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Organic Farming
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Sustainable Agricultural Systems Lab Organic Farming Research


Over half of SASL projects are devoted to organic farming with a significant amount done on certified organic land.  This includes a 22 acre certified organic field on the BARC campus, long-term organic managed plots as part of our Farming Systems Project and several on-farm projects.


SASL has been conducting on-farm research in collaboration with organic farmer Nick Maravell shown here sorting a crop of edible soybean.


Field Day for Organic Grain Farmers.

Organic projects include:

I. Organic Grain Crop Research in the Mid-Atlantic Region

1. Farming Systems Project (long-term comparison of two conventional versus three organic systems with differing rotation length)

2. Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Project (long-term comparison of reduced tillage systems)

3. No-Till Organic

II. Organic Specialty Crop Research in the Mid-Atlantic Region

1. Cover Crops 

2. High-tunnels

3. Compost