From pollinators and pumpkins to corn and cattle, June is a great time to learn about what’s happening on the University of Georgia’s agricultural research farms.

At the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Durham Horticulture Farm and J. Phil Campbell Sr. Research and Education Center, it’s a tradition to open the gates each summer and show off the research being conducted at each farm. This year’s tours will be held the last week of June.

The researchers and staff at the Campbell Center, located at 1420 Experiment Station Road in Watkinsville, Georgia, will host their annual farm tour and corn boil from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m on Tuesday, June 26.

Conceived of as a way to introduce neighbors to the farm’s research back when the 1,055-acre farm was operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the center’s annual corn boil is just what it sounds like: a feast made from the corn grown on the property.

Since 2013, the Campbell Center has served as the hub of CAES’ sustainable row crop and pasture research. From living mulch to rotational grazing for grass-fed beef, researchers here work to make traditional agriculture more profitable and sustainable.

Van tours of the farm will depart every 15 minutes and will highlight the farm’s roughly 30 ongoing UGA research projects related to sustainable farming systems, nutrient cycling, water quality, organic production, livestock grazing systems, forage breeding and variety trials.

Lunch will be served at about 11:30 a.m.

Later that week, the researchers and farm managers at Durham Horticulture Farm, which is located at 1221 Hog Mountain Road, also in Watkinsville, will open the farm gates for an evening stroll around the farm from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 28.

For the past seven years, the Organic Twilight Tour at Durham Horticulture Farm has provided the northeast Georgia farming community and those who are simply curious about where their food comes from with a chance to stroll walk UGA’s 90-acre organic research and horticulture farm and learn about the latest information about organic growing methods.

Faculty and researchers will be at their plots to talk about their research and best practices for small- and medium-vegetable and fruit producers. Topics covered will include natural pest and disease control, viticulture, no-till vegetable production, organic watermelon production, pollinator protection and bee keeping, and more.

The Organic Twilight Tour promises to be interesting for anyone interested in how organic food is grown, the challenges that organic growers face and how they overcome those challenges. 

Past Organic Twilight Tours have attracted more than 100 visitors to the Durham Horticulture Farm, and it’s a very pleasant way to wind down a summer evening.

The 2018 Organic Twilight Tour is sponsored by the Chestatee/Chattahoochee Resource Conservation and Development Council and the council’s executive director, Frank M. Riley Jr.

In case of inclement weather, the Organic Twilight Tour will be held on Friday, June 29.