HOULTON — Nineteen potato and dairy farmers gathered Aug. 5 as part of a Natural Resources Conservation Service and Southern Aroostook Soil & Water Conservation District tour to local farm fields experimenting with multi-species cover crops as part of potato rotations.
Participants began the morning at Donald Fitzpatrick’s farm (pictured) where eight different species were planted as a “green manure” to build soil fertility and help add biological activity for next year’s potato crop.
Field tours also included a stop at Greg Schools’ farm in Littleton. Greg is one of three farmers participating in the SASWCD’s “Conservation Innovation Grant” that is focusing on developing multi-species planting mixtures for northern Maine and companion plantings with potatoes.
During this first year of the grant, Schools planted a 14-species forage mix and will be grazing beef cattle on the field. The field tours were a good opportunity to find out what farmers are trying for green manures and multi-species cover crops and to learn what did and didn’t work. To find out more about these projects, contact NRCS or SASWCD at 532-2087 x3.
