Soil health field day

University of Illinois Extension is hosting a field day that is the first of a series of field days that will occur across the state over the next few years. The field day will take place on August 19 in Ogle County from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This series of field days focuses on soil health.

The host farmer, Norm Deets, is participating in a study with the University of Illinois funded through USDA-SARE program where researchers are observing the changes in soil health over a period of five years. The first year of the study is concluding in August 2021.

The featured speaker for this field day is Professor Dennis Busch from University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Dr. Busch is bringing his rainfall simulator to use in a demonstration at the field day. Other speakers include Dr. Stacy Zuber, the Illinois soil health specialist with USDA-NRCS, Rachel Curry, Illinois Extension’s watershed outreach coordinator covering the Lower Rock and Flint-Henderson watersheds in northern Illinois. The host farmer, Norm Deets, will also talk on his farming system and the steps that he is taking to build soil health on his farms.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

9:00 A.M.     Registration/check-in

9:30 A.M.     Welcome

9:45 A.M.     Dr. Stacy Zuber, USDA-NRCS Soil Health Specialsit for Illinois

10:15 A.M.   Rachel Curry, Watershed Outreach Coordinator, Illinois Extension

10:45 A.M.    Norm Deets

11:30 A.M.    Lunch

12:30 P.M.    Dennis Bush, Professor at University of Wisconsin-Platteville

1:30 P.M.      Adjourn

This field day is FREE and open to the public. Lunch is included. Please register prior to the event. For questions about this program, please contact Chelsea Harbach (harbach2@illinois.edu)

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event, please contact the Ogle County Extension office at 815-732-2191 or Judy Hodge at hodg@illinois.edu. Early requests are encouraged to allow sufficient time for meeting your access needs.