Ames, Iowa--Iowa Learning Farms (ILF) will sponsor a strip-tillage management field day with Iowa State University (ISU) Extension Field Agronomist Virgil Schmitt and ILF farmer-partner Doug Nolte in Muscatine County on Wednesday, June 22, from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The field day will include a complimentary noon hour meal and discussion about strip-tillage crop management. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Attendees will be able to view the Lil Conservation Stationa portable rainfall simulator demonstrating the effects of rainfall on different soil surface scenarios. Also, ISU Extension Agricultural Engineer Mark Hanna will discuss tractor fuel saving tips. Attendees will be able to discuss strip-tillage management with Nolte and ISU experts. Since 2008, Nolte has used strip-tillage in the spring before planting corn.

The field day location is 1021 Hwy 6, West Liberty; the site is one-quarter mile east of the Johnson-Muscatine County border on the north side of Highway 6. For questions about the event, contact Muscatine-based ISU Extension Field Agronomist Virgil Schmitt at (563) 263-5701, or by email: vschmitt@iastate.edu.

Iowa Learning Farms are building a Culture of Conservation, encouraging adoption of residue management and conservation practices. Farmers, researchers and ILF staff are working together to identify and implement the best in-field management practices that increase water and soil quality while remaining profitable. Iowa Learning Farms is a partnership between the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Iowa Department of Natural Resources and USEPA (section 319); in cooperation with Conservation Districts of Iowa and the Iowa Farm Bureau.

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