Specialty Crops

A specialty crop planting consisting of 25 species of medicinal and culinary herbs and essential oil crops was established in 1998 at the Western Agricultural Research Center (WARC) in Corvallis, Montana. Crops included anise, calendula, biennial and annual caraway, Clary sage, coriander, German chamomile, 'Omega' flax, parsley, sage, summer savory, sweet basil, sweet fennel, thyme, dill, coffee chicory, feverfew, lavender, lemon balm, peppermint, plantain psyllium, skullcap, valerian, and yarrow. Information on all of the above crops will be provided on this site.

Crop adaptation studies were conducted over a three-year period from 1998 through 2000. Yield and, in some cases, quality was evaluated. Research involving dill, feverfew, valerian, German chamomile, and echinacea was also conducted at the Northwestern Agricultural Research Center at Kalispell, MT.

The exceptionally long and warm 1998 growing season provided an opportunity to observe these species under excellent conditions for crop maturation, while the 1999 and 2000 seasons were much shorter (Tables 1 and 2). Complete weather data for Corvallis may be found at the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation AGRIMET site. The soil is a Burnt Fork Sandy Loam, pH 7.2. All crops were grown under sprinkler irrigation.

Table 1. Average minimum and maximum temperatures at the Western Agricultural Research Center, Corvallis, MT, 1998-2000

	Average minimum (F)			Average maximum (F)
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
January	22	26	23	37	41	37
February	23	25	25	45	41	42
March	29	27	29	51	52	51
April	34	30	34	61	56	62
May	42	37	41	70	63	65
June	45	45	45	70	70	76
July	53	46	50	88	82	85
August	50	50	48	88	83	83
September	47	38	41	79	70	68
October	32	33	33	61	60	56
November	30	30	17	45	49	34
December	21	27	14	36	37	28

Table 2. Growing season characteristics at the Western Agricultural Research Center, Corvallis, MT, 1998-2000

	1998	1999	2000
Last <32 F degree date and temperature	April 20 (29 F)	May 11 (25 F)	May 13 (30 F)
First <32 F degree date and temperature	Oct 3 (31 F)	Sept 27 (26 F)	Sept 23 (18 F)
Growing degree days (base 50 F)	2345	2203	2308

This research was conducted with support from the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and the Growth Through Agriculture Program of the Montana Department of Agriculture.

These sites may also be of interest:

	Northwestern Agricultural Research Center, Montana State University, Kalispell, MT.
	Montana Mint Growers Association.
	ATTRA, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, Fayetteville, AR.
	Center for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
	Montana Department of Agriculture