CFAES Give Today
OSU Extension

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

CFAES
August 1, 2018 - 4:20pm -- Anonymous

The OSU-OARDC in Wooster is the site of a No-Till Field Day on August 29 from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm.  The event is organized by the Ohio No-Till Council with assistance from the Wayne County SWCD and Extension offices.  The day features a visit to and sessions around the historic Triplett-Van Doren no-till plots located on the OARDC Snyder farm.  The plots were established in 1962 and have included on-going no-till research ever since.  The field day begins at Fisher Auditorium, 1680 Madison Ave on the OARDC campus with registration opening at 8:00 am.  This is also a time to visit with exhibitors and see no-till machinery displays while enjoying morning drinks and donuts.  After a welcome, the program formally begins at 9:00 am with a panel of presenters addressing the topic of the “Early Days on No-Till; Where are we Today?” Panel members include Glover Triplett, one of the originators of no-till research at OSU and a co-founder of the historic no-till plots, along with Bill Richards, no-till farmer and former Chief USDA_NRCS, Don Myers, retired OSU Extension Agronomist, Bill Haddad, New Day Ag Consulting and Dave Brandt, no-till farmer, cover crop expert and owner of Walnut Creek Seeds.

Following the panel discussion, the rest of the morning takes place out at the Triplett-Van Doren no-till research plots with Glover Triplett and Warren Dick providing an overview of the plot research.  After the overview, participants will rotate between three stops and hear presenters address topics of soil carbon and nitrogen measurement, soil physical properties and grain yields.  The morning concludes with participants returning to Fisher Auditorium for lunch.

The afternoon includes a choice of three concurrent sessions that feature a variety of topics and there is some opportunity for participants to mix and match across sessions.  Session A features cover crop management with Jim Hershey, President, Pennsylvania No-till Alliance, why move from transitional no-till to true no-till with Jerry Grigar, State Agronomist, USDA-NRCS in Michigan and making no-till corn succeed with Jim Hoorman, Soil Health Regional Specialist with USDA-NRCS.  Session B features Dave Brandt and Bill Haddad talking about the use of cover crops in a soybean production system to prevent erosion and build healthy soils, cost-share programs for cover crops with Wayne County NRCS and SWCD personnel  and use of cover crops for forages with a farmer panel.  Session C features Alan Sundermeier, OSU Extension Wood County and Rafiq Islam, Soil Scientist at OSU South Centers, talking about and demonstrating measuring soil health. 

Early registration for the field day is due by August 22.  Day of the event, on-site registration is $65.  There is a special student discount registration fee of $25 only valid through the early deadline registration date of August 22.  Registration includes lunch, morning and afternoon refreshments and handout materials.  Register online at https://ohionotillcouncil.com/ and click on the 2018 No-Till Field Day heading.  To register by mail, send a check payable to “Ohio No-Till Council” to Bret Margraf, Seneca Conservations District, 3140 South S.R. 100, Suite D, Tiffin, OH  44883 along with your name and address.