The Wisconsin Cover Crop Conference will be held in Stevens Point at the Holiday Inn on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. The day starts off at 9:30 a.m., with keynote speaker Blake Vince, who is a farmer from southwestern Ontario that has done long term no-till and cover crops. Attendees to the conference will choose from three sets of breakout sessions. The first set includes breaking the tillage cycle, managing manure with cover crops and cover crop species selection and planting in Wisconsin. After lunch, the sessions include pest considerations with cover crops (weeds and insects), using a roller crimper with covers and using cover crops as a forage. The final session of the day is a choice between machinery modifications for no-till and covers or nitrogen management with cover crops. The final session ends at 4:00 p.m.
Besides the planned sessions, farmers get a chance to network with others who are also trying to figure out how to make cover crops work in their systems. This peer to peer networking is critically important to the success of farmers implementing new conservation practices. Farmers of the Sugar River, a local producer-led watershed protection group, believes this is how farmers would rather learn and implement conservation practices, not through increased regulation.
Farmers of the Sugar River would like to offer free registration to watershed farmers who would like to go to the WI Cover Crop Conference (it’s a $50 value). And to get you there, they want to organize a carpool. The meeting locations for carpooling will depend on who registers. If you are interested in going to Stevens Point on February 20 for the conference, please contact Tonya Gratz at the Green County Land and Water Conservation Department at (608) 325-4195 extension 121 or email her at Tonya.Gratz@wi.nacdnet.net to get registered or ask questions.