By Kitty Gifford
All are invited to an in-person on-farm Cover Crop Field Day on October 22nd in Trumansburg, NY, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The program offers varied content, from visiting cover crop plots planted with cover crop species and mixtures to soil pit investigations discussing in-field methods of assessing soil health.
The 2017 Census of Agriculture results showed that New York acreage planted in cover crops was up 37% from 2012. As cover crops grow in popularity for their practical benefits from erosion control, adding nitrogen to the soil, to addressing compaction issues, farmers are finding many reasons to add cover crops to their operations.
The New York Soil Health Trailer will be on-site with interactive demonstrations conducted by Fay Benson, Cornell Cooperative Extension educator.
Presenters and topics
- Rod Porter and Tim Fritz, King’s AgriSeeds
34 cover crop plots with various monocultures and mixtures of different species/cultivars - Joseph Amsili, New York Soil Health
Cover crop root system differences and connections to ecosystem services - Fay Benson, Cornell Cooperative Extension
NY Soil Health Trailer - Nicole Kubiczki and Zach Warning, USDA-NRCS
Soil Pit investigations and in-field soil health diagnostics
The event is free to attend, and no registration is required. The first 20 participants from separate households will receive a free copy of Managing Cover Crops Profitably.
The Cover Crop Field Day will be at 9787 Route 96 Trumansburg, NY 14886. The location is across the road from Ehrhart Propane.