Media Advisory
What:
Harvesting a bumper crop at UMD’s Farm
When:
Friday, August 26, 2016 from 10 – 11 a.m.
Where:
The UMD Farm, 3566 Riley Road
Who:
Randy Hanson, UMD Sustainable Agriculture Project faculty lead
Kevin Moris, UMD Farm manager
UMD student farm employees
The largest crop ever produced by UMD’s Sustainable Agriculture Project, a 10-acre organic plot on UMD’s Farm, is being harvested on Friday, August 26, 2016.
Randy Hanson, the Sustainable Agriculture Project faculty lead, will be available from 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. to explain the project’s mission and offer tours of the operation.
The Farm is on 3566 Riley Road. (Turn left on Riley Road off of Jean Duluth Road.)
A Mighty Yield
Hanson estimates 30 tons of produce will be harvested this year. That’s a 1,400 percent increase from the 3,000 pounds it produced in 2011.
Zucchini, cucumbers, string beans, sunflowers, peppers and more are ready, while orange pumpkins and squash wait on the vines.
The produce is sold to UMD’s Dining Services where it is prepared for campus meals.
New Models
UMD’s farm-to-campus operation creates a serendipitous partnership where students and the environment come out ahead.
“Students are learning to interact with nature in a way that allows people to get what they need while not degrading natural systems,” says Hanson. “In the process, we’re helping our institution shift to more sustainable practices.”
More information about the Sustainable Agriculture Project.