Practical Farmers of Iowa: Lake City Grazing Cover Crop Field Day

When:
April 11, 2017 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
2017-04-11T12:00:00-05:00
2017-04-11T15:00:00-05:00
Where:
1635 365th St
Lake City, IA 51449
USA
Contact:
Alisha Bower
(515) 232-5661

Grazing Cover Crops Field Day in Lake City, Iowa

Practical Farmers of Iowa will host a cover crop grazing field day on Tuesday, April 11, from noon to 3 p.m., near Lake City (1635 365th St., a few miles west of town), at the farm of Mark Schleisman.

Mark farms more than 2,000 acres at M & M Farms, a diversified family farm that includes corn, soybeans, popcorn, popcorn-field-corn hybrid seed, hogs and a cow-calf operation. The family uses cover crops on at least 1,000 acres.

Click here to learn more about cover crops and other solutions at work.

The event – “Grazing Cover Crops” – is free to attend and will start with lunch, supplied by Mark, from noon to 12:30 p.m. Please RSVP for the meal to Alisha Bower, alisha@practicalfarmers.org or (515) 232-5661.

Further, the event is part of Practical Farmers’ 2017 spring cover crop “caravan” field day series, which features events at locations across Iowa exploring cover crop issues in grazing and row crop systems.

After lunch, guests will then head to the field to see Mark’s cows and calves grazing a mix of diverse cover crops planted in late summer 2016.

Planting and Grazing Strategies with Cover Crops

Mark will also share his experience with planting and grazing strategies; cover crops as a nutritional forage source; how he deals with compaction from cattle; and the economic benefits of grazing covers.

“In addition to the soil benefits, grazing cover crops has been a valuable source of fall, winter and spring cow feed,” Mark says.

Producers are also invited to attend a related field day in the morning – “Successful Cover Crop Use in Beef Production” – from 9:30-11:30 a.m., hosted by ISU Extension at the ISU Allee Demonstration Farm near Newell (2030 640th St., about 34 miles northwest of Mark’s farm).

The event is free and will focus on using stocker cattle to graze cereal rye, among other topics.

Directions to M & M Farms: Mark’s farm is located 3 miles west of Lake City on IA Hwy 175, or 4.5 miles east of Auburn on IA Hwy 175; the farm is at the top of the hill on the south side.

Visit PFI’s site for more information.

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