Project Overview
Commodities
- Agronomic: potatoes
- Fruits: berries (brambles)
- Animal Products: dairy
Practices
- Crop Production: nutrient cycling
- Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research
- Pest Management: integrated pest management
- Production Systems: integrated crop and livestock systems
- Soil Management: soil analysis, composting
Proposal summary:
Whatcom County has a mix of dairy and horticultural farms. Both types have nutrient concerns. The dairies have excess nutrients, and the horticultural farms, mainly growing potatoes and raspberries, need nutrients. The potato and raspberry farms haven’t been inclined to use the dairy manure because of concern over pathogens in the manure, which means increasing nutrient content in critical watersheds. If the pathogen obstacle is cleared, dairy farmers could meet nutrients needs of both dairy and horticultural farms, which would reduce nutrient impacts on water quality, reduce the use of purchased chemical fertilizers and create relationships that would sustain both types of producers. The Vander Haak Dairy, the first in Washington to install an anaerobic digester, will use this grant to assess the biological and yield impacts of using digested dairy manure on seed potatoes and raspberries. It will also conduct a greenhouse study to assess common scab potential from the application of digested manure to potatoes.