UMaine Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Available to Discuss Farm Energy Conservation Measures
Contact: Ellen Mallory, (207) 581-2942
George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — Maine farmers coping with rising fuel, energy and production costs must now look beyond historically tried and true practices to achieve greater efficiencies — efficiencies mandatory for survival in some cases.
Ellen Mallory, UMaine Cooperative Extension sustainable agriculture specialist, is available to discuss the topic with news reporters.
She and other agricultural specialists will discuss the subject July 10 during a Sustainable Agriculture Field Day at the Rogers Forage and Crops Research Farm on the Bennoch Road in Stillwater.
Times always have been hard for most farmers in Maine, and the recent surge in prices affects almost every aspect of running a sustainable crop or livestock operation. Farmers need to find new efficiencies, which may require going back to the proverbial drawing board, Mallory says.
“The dramatic changes in the cost of fuel and other inputs, as well as commodity prices, require us to re-evaluate how we are doing things,” she said. “Production practices that we determined previously made the most sense may not be the most logical now, and visa versa.”
The need for greater efficiency may also present new opportunities, says Mallory, who did extensive research in the 1990s comparing the use of nitrogen fixing cover crops versus inexpensive fertilizers to supply crops with nitrogen.
The changing economics of both methods are changing the equation, she notes.
In addition, as large farms in the West and Midwest deal with rising transportation costs, new opportunities are emerging to increase the demand for locally grown produce and products, she adds. Rising fuel costs also are affecting the way local farmers use tractors and other equipment, Mallory says.
Mallory’s talk on July 10 focuses on the economics of cover crops versus increasingly expensive fertilizers. Other speakers will address such topics as energy crops such as canola, alternative fertilizers, solar energy for greenhouses, weed management and organic forage and grain production.
For information, Mallory can be reached by telephone at (207) 581-2942.