Grains
Organic Small Grain Production in the Inland Pacific Northwest: A Collection of Case Studies: Organic farming can be a challenge anywhere, but the obstacles encountered by Inland Pacific Northwest organic small grain farmers are unique. Their options for managing weeds and soil nutrients are few, and the limitations of the regional climate don’t make things much easier. Nonetheless, organic small grain farmers are out there, and a few are sharing their experience. This publication investigates the farming philosophies and practices of 12 organic small grain producers across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Exploring Organic Grain and Forage Production as a Profitable Enterprise for Palouse Farmers: The goals of this study are twofold: to leverage recent field trial data for organic crop productivity under reduced-tillage conditions in the Palouse with the costs of production and price data in order to estimate the farm-scale profitability of realistically adoptable organic production systems; and to describe the principal factors that determine profitability within the systems.
Organic and Naked (Hull-less) Barley: Practices, Production Costs, and Benefits: To determine why organic farmers do not produce more barley, researchers conducted a survey with follow-up interviews and performed an economic analysis on the costs of production based on the data.
Grains Week!: An interactive online educational event featuring research, information, community sustainability and health of regional value-added small grain economies for farmers, bakers, brewers, distillers, millers, maltsters, and consumers.
Disease and Insect Management in Organic Small Grains: The purpose of this publication is to outline various strategies that make up a good organic disease and insect management plan, as well as to describe some specific diseases and insects that affect small grain crops. Although this publication pertains to various regions of the country, the main focus is on the Plains states—where most organic small grains are grown.
Organic Small Grain Production Overview: This publication gives a general overview of organic small grain production. It includes basic production principles, tips on transitioning to organic, ideas for rotation design, and examples of rotations from various parts of the United States.
Transitioning Small Grain Production to Organic: Grain farmers consider trying organic production for a variety of reasons, including economics and personal philosophy. Using several case studies of organic grain farms in the Pacific Northwest, in this webinar we will discuss possible transitions to organic farming. Management practices include crop rotation, soil fertility, and weed management.
Pulses
Commercial Dry Bean Production in Western Washington State: This publication provides an overview of bean production in western Washington, including marketing, variety selection, crop management, and production methods appropriate for small- and mid-scale production of bush-type dry beans, which are well suited to mechanical cultivation and harvest.
Selecting "Modern" Heirloom Dry Beans: In this webinar the presenters describe the procedures they followed as part of an OREI organic dry bean breeding project to identify and select plants within four heirloom dry bean varieties, and to generate new varieties with improved adaptation to upper Midwest growing conditions.
Chickpea Production Guide: This publication discusses chickpea (garbanzo) cultivation in Oregon. Topics include variety selection, conditions for growth, seed and seedbed preparation, seeding date, method and rate of seeding, fertilizer and lime, weed management, foliar and root disease management, insects, harvesting and storage, and yield potential and markets.
Trial Data
Organic Dry Bean variety trials:
2023
Organic Barley trials: