variety trials

Learn more about the perennial grain kernza and see the trial plot in this brief video: https://youtu.be/epJaE5ihiVE (3:17) 

Only a few days are left to reserve your spot at Ohio’s largest sustainable food and farming conference. Registration ends on Monday, February 8 for the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s 42nd annual conference, which will be held online February 10-15.

Among the speakers from Ohio State this year, extension soil specialist Steve Culman will be sharing information on his USDA perennial grain trials. This is Culman’s second research project on the perennial wheatgrass known as kernza. He is testing an organic variety of kernza for suitability in Ohio as a dual-purpose crop (forage and grain production). This summer his lab will begin on-farm trials and is looking for additional participants.

Kernza is used mainly for forage and grazing in the western U.S. While the grain has end uses and nutritional values similar to wheat, Culman admits the grain production is not very good and that markets and facilities for kernza are only just developing. While it has potential for dual purpose production, more research and development will be needed. 

So why would a farmer consider kernza? Because it has a third purpose of great importance: Soil health. 

“Organic systems go through this dichotomous cycle of growing cash crops, and then growing a crop for conservation or soil development," Culman notes. "With kernza you could do both.”

Recent Ohio State research reviewed hundreds of regional soil tests results, comparing management practices with various soil health measurements linked to yield, biological activity, and fertilizer efficiency. The most effective management practice for improving soil health was the use of perennials. Perennial crops reduce traffic and tillage, but they also leave roots in the ground year-round to contribute to biological activity, provide below-ground biomass, and crowd out weed growth. Kernza really shines in root development, with roots that reach 10 feet down or deeper and spread  horizontally to outcompete weeds.

“Kernza stays pretty green through harvest,” says Culman. “It’s not like wheat. You harvest the grain in late July/early August. So you could harvest the grain, then chop or hay the remaining biomass. Then you can let it regrow. This is not enough time to develop seed heads, but the regrowth should get knee high or so in the fall. Then it can be grazed."

Based on his previous trials, Culman feels kernza has great potential for organic transition, weed control, riparian zones, forage, fall grazing, and even grain production, all while improving soil quality.

The OEFFA conference kernza presentation will be Friday, February 12 at 10 a.m., but conference attendees will also be able to watch recorded presentations through March. Dr. Culman will also be available in the OFFER virtual conference booth on Friday, February 12 from 2-3 p.m. for anyone who would like to know more about the on-farm kernza trials or to chat about soil health and fertility.

See the full line up of OFFER booth events at offer.osu.edu/booth. We will also host Glen Arnold, extension field specialist in manure management; Erin Silva from University of Wisconsin and OGRAIN; and Rich Minyo, organic corn variety trial researcher. 

For more information on the OEFFA conference, visit https://conference.oeffa.org/.  

To learn more about the soil health and management study findings, join us for "Management Practices That Impact Soil Health and Organic Matter with Christine Sprunger, March 17 at 11 a.m., part of the OFFER 2021 Organic Winter Webinar series. 

Licenses for hemp cultivation and processing are available in Ohio beginning this week. However, Brad Bergefurd, horticulture specialist at Ohio State’s South Centers, warns potential growers to consider carefully before clearing ground for our state’s budding hemp industry.

“Long term, I think Ohio hemp for seed, fiber and possible nutraceutical products has great economic potential for Ohio agriculture,” says Bergefurd, “but I am afraid early adopters of this crop right now could be setting themselves up for failure if they have not firmly developed their own hemp marketing and production plants well in advance.”

Hemp production has high potential as an organic product, especially for CBD production, which is the type of production Ohio State’s trials focused on. Since CBD is used in health products, manufacturers prefer or require organic practices. But the risk level is high, says Bergefurd. From the university hemp trials in 2019, he found production was very labor-intensive and required specialized equipment for planting, harvesting, and drying. Planting costs alone were around $10,000 - $15,000 per acre. These are risky investments for a crop that might ultimately be confiscated if it fails to meet minimum THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) levels.

Even though the university purchased low-THC  varieties, all the southern Ohio trials failed to pass the legal minimum for THC, says Bergefurd, which is not an uncommon problem. The issue of illegal THC levels, along with falling prices from a national oversupply of CBD hemp, have caused serious losses for farmers in Kentucky and other southern states in the past year, leading to economic strain and farm foreclosures. He doesn’t want to see that happen in Ohio.

In addition to the low THC requirement (0.3% for hemp--compared to average marijuana THC content of 3.5%), hemp crops must be harvested within 15 days of Ohio Department of Agriculture’s THC testing. In the Ohio trials, levels of both THC and CBD rose with decreasing moisture levels, leaving much of a farmer’s fate up to the weather. That’s nothing new; but combined with the other risks and start-up costs, it might give a grower pause.

“We just have a lot of research work to do before we are fully prepared,” says Bergefurd. “Not only for growing the crop, but we have limited to no hemp buyers, or processing and marketing infrastructure developed in Ohio as of today.”

After all, it’s been nearly 80 years since hemp was last grown legally in Ohio. Bergefurd says research is needed to develop management practices for pest control and other production concerns, along with breeding programs to develop varieties better suited to the low THC requirements. He is hopeful that legalizing hemp will be an important first step in creating the research and investment needed to make hemp a viable new market for Ohio.

Ellen Essman, from Ohio State's Law Office urges growers to read through the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Hemp Program page carefully to become familiar with the many rules and fees involved. 

"If you wish to grow or process hemp," she writes in the OSU Farm Office Blog, "there are detailed rules you must follow, such as getting your sites approved, setback requirements, land use restrictions, and providing ODA with information like GPS coordinates of the land and the number of acres and plants you cultivate, just to name a few."

Read more:

- "Don’t Hurry Into Hemp” article from OSU South Centers. 

- Ohio Department of Agriculture’s hemp program page.