There were three field days announced during the week of March 6. For more details about these field days, visit here.

March 17  | Cover Crop Field Day

Iowa Learning Farms, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District and USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service will host a cover crop field day on Tuesday, March 17 from 12:30-2:30 p.m. in Agri-Tech Aviation’s airplane hangar near Indianola. The event is free, open to the whole family and includes a complimentary meal. The workshop agenda will include Joe Dunn, Warren County farmer, sharing his experiences with cover crops and tips for successfully adding them to your operation. Meaghan Anderson, Iowa State Extension Agronomist, will provide cover crop termination considerations and best management practices. Julie McMichael, NRCS Area Resource Soil Scientist, will discuss how cover crops and no-tillage work together to improve soil health for long-term profitability. Mark Gutierrez, deputy director for USDA's Risk Management Agency, will highlight how cover crops and crop insurance can work together to benefit the entire farm enterprise. An optional tour of the airplanes and hangar will be available following the program. The event is free and open to the whole family, but reservations are suggested to ensure adequate space and food. For reasonable accommodations and to RSVP please contact to Liz Ripley at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu.

March 18 | Cover Crop and Soil Health Field Day

Iowa Learning Farms and USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service will host a cover crop and soil health field day on Wednesday, March 18 from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at the Campbell Farm near Ground Mound. The event is free, open to the whole family and includes a complimentary meal. The workshop agenda will include a panel of local farmers who are using cover crops and no-till in their farming operations. Jason Steele, NRCS Area Resource Soil Scientist, will highlight how cover crops and no-tillage work together to improve soil health for long-term profitability. Virgil Schmitt, Iowa State Extension Agronomist, will discuss cover crop and nutrient best management practices. Liz (Juchems) Ripley, Iowa Learning Farms conservation and cover crop outreach specialist, will then share results from cover crop projects examining species selection, water quality implications, and soil health indicators such as earthworms.  Weather permitting, there will be a short tour of cover crops nearby following the program. The workshop is free and open to the whole family, but reservations are suggested to ensure adequate space and food. To RSVP please contact Liz Ripley at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu. For reasonable accommodations please contact Justin Bisinger at (563) 391-1403 Ext 3 or Justin.Bisinger@ia.usda.gov.  

March 24 | Cover Crop Field Day

Iowa Learning Farms, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Poweshiek County Soil and Water Conservation District will host a cover crop field day on Tuesday, March 24 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Roger Van Donselaar’s Farm. The event is free, open to the whole family and includes a complimentary meal. The workshop agenda will begin with a panel discussion with host farmer Roger Van Donselaar and Mike Phillips, Poweshiek County farmer. Roger has been using no-till on his corn and soybean farm for nearly 30 years and added cover crops to the system six years ago to help with reduce herbicide usage and control erosion. As Roger states, “Cover crops do the tillage for you!” Rebecca Vittetoe, Iowa State Extension Agronomist, will provide cover crop termination considerations and best management practices for setting up your planter to handle more residue this spring. Liz (Juchems) Ripley, Iowa Learning Farms conservation and cover crop outreach specialist, will then share results from cover crop projects examining species selection, water quality implications, and soil health indicators such as earthworms.  Myriam Lafreniere-Landry, Watershed Coordinator with Poweshiek NRCS/SWCD, will provide a brief update on the project, available cost-share programs and opportunities to get involved. Weather permitting, there will be a short tour of cover crops nearby following the program. The workshop is free and open to the whole family, but reservations are suggested to ensure adequate space and food. For reasonable accommodations and to RSVP please contact Liz Ripley at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu.