By SUSAN BLOWER
Indiana Correspondent

STRAUGHN, Ind. — Cover crops, nutrient management and related USDA farm bill incentives will be the focus of the Conservation Field Day on Friday, Sept. 24, 9 a.m. to lunch. The program and lunch are free and open to the public.

The field day will be located at the Dyna-Gro Demonstration Plot, at CR 350 East and U.S. 40, in Straughn, a town in east-central Indiana.

Cover crops and their differing benefits will be detailed by Hans Kok, of Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative, and Dennis Brown, of Byron Seed LLC. “We have 12 plots on-site with different mixes and a variety of cover crops. We will walk each plot, dig up roots, and Byron Seed will tell us when to feed them and what cover crop to use after each crop,” said Wesley Slain, district conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Slain said cover crops are a grass or legume planted after beans or corn to provide nitrogen and/or to suppress weeds.

Cover crops also improve water quality by preventing run-off of nutrients and soil into the water, Slain said. He will be detailing incentive payments within the USDA Farm Bill to help farmers qualify for the conservation programs.

Slain said this is the first year that cover crops have been the focus of field day.

Jamie Boone, with Dow Agro Sciences, will talk about the benefits of encapsulated nitrogen.

A Crop Production Services representative will explore the CPS Nutrient Management Program.

Lunch will be provided by program sponsors. To reserve your place, pre-registration is a must, Slain said. Register by Friday, Sept. 17, by calling the Henry County Soil and Water Conservation District at 765-529-2303, ext. 3, or call for more information.