University of Minnesota Extension is offering four Small Grain Winter Workshops in Central, Western, and Southern MN in February to address small grain production.
Row crop farming brings busy spring and fall workloads. There are also pests common to row crops, including herbicide resistant weeds, soybean cyst nematodes, soybean aphid, diseases and corn rootworm. Small grains added to a rotation may offer opportunities to diversity cropping systems in central and southern Minnesota to manage these challenges and lower production costs. This program is designed to help farmers determine if small grains can work on their farm, in their rotation, and if it can be sustainable over time. This program will provide the tools needed to make small grains a successful crop in their operation. This includes information on production agronomics, variety selection, disease identification, fungicide use, fertility, quality, equipment, and economics. Time will be set aside for open forum to discuss related topics and on farm experiences.
Dates, Locations, Times and Contacts
- Monday, February 19 – New Prague, State Bank of New Prague Community Center 10:00 – 2:00 (Contact Shane Bugeja at 515-708-3486)
- Wednesday, February 21 – Cold Spring, Great Blue Heron, 10:30 – 2:30 (Contact Joe Krippner at 320-980-2915)
- Thursday, February 22 – Slayton, Murray County 4H-Building, Event Hall, 12:30 – 4:00 (Contact: Melissa Runck at 507-836-6927).
- The Strategic Farming – Growing Soybeans that Out-compete weeds Workshop will precede the small grains program from 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and includes lunch. For details and to register for the Strategic Farming program please visit: https://z.umn.edu/strategic-farming
- Friday, February 23 – Benson, McKinney’s on Southside, 10:00 – 2:30 (Contact: Scott Lee at 320-760-6129)
Presenters will vary by location and include Jochum Wiersma, University of Minnesota Extension Small Grain Specialist and Jared Goplen, University of Minnesota Extension Crops Educator.
Lunch is included at all sites. No registration is necessary unless lunch is desired in Slayton. Please register for lunch in Slayton by visiting https://z.umn.edu/strategic-farming.
For more information, see the Southern Wheat Workshop brochure or contact Jared Goplen at 320-589-1711 x2128 or gople007@umn.edu
Source: University of Minnesota: Minnesota Crop News