Recap: NH Cover Crop Forum

The November 2017 Cover Crop Forum was a great success as farmers and technical service providers came together to talk about the latest in cover cropping science, and most importantly, what’s working  for real farmers in real fields! The suite of knowledgeable and experienced speakers included Natalie Lounsbury, a PhD student at the University of New Hampshire, Brandon Smith, PhD, the Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Health Division Northeast Team Leader, and Dorn Cox, PhD, a farmer in Lee New Hampshire, Conservation District Board member and founding member of the nonprofit GreenStart.

The program was split between presentations from UNH faculty, NRCS, and area farmers in the morning, and a farmer-to-farmer discussion facilitated by Dr. Eric Sideman of MOFGA in the afternoon. There were a total of 31 participants, including farmers and ag service providers. Morning presentations focused on integrating cover crops with vegetable rotations for organic operations, an update on the cover crop mixes developed by NH Soil Health Working Group, and farmer adoption of cover cropping techniques. Discussion in the afternoon centered on topics identified by participants, including species selection, integrating with cash crops, and special pest management considerations.

This forum was brought to Concord by the New Hampshire Cover Crop Team and funded by the SARE Northeast Region.

For more information on related initiatives, please see the links below:

NH Soil Health Working Group

GreenStartNH

NRCS Soil Health Northeast Division

Follow the NH Cover Crop Team on social media with #nhcovercrops

Check out this soil health podcast by Natalie Lounsbury: http://notillveggies.org/2017/11/03/at-last-the-soil-podcast-is-here/