Agricenter International has established a new center focused on organic farming.
Field trials of thousands of crops have been the center of Agricenter’s mission on its 1,000-acre campus since 1984. Every year the research center monitors 11,000 test plots and works with more than 50 companies.
The new Organic Resource Center (ORC) be will its very first fully organic laboratory and demonstration farm.
The center is a new model and its leaders hope it will be a “place for additional collaboration between producers and consumers, and a hub to learn about new markets and emerging trends.”
Agricenter
Lankford
“The ORC will evaluate soil carbon stocks, greenhouse gas emissions, and crop productivity between organic and non-organic cropping systems,” according to an Agricenter news release. “It will also establish a long-term trial to compare organic and non-organic cropping systems in a southern, sub-tropical climate.”
Agricenter leaders chose Chris Lankford to run the ORC. Lankford has operated his family farm in Ripley for 27 years, supplying Memphis Kroger stores with local Ripley tomatoes.
Most recently, Lankford was the farm manager at the PictSweet Co., where he grew sweet corn, edamame, turnip greens, collard greens, green peas, black eyed peas, and kale.
