August 14, 2013

View a variety of cover crop uses and seed facilities during a No-till Cover Crops Bus Tour September 4-5 in central Nebraska.

The tour, which will leave from Kearney at 8 a.m. Septenber 4 and return there 7 p.m. September 5, includes stops at a number of farm sites as well as demonstration plots at Green Cover Seed near Bladen and the Arrow Seed facility at Broken Bow.

Tour stops will feature

• crops seeded into last year’s cover crops,
• cover crops seeded after wheat harvest,
• cover crops seeded into seed corn production after male row destruction,
• cover crops growing as a companion crop with the current crop,
• cover crops for rotational grazing, and
• cover crops for forage.

Fields will include single species cover crops and cover crop cocktails, drilled and aerial seeding, and irrigated and dryland production. Various fields will demonstrate the benefits of adding cover crops to protect the soil, serve as a scavenger crop, add biological diversity, and feed the soil system.

This tour will feature established no-till, diverse crop rotations, cover crops, and livestock grazing systems. Ray Ward of Ward Laboratories in Kearney, Paul Jasa, and experienced no-till and cover crop practitioners will be on the bus to answer questions and facilitate further discussion.

Registration

Register by Friday, August 23, by sending the registration form and check (payable to the “University of Nebraska—Lincoln”) to the address indicated. The tour is limited to the first 50 participants. Email or phone registrations cannot be accepted and refunds won’t be available if cancelling after August 27.

Cost for the tour is $50 for Nebraska registrations or $100 for out-of-state registrations. There is an extra charge of $50 for those requesting a single room. Funding from a grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund for Continuous No-till Educational and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension are helping defray costs. The fee includes bus travel, lodging, and meals.

Sponsors include UNL Extension, the Nebraska Environmental Trust, Arrow Seed, Aurora Coop, Green Cover Seed, and Ward Laboratories.

For more information about the tour, contact Paul Jasa at 402-472-6715 or email pjasa1@unl.edu.

Paul Jasa
Extension Engineer