PRESQUE ISLE, Maine —  CROPP Cooperative and Maine Organic Milling are co-sponsoring an evening field event 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2,  at 140 State Road 227 (Kenney Porter Seed Farms).

This will be a practical workshop on everything farmers and landowners need to know to tap into Maine’s new market for organic feed crops and will be focused on the practical steps farmers and landowners can take this fall to prepare for planting organic barley in next spring.

Maine Organic Milling (a Maine Chapter 85 cooperative formed by CROPP’s organic dairy producers in the state) owns and operates an all-organic mill in Auburn which now provides a significant new market destination for organic feed crops grown locally. The main thrust of this initiative in Aroostook County is to identify fallow land that could be put into production immediately growing organic feed crops, primarily spring barley, without having to go through the three-year organic transition process.

The event will include information on organic certification assistance, display and discussion of organic fertilizers and custom farming services offered in the region. Multi-year contracts will be offered.

An agronomic discussion will focus on crop rotations, soil building strategies, soil pH, mineral balancing requirements and fall soil preparation.

For more information, call John Chartier at 207-521-1200.