Zeb Winslow of North Carolina proved to be an engaging keynote speaker as he related what he and his father have learned adopting no-till and cover crop practices on their farm with his presentation “Son, Have You Lost Your Mind?”
He also added, “I’m jealous of the alliance up here. We don’t have this at home. You guys are able to trade ideas and lean on each other, and that’s a great thing.”
Full season soybeans planted into fall seeded wheat is one of the many new practices being tried at Rohrbach farms.
This practice is also being employed at Rohrbach Farms.
New to many was Alliance member William Thiele’s demonstration of how a drone can be a used as a valuable tool for field scouting and other agricultural applications.
This technology is also being explored by Alliance members for other practices such as seeding cover crops into standing corn and inter-seeding.
The Alliance was pleased that Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding joined us for part of the field day at Rohrbach Farms. He complimented the Alliance on “their tireless efforts to share knowledge” on the value of no-till and cover crop practices.
“The philosophy of the No-Till Alliance is being able to demonstrate what you do and share it, and that’s a great model,” noted Secretary Redding.
Host Mark Rohrbach discussed his test strips utilizing six different combinations of multi-species cover crops and row widths.
He commented, “I know we have more to learn, but so far so good.”
At both events, Alliance director Ben Peckman related his early experiences with grazing cover crops as a means of full or partial forage harvest.
Alliance Director and field day host Ryan Graham welcomes the crowd to the western PA field day. He and his wife, Roxanne made certain everything went smoothly.
He also thanked Channel and Nutrien for their generous support in providing lunch and beverages for all attendees.
Likewise, the demonstration of a tile plow inserting drainage tile was a popular feature at Graham Farms.
Ryan indicated that tiles enhance drainage in many fields, which can lead to more uniform seed germination and crop growth.
Pennsylvania No Till Alliance 