Cover Crop Road Trip

Cover Crop Education On the Road

Hi folks. I know that most of you have been dying for new blog posts and a newsletter from me. I realize that you can’t sleep at night because you are wondering “is Dave okay?” I appreciate that – even if it’s not true!

So where have I been? I have been busy putting on cover crop meetings across the Midwest since late December.  I have been blessed with the opportunity to speak at some wonderful venues lately:

  • Indiana CCA Annual Training Meeting (on aerial applying cover crops)
  • Practical Farmers of Iowa annual meeting in Ames, IA (various topics)
  • Southern Indiana Grazing Conference (on grazing cover crops)
  • Indiana Hort Congress annual meeting (benefits of cover crops)
  • West Ohio Agronomy Day meeting (aerial application)
  • Allen County (IN) Master Gardeners Annual meeting (cover crops in gardens -and lawns!)
  • Many SWCD meetings
  • Several Amish meetings
  • I even made it out to Wisconsin to visit with industry professionals
  • I also worked with a  southern Indiana seed corn dealer and aerial applicator
  • You may have seen me at the Ft. Wayne Farm Show or at other meetings and conferences
In my spare time, I learned Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and got a part time job as an aerobics instructor. So, as you can see, it’s been busy.

Upcoming Cover Crop Opportunities

There are some key meetings coming up that I think you should consider attending:

  • The Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council is holding their annual meeting on February 10 in Reynoldsburg, OH at the Ohio Dept. of Ag. building from 8:30 AM-3:45 PM.  I will be speaking twice on “How to Maximize Forage Production.”
  • On March 6, I will be speaking at the Conservation Tillage and and Technology Conference in Ada, OH.  This meeting is always an excellent learning and networking opportunity for cover croppers.
  • On March 7, I will be speaking at the Great Lakes Forage and Grazing Conference in East Lansing, MI.
  • One of the very best meetings on cover crops is the Midwest Cover Crop Council Annual Meeting.  This year it is being held at the Beck Agricultural Center in West Lafayette, IN – generously donated by the Beck family – Beck’s Hybrids – on February 28-29.  The main day for farmers to attend will be the 29th.
  • Then on March 1 there is the Greater Wabash River RC&D Workshop on Soil Productivity at the same facility.

Along with these meetings and conferences I will be a guest lecturer at Ball State University while also conducting several cover crop and forage meetings in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and southern Indiana.

 

Cover Crops From the Bottom Up

Root pit digs start in late March and early April.  With the mild winter we are having in the Eastern Corn Belt, I’d bet roots have grown deeper than expected as many cover crops do not yet appear to have gone dormant.

I have lots of stories from producers that are excited about their cover cropping experiences.  I’ll do my best to get those on the blog as soon as possible.  Watch recent (and not so recent videos) on You Tube on the covercropdave station.

 

Keep sending me or telling me your stories.  I hope to run into you this winter at some of these meetings/conferences.  Be sure to say “hi”.

Dave

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