JUDA — Farmers of the Sugar River held a pop up field day (with little notice) on May 26 for farmers to see what planting green could look like. 

The pop up field day was hosted at two sites — Jerry Daniels and Jeremy Luckey, near Juda. They had both planted a cover crop last year, most of the plants over-wintered and then have been growing since spring. 

Participants were able to see both farmers plant corn through the standing cover. The fields were flattened using a roller crimper after they were planted. The concept is to bend over the plants at the right growth stage and kink them in several places so they die. Planting into living cover crops helps to keep soil biology fed by living roots longer and protects the soil surface from over heating and erosion.