A Closer Look at Next Week's Field Day Event

The Venango Conservation District, in conjunction with the Mercer County Conservation District will be sponsoring an Agricultural Field Day.  We’ll have presentations on many agricultural practices as well as information from many sponsors of the event and even pesticide credits.  Here is a closer look at the presentations that we’ll be offering:

COVER COP BENEFITS – Joel Hunter, Agronomist for the Penn State Cooperative Extension will be talking about the benefits of cover crops.  Cover cropping is one of the most rapidly growing soil and water conservation strategies.  It is an accepted environmental practice and in fact, NRCS has set a goal to increase the acres planted nationally in cover crops from 2 million to 20 million by 2020.  The benefits of cover crops are increased carbon and nitrogen in soils, erosion prevention, increased beneficial soil fungus colonization and weed suppression.

RAINFALL SIMULATOR – Tim Elder, Grazing Specialist for the USDA-NRCS will provide a demonstration consisting of five soil samples such as traditionally tilled soil and no-till soil and soil collected from a forest.  He will simulate a heavy rain event and explain how tillage affects soil erosion and water absorption.

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS – just before lunch we’ll hear about USDA-NRCS programs and their benefits to producers.  We’ll hear about the Pennsylvania Nutrient Management and Manure Management programs and we’ll learn about the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP).

VISIT WITH THE SPONSORS – this year, there are many sponsors to our event.  During lunch, participants will have an opportunity to visit displays from sponsors and cooperators to gather information on how each one can benefit farming operations.

STREAM BANK STABILIZATION SITE VISIT – Lance Bowes, District Manager of the Venango Conservation District will lead a field visit to a nearby stream bank stabilization site.  He will explain how work at this site has reduced nonpoint source pollution to the stream and saved the agricultural field from washing away during storm events.

MANAGING CORN FOLIAR DISEASES – Kevin Fry, Field Agronomist of DuPont Pioneer will give a presentation on managing diseases with DuPont’s foliar health program

OPTIONAL PRESENTATION – after the conclusion of the day, we welcome you to stay a bit later to participate in a presentation on Agricultural Management Solutions (AMS)  Ike Vorisek of Elder’s Ag & Turf will give a presentation on this latest GPS technology for agriculture.