Northeast Cover Crop Council Annual Conference

The benefits of cover crops are wide ranging—from decreased soil erosion and tighter nutrient cycling that can reduce the amount (and cost) of fertilizer, to increased soil organic matter and crop resilience during seasons with challenging weather conditions.

Farmers, students, researchers, extension educators, government and industry representatives, and others will gather to talk and learn about all things cover crop-related at the Northeast Cover Crops Council’s (NECCC) 2018 Conference. Conference sessions will focus on soil health, no-till cover crop practices, pest management, over-crop mixtures, harvesting cover crops for forage, and more.

The event is hosted by Penn State University with assistance from PASA, and will feature presentations from our farmer-members Cameron Pedersen on extending cover crop rotations to reduce tillage and build organic matter, and Dave McLaughlin on using annual spring forages as an alternative to alfalfa in dairy rotations. We’ll also be sharing insights from our Soil Health Benchmark Study.

Participants are enthusiastically encouraged to present their own work during a breakfast poster reception. There will also be a buffet lunch.

At the field tour on November 16th at the Penn State Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center, you’ll walk among cover crop variety and implementation demonstration plots and see specialized farming equipment suitable for cover crop management.

Image credit: UVM Extension Northwest Crops & Soils Program

Additional information

This event qualifies for two SmartStart credits through AgChoice Farm Credit. SmartStart allows young and beginning farmers to earn credits toward a reduced interest rate on a new AgChoice loan by attending educational events.

Register

You can either register on the NECCC Conference website here.