Would you like to conduct variety trials on fields which are maintained to organic standards? Would you like to broker seed varieties which were bred to perform under sustainable management practices? G2 is committed to meeting those needs.
One of the primary reasons for G2's acquisition of this particular farm is that it had been operated as organic market farm during the decade prior to our 2006 purchase. The former owners chose not to pursue organic certification, but had maintained it under organic conditions.
G2 will continue to maintain the entire farm in as sustainable a manner as we can. Within that framework, during 2009, we will begin maintaining one of our research plots under even stricter organic controls. This plot is currently in a clover-grass pasture, and has been maintained to organic standards for the past 13 years. We have not yet decided about certification --- we are not producing an organic product, nor will we produce seed-for-sale on the farm --- but we will document all field activity so that if we choose to pursue certification in the future, we will be able to do so. We understand the requirements, the process, and most important --- the intent.
But sustainable --- at least so far as G2 is concerned --- is more than simply documenting field activities. Here is an overview of our sustainability plan for G2's research farm.
Nutritional needs
Weed control in our sustainable/organic plots will be managed by the concurrent use of mulches and hand-labor. We will avoid polyethylene mulch where we can, but in those cases where we have little choice but to use poly, we will. All of us look forward to the day when there is a truly effective organic-certified film-barrier mulch available.
Pest control in the field will be managed by a variety of sustainable/organic techniques. IPM monitoring and methods, of course, as well as biocontrols where practical. We will also be encouraging predators of the common local pests. For example, we are placing both birdhouses and bathouses around the farm. Our perimeter fence is eight feet high --- the posts supporting this fence make ideal supports for bluebird and tree swallow houses.
At strategic locations around the farm, we have placed used telephone poles, and mounted crosspieces on top of them as raptor perches. We hope that by encouraging hawks and kestrals, we can minimize rodent problems in the field. These 30 ft poles will also make ideal locations for pairs of bathouses. We hope that by encouraging a resident bat population on the farm, that we can minimize caterpillar damage in the trials, since many garden caterpillar pests are the larvae of night-flying moths.
G2 intends to manage our water resources rather intensively. For instance, our irrigation well (supplying both fields and greenhouses) is drilled to a deeper aquifer that than the one in common use by local homeowners. This should enable our irrigation to have minimal impact on local water supplies.
We collect the rainwater runoff from the greenhouse roofs so that we can recycle it, and so that we have access to the water for field irrigation. The stormwater retention pond (as well as the drainage swales which lead to the pond) will be planted in such a way as to encourage amphibian and small reptile populations.
We also collect the water which drains from the greenhouse floors. This water gets collected in a holding tank, and is then pumped into a series of water gardens that become part of the stormwater swales, and ultimately, into the pond. These water gardens function as biofilters, with the plants absorbing any excess nutrients which may leave the greenhouse through the floor drains. In all honesty, our calculations indicate that virtually nothing leaves the greenhouse through this mechanism, but we are installing the water gardens ... just because. The moisture associated with the water features is also likely to encourage those insectivorous amphibian and reptile predators from which we hope to get pest-control support in the fields. 
To further close the circle, all of our agricultural water use ultimately returns the water we do use to the groundwater, either through evaporation (and then rain), or directly via field irrigation.
Pollinator management is an important part of G2's site resource management plan. We are trying to encourage native pollinators, and are determined to develop a healthy population of ground- and wood-dwelling bees and wasps, since these appear to be a highly significant pollinators of summer- and fall-flowering native wildflower species in central PA. We also host colonies of honeybees on the farm, both our own as well as some research colonies from the Department of Entomology at Penn State University.
Breeding for performance under sustainable/organic practices is a concept which G2 feels needs to be pursued both on a public and private level. G2 will continue to breed and select varieties which perform especially well under the modest inputs provided under sustainable practices.
In 2009. we will be committing an acre or more of G2's research plots to organic/sustainable research. We will make at least half of that space --- dedicated organic/sustainable research plots --- available to our clients for the 2010 crop season. More pasture acreage can be made available if our initial 1 A installation proves to be inadequate for combined internal and external demand. G2's organic research plots will be available as individual entries in rows; or in blocks up to ca. one-quarter acre in size. Pricing is a function of plant density; planting requirements; and data collection requirements. If you choose to trial individual entries, rather than blocks, you need to recognize that isolation and privacy may be somewhat limited. However, all individual row entries will be coded for confidentiality, and only your G2 project manager (and you) will be able to discern which entries in which row are yours.
Please us to discuss your trialing needs. We look forward to responding to your Requests for Proposal (RFPs) re sustainable/organic trials. The more we know about your needs as we install our organic research plots, the better we will be able to conduct your research.
