AUSTIN, Minn. — Ready to roll up your sleeves for roller crimping and no-till on your cropping operation? Get your efforts kick-started at a free workshop on Wednesday, March 2, from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., at Riverland Community College’s West Event Center in Austin (14th Street SW and 8th Avenue SW). All farmers interested in diving deeper into no-till and roller crimping are encouraged to participate in this Land Stewardship Project (LSP)/Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) workshop. Register online by March 1 at https://bit.ly/LSPNoTillRollerCrimp2022 or contact LSP’s Barb Sogn-Frank at 507-479-9119 (call or text) or by e-mailing bsognfrank@landstewardshipproject.org.
Directions: Riverland Community College West Event Center is located just south of I90 on 14th Street SW and 8th Avenue SW.
The primary purpose of this gathering is to provide a forum for round-table discussions to share peer-to-peer wisdom backed up by scientific research and input from southern Minnesota farmers with years of experience in no-till and roller crimping. Insights and resource sharing from soil health professionals will also be available. Participants will leave with new ideas to put into practice this growing season and resources for support. Consultants from Albert Lea Seed will be present to answer questions on seed varieties and variables.
Rodale Institute farm consultant Léa Vereecke will present research data and help guide round-table discussions. She has helped Midwestern farmers navigate the intricacies of timing, climate, weather and more when implementing no-till and roller crimping on organic and conventional operations. Vereecke was a research specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she oversaw projects related to reduced tillage systems, organic row crops, small grains, cover crops, industrial hemp and more.
Crop and livestock farmer Steve Lawler, who also serves as a soil scientist and resource specialist with the Mower County SWCD, and Jon Jovaag, an organic and conventional crop and livestock farmer from Austin, will share their “fails-to-success stories,” including details on how farmers and SWCD resource specialists can work together to problem solve. They’ve worked together over the years as the Jovaag family has experimented with roller crimping soybeans into rye.
“I’ve learned more from my failures than my successes,” Jovaag said. “And when you can help others avoid some of the pitfalls, that’s a good thing.”
LSP is committed to creating an environment that follows COVID-19 safety best practices and balances in-person interaction and learning. A mask mandate will be in place for these events and event attendees will be required to sign a waiver. LSP in-person events are subject to change based on guidelines set by state departments health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For details, see https://landstewardshipproject.org/covid-lsp.
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Roller crimping of a rye cover crop on the Jovaag farm near Austin, Minn. (Photo courtesy of the Mower County SWCD)