IOWA FALLS, Iowa — A forum “Cover Crops: A Positive Contributor to Soil Health and Water Quality,” will be held Tuesday, December 18, 5:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., at the Ellsworth Community College Ag Center one mile south of Iowa Falls. Registration starts at 4:45 p.m. with a complimentary meal at 5:00 p.m. Keynote speaker will be Loran Steinlage from West Union, a widely recognized innovator in cover cropping. He will speak on the topic “Cover Crops: Adaption not Adoption” followed by a panel discussion. In addition to Steinlage, other panel members will be Steve Nebel of Nebel Farms and Ag-Air Aerial Application from Washington, Iowa, Adam Nechanicky of Nechanicky Farms near Buckingham, Iowa, and Wayne Fredericks, an Osage farmer. RSVP’s are requested for the dinner meal and can be made by phoning Hardin County Extension (641-648-4850), or online at www.southforkwatershed.org. Program details are available on the website or the Southfork Watershed Alliance (SFWA) Facebook page.
This forum is part of a series coordinated by Southfork Watershed Alliance and made possible by an Education and Demonstration Grant from the State Soil and Conservation Committee of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Partners include Knutson Family Farms, National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment (NLAE), the Antares Group and Hardin County ISU Extension. The meal is sponsored by Hardin County Farm Bureau and catered by Westside Restaurant in Alden.
“This is a great opportunity to learn the do’s and don’ts of cover cropping from farmers who are making it work,” said Al Kadolph, Board President of Southfork Watershed Alliance. “Cover cropping is one of the most important new practices. We need to learn how to make cover cropping work to help protect our soil, our water and our bottom line. The speaker and panel members are making cover crops work in operations much like ours. This is a great opportunity for farmers to learn from other farmers”.
This is the last workshop in the series “Keep Nutrients in Your Field” for 2018. The next workshop will be presented at the Hardin County ISU Extension Crop Clinic March 15, 2019. The workshop is using the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) presented by SFWA partners from the NLAE.
Southfork Watershed Alliance was formed in 1999 to address water quality issues in the 208,000 acre South Fork Iowa River Watershed, that stretches from near US 69 in Hamilton County to its confluence with the Iowa River at Gifford. It is a 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization, directed by a volunteer board, meets monthly and welcomes everyone interested in improving water quality.
— Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
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