Field day and tour features local produce, producers

Southern University Ag Center professor of plant science Owusu Bandele greets participants in the center's Sustainable Agriculture Field Day and Farm Tour.

The Southern University Ag Center's Sustainable Agriculture Field Day and Farm Tour was held in late October and drew more than 80 participants for two discussion sessions and six field tour stops.

Field Day participants gathered at the SU Ag Center on Saturday, October 27 for a day of learning and enjoyment. The program was planned and coordinated by Owusu Bandele, SU Ag Center professor of plant science and Carl Motsenbocker of the LSU Ag Center.

The gathering was a good mix of SU and LSU Ag Centers' faculty and staff, local farmers and gardeners. Highlights of the activities included discussions and field tours. Lunch included locally produced food.

The 2007 Agriculture Field day included sessions on vegetable production led by Motsenbocker and organic production and certification by Bandele.

The field day also offered tours to the following stops:

Red Stick Farmers' Market - Bandele

LSU Organic Community Garden - Motsenbocker

Yardbird Pastured Poultry Farm - Yasin & Elaine Muhaimin

Greenhand Nursery - Mila Berhane

Organic/Crawfish waste experimental plots at SUAREC - Yemane Ghebreiyessus

Hibiscus and Organic Plots at SUAREC - Kit Chin

Carl Motsenbocker of the LSU Ag Center leads a group sesssion durin the Southern University Ag Center's Sustainable Agriculture Field Day and Farm Tour.