DURHAM, N.H. – Community members are invited to learn about the University of New Hampshire’s sustainable agriculture educational programs and research at a Harvest Day Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016. The event, which is part of the university’s sesquicentennial celebration, is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the students enrolled in the Food Production Field Experience class, also known as Farm to You NH, the Harvest Day runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, a facility of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station. Programs will take place at the dairy’s high tunnels and conference room.

There will be several activities taking place as well as guided tours of both high tunnel operations and field work. Faculty members will present brief oral presentations on their summer research, and a poster session will highlight the work of graduate and undergraduate students.

Seacoast area business and nonprofits are welcome to set up a table to promote their sustainable agriculture enterprises. Interested groups should contact Andrew Ogden at andrew.ogden@unh.edu for more information.

The year-long Food Production Field Experience course provides students with hands-on experience in growing food and managing a small farm business. Students grow fresh vegetables and some fruits for the UNH Dairy Bar. Students learn about all aspects of sustainable agriculture production, including propagation, crop establishment, irrigation, crop management, soil considerations, pest and disease practices, crop harvesting and maturity, post-harvest considerations, marketing, special event planning and execution, record keeping, and small farm business management.

The Fairchild Dairy Center is located at 36 O’Kane Road off Mast Road Extension in Durham. It is open to the public seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors can observe the milking of cows at 3:30 p.m. each day. Directions: https://colsa.unh.edu/nhaes/directions/Fairchild.

Founded in 1887, the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture is UNH’s original research center and an elemental component of New Hampshire's land-grant university heritage and mission.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 13,000 undergraduate and 2,500 graduate students.

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