Salem will be the place to be on Jan. 28 when the Mill Creek- Blue River Watershed hosts its third annual field day to discuss various topics related to conservation of the soil and protection of water quality. The meeting site is about one mile north on Jim Day Road on the east side of Salem.
"It's a regional Soil Health Workshop," explains Ruth Hackman, who works with the Washington County soil and water conservation district. Her goal is to assist farmers in getting practices on the ground that will slow down soil erosion and protect water quality at the same time.
Speakers will cover a wide variety of topics related to soil health, with lunch provided.
To register you can contact Whitney Sauerheber at 812-883-3006, ext 125, or visit http://www.whiteriverrcd.org for more information. The conference is structured so that it allows for plenty of time interacting with other farmers in the room who may already be doing the practice you want to do.
The very next day, on Jan 29, Mike Brocksmith hosts a conservation cropping systems initiative field day. Brocksmith is one of the 12 farmers who volunteered for CCSI cover-crop grant initiative in 2013.
This field day will feature Ron Hammond from Ohio State University, who will discuss slug research and control. Slugs were a big deal in parts of Indiana over the past two seasons. They tend to attack seedlings when conditions are moist and wet and there lots of residue is present.
The cost for this field day is only $10, but registration is required by Jan. 22. Computer registration online at www.Brocksmith2014eventbrite.com, or by calling the Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District at 812-883-8210, ext. 3.
The field day will also talk about how to set up test plots for various practices that you would like to learn about on the farm, and feature instructions for minimizing herbicide damage on off-site targets.