BYRON, Minn. — No-till, cover crops and soil health will be the focus of a free Land Stewardship Project (LSP) field day on Tuesday, July 11, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., on three Byron-area farms. Martin Larsen, Tom Pyfferoen and Curt Tvedt will share their experiences and provide a firsthand look at their soil-building methods. The field day begins at the Larsen farm (7604 14th St. NW, Byron, MN 55920) and will continue by car caravan to the other farm sites. Those still hungry for more discussion can join the group after the field day for lunch at the Bears Den in Byron, Minn. Please RSVP by July 9. For more information and to register, contact LSP’s Shona Snater at 507-523-3366 or ssnater@landstewardshipproject.org.

“There are remarkable changes happening on the agricultural landscape, and these three farmers provide prime examples of what practices farmers are adopting to promote soil health,” said Snater.

DIRECTIONS: From U.S. Highway 14, turn north onto County Road 3 NW and then turn East onto 14th Street NW. After about a mile, the Larsen farm will be on the right. Look for field day signs.

Martin Larsen is a no-till farmer and works for the Olmsted County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). He will describe his experience with no-till and cover crops, and his interseeding of cover crops into V6 corn both on his own farm and the SWCD plot. An eye opening “slake test” will showcase the benefits of soil structure and water infiltration.

Pyfferoen will discuss the do’s and dont’s of getting started in no-till. Making sure the planter is setup for no-till planting is vitally important, and Pyfferoen will walk participants through the process. He will also discuss how he planted corn into green rye this year.

Tvedt will wrap up the day by demonstrating some of the experiments he is trying out on his farm to improve soil health. For example, he seeded soybeans into four-to-five-foot-tall rye and then rolled the rye seven days later.

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