2024 Cover Crop and Soil Health Field Day Kicks Off Sept. 17

By Paul Jasa

Join Nebraska Extension on Sept. 17 in Lincoln for a day of hands-on demonstrations and expert-led discussions on innovative farming practices that will enhance your soil health knowledge and help you build connections with fellow growers.

Producers are invited to attend the annual University of Nebraska Rogers Memorial Farm Cover Crop and Soil Health Field Day will be from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, with a free lunch.

A soil pit will be dug on the long-term tillage study, now in its 44th year of comparing no-till to other tillage systems. Also featured will be a statewide study to evaluate cover crop variety selection and performance.

In addition, attendees will see a new study exploring double crop options after wheat harvest, a nitrogen production from legumes study, and how cover crops suppress weeds in wheat stubble.

Field Day Presentations

• Learn about soil structure and soil health as Ray Ward, founder of Ward Laboratories, Inc., and Candy Thomas, Natural Resources Conservation Service regional soil health specialist, explore the soil pit.
• Observe various cover crops and cultivars in a study by Andrea Basche, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture associate professor.
• See some double crop options after wheat harvest in a pilot study by John Nelson, Nebraska Extension educator.
• Gain an understanding about carbon and nitrogen dynamics from Javed Iqbal, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture assistant professor.
• Learn about growing and managing cover crops for improving soil health from Katja Koehler-Cole, Nebraska soil health management extension educator.
• Get an overview of seeding cover crops from Paul Jasa, UNL Nebraska Extension engineer.

Registration for the free field day is required for the lunch count. Please email Paul Jasa before Sunday, Sept. 15 to be included in the lunch count and ensure enough handouts are available.

The farm is located at 18630 Adams St., Lincoln, Nebraska, about seven miles east of the city.