About Dry Farming Project...

    It is important to note that dry farming is not a new way of farming, but knowledge sharing has been limited because practices have primarily been passed down from farmer to farmer. Compounded by the fact that there is only a very small subset of farmers that experiment with dry farming and an even smaller number have extensive experience in these farming practices, the OSU Extension Dry Farm Project plans to explore, revive, and expand awareness of dry farming.

    The Dry Farming Project began in 2013 with case studies of farms in Western Oregon and Northern California (coordinated by Community Alliance with Family Farmers) that dry farm a variety of fruit and vegetable crops. These case studies revealed a suite of management practices that support crop production without supplemental irrigation including: careful timing of tillage, early planting, cultivation or surface protection to prevent crusting and cracking of soil surface, diligent weed management, improving soil quality and water retention with organic matter addition (cover crops, compost, rotational grazing), increased plant spacing, and use of drought-resistant varieties.

    There have been dry demonstrations in Western Oregon every year since 2015.

    To gain a foundational understanding of Dry Farming you can watch the recorded presentation: Introduction to Dry Farming Organic Vegetables presented by Amy Garrett, OSU Extension Services Small Farms Program LINK HERE. 

    Recordings of the 2020 Dry Farm Project Virtual Field Tours and the Virtual Adaptive Ag Water Symposium can be found by clicking on the Resources tab. Scroll down to Videos and Presentations.  

     

     

    2021 Dry Farming Field Day:

    The Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Small Farms Program and OSU Department of Horticulture is pleased to be offering the 7th annual Dry Farming Field Day. Come learn about multiple dry farming research projects, join the field tour, taste different varieties of tomatoes and melons, and visit with other growers and researchers in the Dry Farming Collaborative! The Dry Farming Field Day will be held on Thursday August 26th from 4 – 6:30pm at the OSU Vegetable Research Farm (34306 NE Electric Rd, Corvallis, OR 97333).

     

    The 2021 Dry Farming Field Day is supported by USDA NIFA, Western SARE, The Dry Farming Institute, Baggett Frazier Endowment, and Oregon Climate and Agriculture Network.

    Free to attend, registration is required: https://beav.es/3rY 

    See full schedule on flier here: 

    OSU EXTENSION SERVICE PROHIBITS DISCRIMINATION IN ALL ITS PROGRAMS, SERVICES, ACTIVITIES, AND MATERIALS. ACCOMMODATIONS ARE AVAILABLE, CONTACT TEAGAN 541-713-5011 TEAGAN.MORAN@OREGONSTATE.EDU

     

    Intro to Dry Farming Organic Vegetables

    In 2016 the Dry Farming Project expanded to include:
    1. Three dry farming demonstration and field days at OSU Extension research locations in Western Oregon.
    2. Ten on-farm trials throughout Western Oregon.
    3. Growing Resilience: Water Management Workshop Series (funded in part by Western SARE) was organized to increase our knowledge and awareness of how Oregon growers are being affected by drought, expand our toolbox of drought mitigation tools and strategies, and educate agricultural producers and professionals about management practices and strategies for farming with little or no irrigation.
    4. Dry Farming Collaborative - a group of farmers, extension educators, plant breeders, and agricultural professionals partnering to increase knowledge and awareness of dry farming management practices with a hands-on participatory approach. The original function of the DFC was to facilitate farmer-to-farmer information sharing as growers started to experiment and establish their own dry farming trials