Nourishing Farming, Community, and Hope from the Soil Up

If you are interested in soil health and cover cropping systems, you will want to attend the 2018 Virginia Farm to Table Conference scheduled for December 5 and 6 at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave. Noted speakers on soil and health include Dr. David Montgomery and Anne Bikle of Dig2Grow and authors of Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health, and Growing A Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life.

Additionally, Mark Dempsey of Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Patryk Battle of Living Web Farms — farmers from the Carolinas — will share how they get creative with cover crops, and other fertility and weed management systems. So whether you are interested in Small Scale, Low-till Organic & Sustainable Vegetable Systems or Stepping it Up with Cover Crops in Large-scale Commodity Crop Systems, you will want to take your seat and place at the Virginia Farm to Table Conference! The full conference program is viewable at http://blogs.ext.vt.edu/cover-crops-soil-health/files/2018/11/2018-Virginia-Farm-to-Table-Conference-PROGRAM.pdf

 

Cover crops have many beneficial uses, but different species and mixtures will have particular strengths.  For example, if the objective is adding organic matter or providing weed suppression, then cereal rye or similar choices may be best.  If providing N for a following crop is the main goal, then an all-legume cover crop such as clover or vetch is probably the correct choice.  More information on the potential beneficial uses of cover crops and targeting for specific soil health and agronomic benefits can be found here:

Beneficial Uses of Cover Crops

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