Albany Democrat-Herald

More than 300 grass seed producers are expected to attend the 47th annual meeting of the Oregon Ryegrass Growers Association on Wednesday at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center, 3700 Knox Butte Road N.E.

To register for the event, call the Linn County Extension Office at 967-3871. The cost to attend is $15 in advance or $20 at the door.

Birte Boelt, a research agronomist with the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, will give two presentations during the daylong meeting. Her keynote talk will be at 11 a.m. and will focus on seed production issues in Denmark, which is one of the mid-valley's leading competitors.

At 1:45 p.m., Boelt will talk about Danish grass seed research.

Boelt likes to work in the area of seed establishment techniques. "We start our seed crop in a companion crop, and hence the grower has an income each year in this particular field," Boelt said.

Boelt said she has developed a research partnership with the seed industry.

"Due to this collaboration, we have managed to attract funds for innovation and development of new products," she said. "And, in fact, the staff number has increased quite a bit since 1990, when there were just two persons in seed production research."

Collaboration with other institutions is also important, Boelt said, both nationally and internationally.

"Denmark is one of our main competitors worldwide," said Mark Mellbye of the Oregon State University Extension Service.

"(Boelt) will provide some good insight into the somewhat controversial issue that some of our growers believe Denmark unfairly subsidizes grass seed production and that Danish growers have dumped seed into the U.S. marketplace."

Mellbye said Boelt is the current president of the International Herbage Seed Production Research Group, of which Oregon State University is a member.

New this year will be poster presentations which will quickly provide growers with key facts about several areas of production and cost.

The day's schedule will include:

9 a.m.: Oregon Ryegrass Growers Seed Commission report; Midwest cover crop update by Bryan Ostlund.

9:30 a.m.: Market report by Don Herb of OreGro Seeds.

10 a.m.: Combined poster presentations and vendor displays.

11 a.m.: "Seed Production Issues in Denmark," Birte Boelt, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences.

11:45 a.m.: ORGA Service Award.

Noon: Prime rib lunch

1:15 p.m.: "Phosphate and Potash Agronomy," John Hart, OSU.

1:45 p.m.: "Grass Seed Research in Denmark," Birte Boelt.

2:45 p.m.: "What Is USDA Research Doing for the Oregon Grass Seed Industry?"

3 p.m.: "Label Updates and Drift Issues," Ron Burr, Ag Research Inc.

3:20 p.m.: Raffle and adjournment.