Past Field Day: Cover Crop Conversations at Hoffman Organic Farm
In partnership with IDEA Farm Network & The Land Connection

Monday, August 20, 2024, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Hoffman Organic Farm, 4279 E. 12th Rd., Earlville, IL 60518

Let’s get together and talk cover crops while checking out fields with Paul Hoffman at Hoffman Organic Farm. We’re excited to host this field day in partnership with IDEA Farm Network and The Land Connection.

We’ll focus on Paul’s organic field crops, but this family farm has much more to offer including organic vegetables and grass-fed lamb and beef. Our cover crop conversations will include frost seeded red clover post wheat harvest, pasture grasses with winter wheat, and cash cover cropping for buckwheat seed production while including pearl millet and sunn hemp. We’ll also look at using solar corridors for growing winter squash interseeded into corn.

We’ll also spend some time talking about The Land Connection’s Organic Grain Mentorship Program with Paul and Vickie. This mentorship program pairs experienced organic farmers with experienced conventional farmers looking to transition acres into organic to facilitate peer support and information sharing.

Past Field Day: Organic Grain Equipment Showcase

Join us on July 11th from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station in Arlington, WI. Come see mechanical weed management demonstrations first-hand in our trial plots. See tine weeding, rotary hoeing, and cultivating in action. Join the discussion on many weed control options, including camera guidance systems. We’ll have representatives and equipment from several companies to demo and discuss as well as additional equipment on display. Come share your experiences and hear from others as we explore equipment options and best practices for weed management.

We’ll have equipment and reps from BCS, Farm Power Distribution, Henke Buffalo, McFarlane Manufacturing, TH Fabrication, and Treffler-Man@Machine.

Past Field Day: Meadowlark Organics Farm and Mill Field Day

Join us on June 28th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Meadowlark Organics in Ridgeway, WI. Meadowlark Organics farms over 1,000 acres of diverse grains which are channeled through their on-farm flour mill. These grains are found in the region’s bakeries, distilleries, restaurants, farmer’s markets, and retailers, as well as the pantries of home bakers.

During the Field Day, we’ll explore ways Meadowlark has prioritized diversity in their rotations through field walks and a mill tour, discussing the benefits and challenges they’ve encountered along the way. We’ll also welcome leaders in organic grain from NRCS, Grassland 2.0, and Artisan Grain Collaborative (AGC) to share some of the resources available to help farmers with diversification.