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National soil health specialist Ray Archuleta will lead the workshop. Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.

There will be a Soil Health Workshop on July 23 & 24th at Mar-Anne Farm, 3856  N. Church Street, near Robesonia, PA.  The first day will be a field day for area USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service employees, conservation districts, partners, and invited program participants and interested farmers to learn about management systems that improve the health of the soil resource.  National Soil Health Specialist, Ray Archuleta, will teach participants how to dig a little and learn a lot. The second day is limited to NRCS staff and conservation professionals for training purposes.

 

Limited seating is available for the July 23 field day. While there is no cost, to provide for lunch, registration is required and closes Wednesday, July 17th.  Click here to view the farmer field day event flyer. An agenda for partners on day two will be provided at the event.  Please have farmers register with Capital RC&D by email info@captilalrcd.org or calling 717-241-4361.

 

Lancaster County

Penn State-Lancaster Cooperative Extension and NRCS also invite farmers to discover the effects of soil health at Eli Weaver's Meadow View Farm on Friday, July 26th, from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Ray Archuleta, NRCS Conservation Agronomist, will speak about the qualities of soil that improve profitability and sustainability of farms and management systems that improve root growth and the health of living organisms in the soil working for you. Eli Weaver and Dave Wilson, King's AgriSeeds Research Agronomist, will discuss various forage crop rotations, no-till planting considerations, soil fertility and herbicide rotation restriction considerations. Jeff Graybill, PSU Lancaster County Extension Agronomist, will be present to join in discussion and answer questions. Click here to view the farmer field day event flyer. No registration required. 

 

Financial and other support for this event is provided by USDA NRCS, Penn State Extension, and the Capital RC&D Council.

 

Soil Health Workshop for Conservation Partnership at Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg

There will be a Soil Health Workshop on Thursday July 25th at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg in the Allegheny and Monongahela Rooms.  The workshop will be an opportunity for conservation district staff and NRCS employees to learn about management systems that improve the health of the soil resource.  National Soil Health Specialist, Ray Archuleta, will teach participants how to dig a little and learn a lot. The event starts at 8 a.m. and concludes at 12:45 p.m. An optional site visit to a soil pit demonstration adjourning at 1:30 p.m. will require you to drive yourself a short distance (less than 5 miles) from the Farm Show Complex to the State Farm property (a map will be provided on the day of the event). Conservation professionals may register online using this link.  Registration deadline is July 23rd.

 

Financial and other support for this event is provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, USDA NRCS, and Capital RC&D Council.

Photo of the Majestic River Boat courtesy of Hank Webster (Clearfield County).

Registration for the 12th Annual Ohio River Watershed Celebration is now open. With a theme of "Working together for clean water," the free event will take place September 19, from 12:30-4 p.m., docking from the Gateway Clipper Fleet, Station Square in Pittsburgh.

 

Thanks to generous sponsor donations, the event is free and open to the public. Attendees will learn more about what is happening in their home watersheds while cruising through Pittsburgh's three rivers. Anyone interested should note that the boats are smaller than what they were previously and with that, registration has been limited to 500 for the Networker Cruise and 250 for the students Imagination Cruise.

 

There will also be a poster contest with prizes offered to watershed group entries. The submission categories are: most innovative; best overall; community and outreach; and best partnership.

 

For more details about the event, including information on how to register, visit www.orwc.org. 

Farmers talk to each other during Erie County Conservation District's Interseeding Demonstration Fall Field Day.

In the fall of 2012, Erie County Conservation District hosted a field day for farmers to talk about cover crops, spray residual and runoff, and interseeding in a growing crop. Participants returned in the spring to see how the cover crops looked after the winter and discuss the benefits of having the soil covered during the winter.

 

As a result of the project, 20 farmers installed Agricultural Best Management Practices and 5 installed erosion & sedimentation controls.

 

Funding for this project was provided through a PACD Nonpoint Source Pollution Educational Mini-grant, along with additional support from the Pocono Arts Council, the Monroe Career and Technical Institute, the Brodhead Watershed Association, and the Brodhead Creek Regional Authority.