AMES, Iowa – Farmers will have an opportunity to see various strip-till bars in action during the Strip-Till Field Day near Crawfordsville on July 30.
Iowa continues to see an increasing number of acres of strip-tillage each year. “The goal of this field day is to increase awareness of strip-tillage as a conservation practice to help reduce erosion, improve soil health, protect water quality and complement cover-cropping systems,” said Rebecca Vittetoe, extension field agronomist with Iowa State University.
Attendees will have the opportunity to observe multiple strip-till bars showcased with field demonstrations on wheat residue, as well as visit static displays from supporting ag industry partners.
“This field day offers a great opportunity for those considering moving to a reduced tillage system as they can observe differences in equipment,” Vittetoe noted.
The event will feature two identical field demonstrations in the morning and afternoon. Registration for the morning session begins at 8:30 a.m., with field demonstrations running from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. At noon during lunch, Levi Powell with the ISU Digital Ag Innovation Lab will share a presentation on “Being Successful with Strip-Till.” Once this session concludes, registration for the afternoon session will begin at 12:30 p.m. with field demonstrations running from 2 to 4 p.m.
Space is limited for each session, and to help with a headcount for lunch, please pre-register online for the field by July 23.
This field day will take place prior to the National Strip-Tillage Conference being held in Iowa City on July 31 and Aug. 1. These events are separate, but do complement each other. Participants do not need to register for the national conference to attend the field day.
The Strip-Till field day will be held at the ISU Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm located at 3115 Louisa-Washington Road, Crawfordsville. Please follow the signs that will be placed for parking directions.
Additionally, 2.5 Soil and Water CCA continuing education credits are available for participants.
There is no cost to attend the field day thanks to the generous support from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and other event sponsors, including NC SARE, Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District, Louisa County Soil and Water Conservation Distric, Sinclair Tractor, JJ Nichting, Enivornmental Tillage Systems, Lynx Ag, Dawn, Zimmerman, Vulcan, Yetter Farm Equipent, Kuhn Krause, Schlagel, Case IH, Unverferth, LandLuvr, Black Eagle Ag Solutions and Servi Tech.
For more information, visit Strip-Till Field Day. Questions may be directed to ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists Angie Rieck-Hinz at amrieck@iastate.edu or 515-231-2830, or Rebecca Vittetoe at rka8@iastate.edu or 712-540-3319.
(contributed press release and photo, ISUANR)
