Attendees can visit Wade Dooley’s farm from the comfort of their homes
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
An Iowa farmer is allowing interested people to see what goes on at his farm through a virtual visit.
Wade Dooley, who grows 1,200 acres of crops along with an 80-head cow-calf operation in Marshall County, is hosting a virtual field day on April 24 at 1:00 p.m. CST.
The event is put on through a partnership between Iowa Learning Farms, the Iowa Nutrient Research Center and Conservation Learning Group.
The virtual field day will include video presentations and live interactions between Dooley and the attendees as he shows the changes he is making on the family farm to adjust to markets and climate.
“He’s doing some really innovative things on his farm,” Liz Ripley, a conservation and cover crop outreach specialist with Iowa Learning Farms, told Farms.com.
The location of the Dooley family farm meant Wade had to get creative with some of his farming methods, Ripley said.
“He farms on a river bottom and he was getting tired of watching some his neighbors’ soil run up onto his land and then he couldn’t grow his crops,” she said. “So, in response, he’s shifting production away from row crops to other products like fruits and vegetables to sell to neighbors, grazing cattle and he’s been very open about what he’s doing.”
The visit to the Dooley farm on April 24 will be the second virtual visit Iowa Learning Farms has put on.
The first was a cover crop field day on April 16 hosted by crop specialists and professors from Iowa State University.
Holding these virtual presentations allows farmers to learn from one another during a time when large group gatherings aren’t advised, Ripley said.
“Historically these would have been about 50 people in a room having these conversations,” she said. “The networking that occurs after the event, the idea sharing and knowing they have a resource to turn to is important to farmers.”
To participate in the field day, interested attendees can go to this link before 1:00 p.m. local time on April 24.
Anyone who wants to join via telephone can call 312-626-6799 or 646-876-9923. The meeting ID is 315 189 792.
The field day will also be recorded and posted online to be viewed at any time.
Wade Dooley/Iowa Learning Farms photo