MINNEAPOLIS — University of Minnesota Extension is offering six Small Grain Winter Workshops across Central and Southern MN in February to address small grain production.
Row crop farming brings busy spring and fall workloads. There are also pests common to row crops, including herbicide resistant weeds, soybean cyst nematodes, soybean aphid, and other insect and disease pests becoming more problematic across Minnesota. Small grain added to a rotation offers the opportunity to diversity cropping systems in central and southern Minnesota to manage these challenges. This program is designed to help farmers determine if small grains can work on their farm and in their rotation. This program will provide the tools needed to make small grains a successful crop in their operation, including cutting-edge research on production agronomics, variety selection, disease identification, fungicide use, fertility, quality, equipment, and economics. Time will be set aside for open forum to discuss related topics and on-farm experiences.
Dates, Locations, Times and Contacts are as follows:
Monday, February 18 – New Prague, First Bank and Trust, New Prague 9:00 – 1:00 (formerly the State Bank of New Prague) (Contact Shane Bugeja at 515-708-3486)
Monday, February 18 – Rochester, Heintz Center 12:30 – 4:00 (Contact Ryan Miller at 507-529-2759)
* Private Pesticide Applicator Training will precede the small grains program from 9:00 – 12:30.
Wednesday, February 20 – Cold Spring, Great Blue Heron, 9:00 – 1:00 (Contact Joe Krippner at 320-980-2915)
Wednesday, February 20 – Mora, Kanabec County Courthouse, 1:00 – 4:00 (Contact Jared Goplen at 320-589-1711 x2128)
Thursday, February 21 – Slayton, Murray County 4H-Building, Event Hall, 12:30 – 4:00 (Contact: Melissa Runck at 507-836-6927).
* The “Strategic Farming – Maximizing Return on Investment” workshop will precede the small grains program from 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and includes lunch. For details and to register for the Strategic Farming program please visit: https://z.umn.edu/strategic-farming
Friday, February 22 – Benson, McKinney’s on Southside, 10:00 – 2:30 (Contact: Scott Lee at 320-760-6129).
Presenters will include Jochum Wiersma, University of Minnesota Extension Small Grain Specialist and Jared Goplen, University of Minnesota Extension Crops Educator.
Lunch is included at all sites except Mora. Registration is free, and is strongly encouraged to assist with meal planning. Please register by visiting https://z.umn.edu/PPAT-and-Small-Grains or contact Jared Goplen at 320-589-1711 x2128 or gople007@umn.edu for more information.
— University of Minnesota Extension
For more news from Minnesota, click here.