By VICKI JOHNSON
Ohio Correspondent

TIFFIN, Ohio — A Cover Crop Field Day designed to introduce farmers to a variety of cover crops is planned for July 20 in rural Tiffin.
Sponsored by the Sandusky River Watershed Coalition and Seneca Soil and Water Conservation District, the field day is funded by a $532,000 “Making Sense Out of Soil $aving$” grant from the Great Lakes Commission, as part of its Great Lakes Basin Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Fund.

The field day starts at 10 a.m. at the Dennis and Gary Baugher Farm, located at 4511 E. County Road 50 in Tiffin. “We did one similar two years ago in Wyandot County,” said Kendall Stucky, manure management specialist for Soil and Water Conservation Districts for four counties in northwestern Ohio.
Seneca County was chosen because of access to grants and to let producers know funds are available to assist with sediment-reduction through cover crops.

“And it’s partly because some of the cover crops we’re using now are new and haven’t been used in this area,” Stucky said.

The grant provides incentives based on the tons of soil saved by a practice, and Winter Cover Crops are a leading Best Management Practice for holding soils in place when they are the most vulnerable.

“The field we selected is pretty close to being in the center of the grant area,” Stucky said. “We’re targeting farmers and producers to try to reduce sediment and runoff from the fields.”

In addition to growing cover crops, other means of reducing sediment runoff may be discussed, such as changing crop rotations, repairing tile mains and installing grass waterways. “There’s still plenty of money available,” said Cindy Brookes, director of the watershed coalition.

She said the field day will help farmers understand the effect of erosion on waterways and Lake Erie.

“If we can get practices in place to reduce erosion, it will help with the dissolved reactive phosphorous issue; not fully, but it would help,” she said. The issue is a component in harmful algal blooms in Ohio lakes.

Featured speaker for the field day is Greg Fretti of The CISCO Cos. Other speakers will be Stucky, covering other practices of the grant program; Bret Margraf, Honey Creek Watershed technician, about his experience with cover crops in the watershed, professionally and personally; and a representative from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service about how wetland determinations are conducted.

Also planned are seeding demonstrations of various varieties, including seeding rates and methods.

A light lunch will be provided. Advance registration is requested, but not required, by contacting Stucky at 419-447-7073, by email at kendall.stucky@ oh.nacdnet.net or Cindy Brookes, Sandusky River watershed specialist, at 419-334-5016 or cabrookes@wsos.org

Also, contact Stucky for more information about funding, to apply for funding or for a map of eligible Sandusky River sub-watersheds.