Join Clean River Partners, the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition and the Cannon River Watershed Joint Powers Organization for a free meeting “Hit the Ground Running with Cover Crops,” and lunch in Le Center, Minn.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 19 at the American Legion Hall, 97 S. Park Ave., Le Center.

Local farmers Greg Entinger, TJ Kartes and Justin Krell will discuss how using cover crops and reduced tillage has helped them develop successful, profitable operations. Entinger, from New Prague, has been strip-tilling corn since 2015, no-tilling soybeans since 2017 and has three years of cover cropping experience. Kartes, farming near Blooming Prairie, is a Saddle Butte Ag cover crop seeds specialist who has more than 20 years of farming experience with no-till and cover crops. He successfully restored a former gravel pit to a productive farm using forage and cover crops. Krell, also from Blooming Prairie, is an LG Seeds technical team agronomist and a farmer. He has been strip-tilling corn, no-tilling soybeans and planting every acre with cover crops since 2016.

Agronomists and conservation specialists Rosie Roberts from the Iowa Soybean Association and Amy Robak from CentraSota Co-op will share recent cover crop research and management strategies.

Farmer who are curious about introducing conservation practices on their farms or who want to learn more about these strategies are encouraged to attend.

The free event is open to the public and includes a complimentary lunch.

Please register online before Dec. 19.

For more information, contact Dane McKittrick at [email protected] or 630-777-9037.