Thursday, January 15

Breakout Sessions #4 (8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.)

Cover Crops 101: where, when, and how | Marisol Berti, Professor - Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University and Tyler Zimmerman, North Dakota farmer

Marisol and Tyler will highlight the most important cover crops, their botanical families, their ecosystem functions, and management. In addition, they will provide examples of pros and cons of cover crops, where they fit best in a crop rotation, and what a grower needs to consider when planning to plant a cover crop. With the experience of Dr. Marisol Berti’s research in cover crops and ND farmer Tyler Zimmerman’s 15 years of cover crops experience, this presentation will highlight the benefits of cover crops to soil health and how to get the most benefit.

Markets for C insets and ecosystem services | Matthew Gammans, North Dakota State University 

What opportunities exist for farmers to receive payment for conducting practices that increase soil carbon? This presentation will provide an overview of the different types of programs that are currently available to farmers and discuss the benefits and challenges associated with participation.

Managing challenging weeds in conservation tillage systems | Sarah Lancaster, Extension Specialist, Kansas State University 

Herbicide-resistant and other hard-to-control weeds have changed the way farmers think about tillage. In this presentation, Sarah Lancaster will discuss general principles of weed management in conservation tillage systems, as well as possible solutions to some current challenges.

Leveraging technology to enhance grazing management and soil health | Miranda Meehan, Extension Specialist - Livestock Environmental Stewardship, North Dakota State University and Jerry Doan, North Dakota Rancher 

This presentation will discuss technologies available to enhance grazing management, such as virtual fence. Miranda and Jerry will discuss how these tools work and their experience using these tools to manage grazing in annual forage and traditional grazing systems.

Industry Table Talks #1 (9:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m.)

Industry Table Talks #2 (9:20 a.m.-9:35 a.m.)

Breakout sessions #5 (10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.)

Planting green: Incorporating a rye cover crop before soybeans | Angie Peltier, Extension Educator - Crops, University of Minnesota and Lindsay Pease, Extension Specialist - Nutrient and Water Management, University of Minnesota 

Lindsay and Angie will detail small-plot and on-farm research that aimed to find the 'sweet spot' between growing winter rye to maximize soil health benefits, while minimizing yield losses in a soybean cash crop. 

Predicting corn N outcomes with Haney and other biological tests | Anna Cates, Extension Specialist - Soil Health, University of Minnesota 

Anna will cover the basics of how nitrogen (N) cycling drives corn N needs. Then, we'll look at the relationship between biological N pools and corn N outcomes in on-farm trials in MN. 

Why diversify crop rotations – Logistics, biology, and yields | Greg Endres, Retired Extension Agronomist, North Dakota State University and William Mack, Minnesota farmer 

This session will reexamine reasons to expand your crop rotation sequence beyond corn and soybean. Discussion will include impact on soil and use of cover crops.

Managing challenging weeds in conservation tillage systems | Sarah Lancaster, Extension Specialist, Kansas State University 

Herbicide-resistant and other hard-to-control weeds have changed the way farmers think about tillage. In this presentation, Sarah Lancaster will discuss general principles of weed management in conservation tillage systems, as well as possible solutions to some current challenges.

Farmer Panel (11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.)

How to build your soil health system | Moderator:  Carlos Pires, Extension Specialist - Soil Health, North Dakota State University, Panelists: Paul Overby - ND farmer, Luke Ressler - ND Farmer, Andrew Johnstad - MN Farmer

This panel of farmers will share their soil health journeys, talk about what soil health practices work on their farming operations, and provide insight about how they troubleshoot challenges using the principles of soil health.