 SW 26th Street, Corvallis, OR 97331
Languages offered: English
This day-long tour will explore plant breeding and seed production across a range of operations and scales. Join us to learn about the intricacies of seed production, running a seed business, plant breeding, and preserving plant diversity. Seats on the bus are limited, so be sure to reserve yours today. Lunch and snacks will be provided. The tour will include stops at Summertime Seed Company, Adaptive Seeds, OSU’s Vegetable and Barley Breeding Greenhouses, and the National Clonal Germplasm Repository. The cost for the tour is $50.
Tickets are sold out, however a wait list is available through the link below.
About the Farm Tour Destinations
Organic Barley & Vegetable Breeding Greenhouses
We will tour the Barley & Vegetable Breeding Greenhouses at Oregon State University (OSU), where researchers are advancing the development of crop varieties with key quality and agronomic traits. Brigid Meints, the OSU Organic Grains & Pulses Specialist and organic barley breeder and Jim Myers, the OSU Vegetable breeder will lead the group through the facility, highlighting research focused on traits of economic importance, as well as resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses.
Brigid’s work includes organic weed and pest management, breeding for organic systems, and collaborating with growers to incorporate a value-added small grain crop into their rotations. Her research also focuses on breeding multi-use naked barley varieties that are well-suited for organic systems.
Jim has breeding programs focused on snap beans, snap peas, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers and cucurbits. His lab breeds vegetables for both processing (snap beans, broccoli) and fresh market (snap peas, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, summer and winter squash). His research interests include understanding crop adaptation to organic production systems, enhancing human nutrition in vegetables, improving taste and flavor in vegetables, and incorporating resistance to the major pathogens of our region.
National Clonal Germplasm Repository
The National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR) is one of 30 federal facilities in the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) dedicated to preserving economically important crops and their wild relatives. Funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS). This repository was dedicated in 1981 to collect, preserve, distribute, and evaluate germplasm of hazelnuts, strawberries, hops, mint, pears, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, blueberries and other specialty crops. Ryan King, a researcher with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), will guide the group through the repository, providing an overview of its critical role in preserving plant diversity and supporting organic agriculture.
The NCGR houses one of the largest collections of genetically diverse plant materials in the United States, with a focus on crops that are difficult to conserve using traditional seed banking methods. Collections include 60 acres of field plantings, 30,000 square feet of potted plants under shelter, and seeds for many accessions. These valuable genetic resources for both wild and cultivated plants are available to plant breeders and researchers throughout the world. During the tour, Ryan will explain how the repository collects, maintains, and evaluates germplasm to ensure that high-quality, disease-free plant material is available to future generations of farmers and breeders.
Summertime Seed Co.
We’ll head about an hour and a half north to visit Chickadee Farm/Summertime Seed Co. in Dayton, Oregon, where we’ll hear from co-owners and operators Sebastian Aguilar and Kelly Gelino. They’ve been farming organically since 1998, and growing certified organic vegetable and flower seeds since 2010, which are sold wholesale and on contract to a variety of national retailers. In 2025 they will be launching an online store to also sell their seeds retail under the name ‘Summertime Seed Co.’.
Chickadee Farm is a small operation based on 16 acres near the Willamette River in Yamhill County. Specializing in growing small lots of seed, ranging from .02 to .66 acres, they grow 100+ varieties per year of over 80 species. The tour will cover their seed production practices including the growing, harvesting and cleaning of seed using a mix of mechanized and hands-on processes.
Adaptive Seeds
Adaptive Seeds in Sweet Home, Oregon, is a farm-based seed company that specializes in producing organic, regionally-adapted, open-pollinated seed varieties. Co-owners Sarah Kleeger and Andrew Still will lead a tour of their new seed packing house and discuss some of the systems in use for managing over 600 varieties of seed.
Founded in 2009, Adaptive Seeds is a certified organic seed company that stewards rare, diverse, and resilient seed varieties suited for ecologically-minded farmers, gardeners, and seed savers. They focus on varieties that are adapted to the Pacific Northwest and other short-season northern climates. Adaptive Seeds sells only public domain, open-pollinated seed, as well as diverse gene pool mixes. The company grows 75% – 80% of its own seed, with the balance sourced directly from small farms in the region.
Gif below, The Adaptive Seeds Crew in late 2023 L-R:
Andrew, Mark, Cat, Sarah, Jocelyn, Kari, and Helen