Month: August 2017

Two Great Events in Two Weeks…Don’t Miss Out

Don’t miss these two great events.  You can RSVP for either or both at
802-388-4969 or champlain.crops@uvm.edu

Wednesday, August 23rd
Innovation in Action: No-till roller crimper
(A #CleanWaterWeekVT Event)
12:30 – 3:00 PM
Bonaspecta Holsteins | 1133 Jersey Street S., Addison, VT

Click HERE for the flyer

Join the UVM Extension Champlain Valley Crop, Soil and Pasture Team and the Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition for a field day at Bonaspecta Holsteins Farm to see innovative agricultural practices designed to reduce erosion and protect water quality. Come learn more about:
  • Using a Roller-Crimper to flatten and terminate Winter Cover Crops
  • No-till corn tips and troubleshooting problems
  • Cover Crop mixes and how to decide on species and seeding rates
  • Water quality monitoring in the McKenzie Brook Watershed: methods and data to quantify water quality in an agricultural watershed

TWO (2) Water Quality Training Credits for farmers!

This event is one in a series of events happening for Clean Water Week.

Free lunch at 12:30 generously sponsored by Seedway. Come join the fun!
To register (free) and for more information contact:
Nate Severy
nsevery@uvm.edu or (802)-388-4969
www.champlainvalleyfarmercoaltion.com

Thursday, August 31st
2017 Short Season Corn  Hybrid Field Day11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Vorsteveld Farm | 3925 Panton Road, Panton,  VT (just across the street from the telephone building, next to the new solar panel installation)

Click HERE for the flyer

Join the UVM Extension’s Champlain Valley Crop, Soil & Pasture Team and local seed suppliers in the field to see our corn hybrid demonstration, comparing shorter season corn varieties (85-98 day). Can we accomplish high yielding corn and timely cover crop seeding? Come check it out. We’ll take a trip down the road and check out some long season hybrids too! Research in northern VT has suggested that variety, as opposed to just day length, is important in determining corn yield. To this end, we have planted 21 corn hybrids ranging from 85 DRM to 98 DRM to assess yield and quality. The objective is to test varieties on our soils and find optimum day length so that there is more time in the fall for cover crop seeding and establishment without sacrificing yield. We will also have the opportunity after lunch to look at some longer day hybrids in a different field and take a look at this farms novel approach to no-till, manure application and cover cropping.

Upcoming Events – August

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER YOUR CROPS AT FIELD DAYS!!!

NEXT MONDAY August 7
8 am - noon

Events hosted or with programing support by the Champlain Valley Crop, Soil and Pasture Team:

Addison County Fair and Field Days. August 8-12, Addison, VT. Drop off submissions for our crop exhibit August 7, 8 am-noon. Help us demonstrate local crops and conservation work to the public. Fair entry guidelines and More information about the fair. Contact our office for drop submission questions (802-388-4969). See you at the fair!

Grass-Fed & Grass-Finished: Beyond the Basics. Workshop with Jim Gerrish. August 14, 10 am-3 pm, at Lucas Cattle Company, Orwell, VT. Jim Gerrish is an internationally recognized grazing consultant and this should be an highly informative conversation about high-quality, grass-finished beef production. Register here. For more information contact Cheryl Cesario (802-388-4969 ext. 346).

Clean Water Week is August 20-26. We are hosting a Clean Water Field Day, August 23, 1 pm to 3 pm, in Addison, VT at Rob Hunt’s farm. We will be discussing a no-till/cover crop trial, McKenzie Brook initiative through NRCS that we are a part of, and a collaboration with VT DEC to better quantify rainfall and stream patterns in McKenzie Brook. For more information contact Nate Severy (802-388-4969 ext. 348).

Corn Hybrid Trial Field Day. August 31, 11 am-2 pm, Panton, VT at Vosterveld’s Farm. This is the second year we have established corn hybrid trials. Join us in a discussion of how they are doing in these less than ideal growing conditions. For more information contact Kirsten Workman (802-388-4969 ext. 347).

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Events hosted by other affiliates:

2017 Summer Farm Meeting. August 17, 10 am-2:30 pm, Franklin, VT. UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program, Friends of Northern Lake Champlain, and Farmer’s Watershed Alliance at Tim and Martha Magnant’s farm, Bridgeman View Farm. Topics to include innovative agronomic practices of interseeding, no-till and cover cropping, and soil health. Free with registration.

Pasture Management, Recovery After a Drought. August 30, 10 am-2pm. Beidler Farm, Randolph Center, VT. More information and registration.

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Other News:

Forage Analysis: Even More Important This Season [see our blog post]. As we all know, this is a challenging year for successfully planting and harvesting crops in the Champlain Valley and beyond. At the end of the day, the real challenge will be how to feed those crops to your animals successfully. This year, more than most, forage analysis will be very important. You will need to take a close look at your forage quality and make adjustments to your other feed stocks accordingly.

 NRCS Announces Soil Survey Work in Addison County. NRCS is updating soil survey data in the Lake Champlain Basin (as part of a long term process), and is currently focusing on areas in Addison County mapped as high clay soils. You may be hearing from NRCS employees to conduct on-site reviews of soils for classification purposes. For more information see their factsheet or contact Vicki Drew.
The Agricultural Business / Farm Viability Program, through UVM Extension has ongoing funding for water quality business analysis, to help farmers analyze options for meeting conservation and regulatory compliance goals. Analysis will include financial planning, strategic planning and coordination with related agencies. For more information see our recent blog post, or contact Tony Kitsos at (802) 524-6501 or (800) 639-2130 ext. 440.