Nebraska Cover Crop Conference set for Feb. 15

The Nebraska Cover Crop Conference on Feb. 15 will offer information to growers in a corn/soybean rotation and help them understand the value of cover crops. 

The conference will be at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead.

"The conference is designed to provide soybean and corn growers who don’t have livestock with information to effectively use cover crops in their operation," said Nebraska Extension educator Keith Glewen. 

Topics and presenters include:

• "The Banker Won’t Like Wheat, But Your Soil Will – Hear Why," Nathan Mueller, Nebraska Extension educator.

• "Will Cover Crops Be a New Home for Insects?", Justin McMechan, entomologist with Nebraska Extension.

• "Cover Crops for Ephemeral Gully Control," Dan Gillespie, no-till specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. 

• "How Cover Crops Work on My Farm," Bill Nielsen, Minden. 

• "Why I Encourage My Customers to Use Cover Crops," Lee Briese, independent crop consultant and recipient of the 2016 International Certified Crop Advisor of the Year Award.

• "Why I Use Cover Crops on My Farm," Kelly Tobin, corn/soybean grower.

• "Cover Crops for Corn and Soybean Producers," panel discussion.

The conference is 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with registration at 8:30 a.m. Pre-register by Feb. 10 to ensure resource materials are available and for meal-planning purposes. 

To register, call 402-624-8000 or email [email protected]. For more information, visit http://enre.unl.edu/nebraska-cover-crop-conference.

The conference is sponsored by Nebraska Extension and the Nebraska Soybean Checkoff, in partnership with the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District and USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.