Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center

Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center

The Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center (SOAC) is one of two USDA Certified Organic programs in the University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS). The center includes an organic fruit orchard, meeting facilities, dormitories for visiting faculty and students, a shop and cider house.  

CALS and University of Idaho Extension deliver enhanced programming at SOAC to the North Idaho community on organic and sustainable crop production, pest management and soil health management, native plant landscapes, horticulture, organic food processing and marketing, food safety and nutrition.

The center includes a certified organic heirloom fruit orchard which produces 68 varieties of apples, eight varieties of pears and eight types of other fruits. 

Heritage Orchard Conference

The Heritage Orchard Conference was established in 2019 with an in-person conference held at SOAC. Since 2020, the conference has been organized as a free monthly webinar series (October through April). 

Facility rental

The SOAC facility is open for rental to educational groups for workshops, seminars and courses, when there are no CALS or UI Extension programs occurring.

History

Nestled at the base of Schweitzer Mountain in central Bonner County, the Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center was established in 2018 in part by a generous donation from original owner Dennis Pence and his family. The partial gift of what was formerly referred to as the Sandpoint Orchard, adjacent retreat center, dormitories and surrounding land added 48 acres to the University of Idaho’s network of over 4,000 acres of land used for teaching, research and University of Idaho Extension activities. In 2007, Pence gifted 18 acres to the university that sits adjacent to the orchard. The combined properties equal a total of 66 acres dedicated to organic and sustainable agriculture production education and outreach.

SOAC provides an opportunity to incorporate new educational modules, with hands-on experiences for University of Idaho students and faculty as well as members of the North Idaho community who are passionate about organic and sustainable crop production.

Heirloom fruit

Over 15,000 different varieties of apples have been named in North America since the 16th century. Of those, only 3,000 remain in production today and just 11 varieties comprise 90% of commercially grown apples. As the heirloom varieties fall from production, there is an imminent threat that they may be lost forever.

The Inland Northwest has a unique climate that plays a large role in determining what crops and which varieties will do well in an average year. At SOAC, we use our wide variety of apple, pear, cherry and plum trees to determine which are best suited to our specific microclimate.

Currently, the orchard contains 68 different varieties of apples, most of which are heirloom varieties that are grown in only a handful of orchards across the United States. By experimenting with these widely unknown varieties, we are determining which are best suited for the Inland Northwest, as well as helping to preserve the rapidly disappearing history of this fruit.