CONSTANCE – Profiting from summer annual forages and livestock integration on cropland is the focus of the 2024 Bow Creek Field Day.
The Field Day has been scheduled for 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. July 25 at the Constance Hall, 88865 554th Ave., Crofton. This year’s featured speaker is Darrell Oswald, Burleigh County Soil Conservation District manager; he is based in Bismarck, N.D., and is set to present at 9 a.m.
The Burleigh County SCD owns and operates Menoken Farm, a conservation demonstration operation located in central North Dakota that uses a systems approach to farming, enhancing erosion protection, sunlight harvest, plant diversity, carbon, pollinators, beneficial insects, wildlife, salinity control, livestock forage and more.
Oswald will discuss using summer annual forages as part of a rotation and how that improves soil, which can lead to improvements in future production.
Two young operators – Skyles Kinkaid, rural Hartington, and Nolan Klug, St. Helena – are using drones with seeding and spraying capabilities on farms and will have live demonstrations at 10:15 a.m.
Cassidy Wessel, a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission private lands wildlife biologist, will outline at 11:30 a.m. the benefits that can be achieved for cropland, pasture/range and wildlife. New technology can help address some of the challenges with establishing and managing summer annual forages and cover crops.
At 12:45 p.m., members of a local farmer panel will discuss how they use summer annual forages in their systems and the economics of grazing livestock as part of an extended rotation.
Grazing summer annual forages or cover crops may open a window to rest and improve pastures and range land.
Closing out the day at 2:15 p.m., attendees will evaluate summer annual forage stands and learn how to select appropriate plants for each season of forage production, followed by a field walk and a question- and-answer session at 3 p.m.
This event is offered at no cost to those who live or farm/ranch in the Lewis & Clark Natural Resources District, and to those who support local farmers and ranchers (agronomists, crop advisors, ag businesses, etc.). There is a fee for those who live and work outside the NRD’s service area.
To RSVP, people may email Bow Creek Watershed Coordinator Becky Ravenkamp at [email protected] with the names of attendees, call the NRD at 402-254-6758 or register online at lcnrd.nebraska. gov/bow-creek.
