You’re invited to a comprehensive 2-day field day to learn about how and why to make cover crops work for you. At this two-day workshop, which includes an evening field walk followed by an all-day series of expert speakers and discussion, Extension and NRCS agents and seed reps explain how cover crops complete the farm ecosystem and pay off year after year, and what you need to know to make them work. Unexpected challenges arise as you adapt cover crops to your farming system, and the speakers will prepare you for various management scenarios. Learn strategies for pest management, no-till adaptation, interseeding for flexibility and fit in many rotations, and the ways cover crops are often the overlooked element in a complete nutrient management plan. Cover crops can provide the missing link to year-round nutrient cycling. Observe cover crop placement in the field and the various niches they fill, as well as creative uses of multi-species cocktails, in which several species complement each other in new ways.
Agenda
Thursday, June 19
6:00PM—8:30PM
During this cover crop field walk, you will have an opportunity to see and hear about the many benefits cover crops. Observe first hand some of the tools and practices needed to include cover crops and summer annuals into your rotation.
John Tooker, Entomologist with Penn State Extension, will discuss pest management (including controlling slugs) in a cover crop system.
Eli Snyder, Agronomist with Penn State Extension, will join Jim Biddle in discussing their soybean insect study.
Jim Biddle will also show his bee pollinator area and riparian buffer (how-to considerations on planning and establishing farmscaping for planting buffers and pollinator strips)
Friday, June 20
9:00AM—3:30PM
9:00 – 9:15 Welcome—Jim Biddle, Gordon England, David Hunsberger, Dave Wilson
9:15 – 10:00 Planting into Crop Residue—. David Hunsberger, Dave Wilson —Kings Agriseeds
10:00 – 11:00 Inter-seeding Cover Crops— David Hunsberger, Dave Wilson —Kings Agriseeds
11:00 – 12:00 Nutrient Cycling in a Cover Crop System—Charlie White – Penn State Kings Agriseeds.
12:00 – 12:30 Manure management Regulations and Plans—Measuring nutrients on your farm and balancing
nutrients for optimum production & minimal environmental impact. Rich Huether— Blair Conservation
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch – After lunch we will travel to Jim Biddle’s farm
1:00 –1:45 Welcome——Overview of the various cover crops used on the farm. – Jim Biddle
1:45- 2:45 Cocktail Mixes used for Inter-seeding – David Hunsberger, Dave Wilson —Kings Agriseeds
2:45 – 3:30 Summer Annual Cover Crops Also Used as Forages– Field-walk through Sudangrass, Sorghum-Sudangrass and Forage Sorghum. -Dave Wilson, David Hunsberger, Jim Biddle
There is no registration fee, but we ask that you RSVP by June 16 to Beth Futrick ([email protected], or 814-696-0877 x 5) for an accurate lunch count.