JUDA — Farmers and members of the public are invited to attend a cover crop field day from 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 11 at W2097 Hauser Lane hosted by Farmers of the Sugar River, a producer led watershed group covering the Mid and Lower Sugar River. 

Jake Kaderly, who is hosting the event, planted a variety of cover crops into his harvested winter wheat field in mid-August. The site is south of Wisconsin 11-81 and east of County OK.

Attendees will get a chance to see spring and winter peas, sunn hemp, crimson clover, radish, sorghum, kale, purple top turnip and rapeseed growing with the volunteer winter wheat. Some plants are thriving, while others have too much competition. 

Discussions will center on what impact herbicides have on the planting, the benefits and drawbacks to cover crops, expected increase to yields on the following year’s crop and the different options farmers have for covers after different crops. They will use a shovel to show attendees how to easily assess soil health.

Cover crops are a fundamental part of improving soil health. Three of the four principles of soil health are met with cover crops — keeping the soil covered, adding diversity to the rotation and keeping a living root feeding the soil for as long as possible. The remaining principle is to disturb the soil the least possible. When one follows these four principles, the soil will be more resilient to drought, be able to infiltrate and hold more water and be able to provide nutrients to the plant more efficiently.

For more information about the Farmers of the Sugar River or the field day on Oct. 11 contact Tonya Gratz with the Green County Land and Water Conservation Department at 608-325-4195 extension 121 or 

Tonya.Gratz@wi.nacdnet.net.