WVU Professor Shares Love of the Land Through Organic Livestock Farming

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In 1998, James Kotcon began working on a research proposal to bring organic farm research to West Virginia University. On September 1, 1999, his project became what is today the WVU Organic Agriculture Research Farm. Kotcon spends his time there studying parasites that are detrimental to sheep and crops, and developing organic practices that will reduce or eliminate the effect of these parasites.

Kotcon, 63, is a plant pathology professor at West Virginia University.  Teaching since 1985, he has spent most of his career researching organic pest control management. According to Kotcon, farming organically is more cost efficient and better for the environment than using conventional pesticides. While many farms use organic practices in growing produce, there are fewer that use the same practices in raising livestock.

“A lot of farms will be completely organic except for their livestock because they don’t believe it can be done. So, this is a way to encourage and provide the resources and knowledge for growers to do it successfully,” Kotcon said.

Kotcon’s passion for organic agriculture is a natural extension of his passion for the outdoors. He dedicates his time leading and coordinating trail work at the Falling Run Greenspace, a trail network that runs from WVU’s downtown campus to the Organic Farm.

“The best way to get people encouraged about protecting land is to actually get them to that land,” Kotcon said. “By having them participate and appreciate nature, that will develop spontaneously into a desire to protect nature.” Kotcon believes in educating students and volunteers about the importance of environmental protection and sustainable agriculture in their lives.

Kotcon takes his environmental impact assessment class to the Organic Farm to learn how to identify plant communities. “They’re the bulk of the biomass,” said Kotcon, “and people don’t tend to appreciate plants that way, but they really do define our environment.”

Kotcon observes students, Anne Kinkopf (left) and Tiffany Fess (right), analyzing lycopene levels between heirloom tomato varieties using a spectrophotometer. After getting results that were unexpected, Kotcon encourages them to reanalyze their data to see if it is correct.

Kotcon fills his office with newspapers from nearly ten years ago. He uses these newspapers as mulch at the Organic Farm, and to hold soil samples for his classes.

When a big flood came through West Virginia in 1985, Kotcon volunteered with the Sierra Club to rebuild trails in the Monongahela National Forest. “It became very addicting and I just got hooked on it,” said Kotcon.

Kotcon leads volunteer students to do work on the Falling Run Greenspace trail network. As they walk, Kotcon tells volunteers that they “exist for the trout in West Virginia,” and by creating trails correctly, they can eliminate erosion that kill brook trout.

After working three hours on the trail and showing the volunteers his “guard donkey” Burrito, Kotcon offers multiple types of granola bars to the volunteers. He carries these around at all times for volunteers who might need sustenance after working, but jokingly tells them the sweet and salty are just for him.

After arriving at the Organic Farm, Kotcon discovers that three lambs have been born and sitting in the cold rain. He rushes out of his car to bring the mom and lambs into a barn to warm up and nurse.

Kotcon assists the runt, who is the smallest and weakest in the group, to nurse. Since lambs do not know how to nurse when born, Kotcon gently guides the lamb’s mouth in hopes of teaching him to latch and swallow.

After no success with the mother, Kotcon bottle feeds the runt. He then becomes excited as the runt takes his first swallow of milk, and is finally able to lift its head.

“There’s my girls,” said Kotcon to the other sheep and lambs. After hours of tending to the new lambs, Kotcon checks on the other sheep in the barn.

Published on Eye's on West Virginia