For five years, the team at High Plains Journal has brought its series of Alfalfa U seminars to locations from Kansas, to Nebraska, to Idaho and more. This year, however, due to pandemic precautions, the Alfalfa U series is planning to come to a computer screen near you. After all, the unique challenges of growing and marketing alfalfa in the West don’t stop because of COVID-19.
High Plains Journal, along with Alforex Seeds and John Deere, have chosen to offer Alfalfa U virtually across four separate dates. And this year, because all of the education will be available online, alfalfa growers finally have a chance to learn from speakers outside of their immediate region that they otherwise might have missed in-person.
Each day’s session will have general topics pertaining to three different alfalfa production regions, but there’s plenty to learn from outside your area. They include:
- Feb. 16, Colorado region, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Mountain time;
- Feb. 18, Kansas region, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Central time; and
- March 4, Washington region, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Pacific time.
For the first time ever, this year we’ll also be offering a separate session just for our Farmer Panel, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. Central time, with farmers representing all three regions sharing their knowledge and expertise in raising quality alfalfa for their particular markets. We’ll also be featuring a segment with valuable information from our sponsors, Alforex Seeds and John Deere during this webinar.
Each day we’ll have four different speakers talking about topics such as: soil potassium deficiencies; limited irrigation strategies; fall army cutworm and alfalfa weevil control; budgeting for alfalfa steamers; and more. The nation’s alfalfa experts like Marisol Berti of North Dakota State University, Joe Brummer of Colorado State University, Steve Norberg of Washington State University Extension Service, and Dan Undersander, professor emeritus of the University of Wisconsin, will share their knowledge with attendees and be available for questions from the audience live online.
The full schedule for all 4 Alfalfa U webinars will be posted at www.hpj.com/alfalfau. Alfalfa U registration is free and is also at www.hpj.com/alfalfau.Registered attendees will receive an email with login information for all four webinars and email reminders before each day’s program kicks off.
Registrants will also receive an 8-week subscription to High Plains Journal. Alfalfa U is sponsored by High Plains Journal, Alforex Seeds and John Deere.
Since 1949 High Plains Journal has been the weekly source for news, markets and commentary for farmers and ranchers in 12 states across the Plains. From the Dakotas to Texas, rural leaders and influencers #RideWithUs in print, online at www.hpj.com, and now via our podcast “HPJ Talk.” Our slate of educational events now includes: Soil Health U, Cattle U, Sorghum U, Wheat U, Alfalfa U, Row Crop U and Cotton U.
