Novel Soil Amendments and Their Efficacy In Organic Farming In the Intermountain West.

Abstract: For the past decade, organic production has been one of the most rapidly growing sectors of U.S. agriculture. This growth has lead to a boon in alternative soil amendments because many conventional products are prohibited for use in organic production systems. The mechanisms and efficacy of some of these novel amendments are not thoroughly understood, particularly with respect to organic farms in the high plains region. Furthermore, the costs of these amendments compared to the benefits have not been thoroughly examined. Field trials with bone meal, rock phosphate, compost tea and humate soil amendments were conducted at the University of Wyoming’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center (SAREC) on irrigated organic cash crops. First year results will be presented.