SIOUX CENTER, Iowa — Practical Farmers of Iowa will host a cover crop grazing field day on Tuesday, May 30, from noon to 3 p.m., near Sioux Center (3357 400th St., a few miles east of town), at the farm of Matt Schuiteman.
Matt is a fifth-generation crop and livestock farmer at AJS Farms who has been growing a rye cover crop for more than 10 years. In addition to swine, he also raises 40 Shorthorn cattle. The rye provides forage to the cattle – either through grazing or fed as bales.
The event – “Grazing Cover Crops” – is free to attend and will start with lunch, supplied by Matt, from noon to 12:30 p.m. Please RSVP for the meal to Alisha Bower, alisha@practicalfarmers.org or (515) 232-5661.
The field day is sponsored by Green Thumb Commodities, and is the last event in Practical Farmers’ 2017 spring cover crop “caravan” field day series, which featured events at locations across Iowa exploring cover crop issues in grazing and row crop systems.
The field day will start at the Schuiteman home farm. After lunch, guests will head to a field 1 mile east to see rye baling. Matt will also discuss grazing rye and hairy vetch, growing cover crops for seed and water quality as it relates to cover crops.
“Growing a rye cover allows you to raise a cash crop on your row crop acres and still be able to graze those acres,” Matt says. “It’s a way to get two incomes out of that same land.”
Directions to AJS Farms: From Hwy 75 in Sioux Center, travel east for 3.3 miles on 400th Street. The farm is located on the south side of the road.
Practical Farmers of Iowa’s 2017 spring cover crop field days are supported by Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship; Iowa State University Extension; Land Stewardship Project; Natural Resources Conservation Service; Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota; The Pasture Project; and Unilever.
— Practical Farmers of Iowa
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