The Soil Health Seminars programming at the 2018 Empire Farm Days at Rodman Lott and Son Farms in Seneca Falls, NY, will provide the opportunity to hear from soil specialists, learn from farming peers in daily panel presentations, see tabletop demonstrations, tour new cover crop plots, and have a soil report created for your use. The presentations are free and organized by the New York State Interagency Soil Health Working Group.
- The featured speaker at the Soil Health Center at 9:30 am on Tuesday, August 7, 2018, at the show is Sally A. Flis, Ph.D., director of agronomy at The Fertilizer Institute in Washington, DC.
- On Wednesday, August 8, at 9:30 am, Harold M. van Es, a 30-year professor of soil science at Cornell University will discuss why healthy soil is the foundation of sustainable crop production and how understanding interactions among the physical, biological and chemical aspects of soil is key to good soil health management practices, including how to enhance soil organic matter.
- At 10:30 AM daily: Cover Crops Field Demo Tour
The 2018 Soil Health Center daily panel topics, panelists and moderators are as follows:
Tuesday, August 7:
Soil Health Management Practices and Fertilizer & Manure Management When Incorporating Cover Crops and Reduced Tillage into Their Systems
Panelists: Jamie Baker, Tompkins County, NY
Dave Magos, Jefferson County, NY
Craig Phelps, Livingston County, NY
Moderator: Greg Albrecht, Agricultural Environmental Management Coordinator, NYS Agriculture and Markets
Wednesday, August 8:
Challenges & Benefits of Building Organic Matter and Soil, Water & Nutrient Interactions Using Soil Health Management Systems
Panelists: Jesse Farwell, Orleans County, NY
Klaas Martens, Yates County, NY
Steve Nemec, Cayuga County, NY
Moderator: David Grusenmeyer, Executive Director, New York Farm Viability Institute
Thursday, August 9:
Farmer Panel: Challenges of Managing Herbicides Within Systems That Incorporate Cover Crops, Reduced Tillage & Diverse Rotations
Panelists: Todd DuMond, Cayuga County, NY
Mark Lott, Seneca County, NY
Jeff Toussaint, Orleans County, NY
Moderator: Paul Salon, CCA, USDA-NRCS Northeast Soil Health Specialist
Read the full press release here.
For details on the 2018 Empire Farm Days event, visit the website at www.empirefarmdays.com.