BURLINGTON, Vt. — The fifth annual Northeast Cover Crops Council (NECCC) Conference features talks by leading researchers, Extension and industry personnel and agricultural producers from the Northeast and as far away as North Carolina and Iowa.

The conference will be take place virtually on March 10 and 11 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. both days. Farmers and others interested in attending have until March 7 at noon to register at http://go.uvm.edu/registration-2022neccc. The fee is $75, which also provides access to recordings of the presentations for two weeks after the conference.

Dr. Mitch Hunter, American Farmland Trust research director, will give the plenary talk on March 10 on sustainable agriculture and climate resilience. Participants also will hear from Dr. Brandon Smith, U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soil Health Division on advancing cover crop planning in the NRCS before breakout sessions on topics relating to cover crops and integrated pest management, cover crops and tarping in vegetable systems and on-farm research on corn, winter cover crop mixtures and soil health.

The following day Dr. Victoria Ackroyd, a University of Maryland assistant research scientist, will open the program with a presentation on cover crop tools and seeding rate. Concurrent sessions will focus on precision sustainable agriculture, planting green and cover cropping strategies for weed management. Both days of the conference also include lightning talks by graduate students.

The conference is hosted by NECCC, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture and University of Vermont Extension. To request a disability-related accommodation to participate, email events@pasafarming.org.

–UVM Extension