PCD & NRCS Cover Crop/Soil Health Tour

The Phillips Conservation District in conjunction with NRCS is pleased to announce they will be hosting a Cover Crop/Soil Health Tour on September 7, 2016 within close proximity to the city of Malta.

The tour will kick-off at the Malta High School outside on the far west side of the school by the Vo-Ag Shop at 8:15 am. (please park your vehicle on the SW side of the school parking lot). This part of the tour will show a variety of farming practices (ex. Conventional tillage, , cover crop, no till) and how the soil reacts to rainfall. This display is an excellent visual of how different farming practices will differ with how the soil reacts to the rainfall.

From Malta High School, the tour will look at a field of cover crop that Glen & Terri Jo Sims planted to a cover crop. This field is located SW of Malta and has been historically in a spring wheat and chemical fallow rotation. Sims’ are organic farmers who, recently accumulated this lease, so their goal is to convert this cropland acreage to a sustainable organic crop rotation.

Next the tour will head to Karl Mavencamp’s NE of Malta where we will look a variety of cover crop mixes, everything from nitrogen fixing, grazing friendly to deep rooted. The cover crop mixes were primarily planted with a no till disk drill, however some were planted with a hoe drill and a minimal till drill. Directly adjacent to the cover crop mixes is a companion crop of flax and chickpeas to look at. If time allows cover crop mixes planted after harvest of grain crop, can also be viewed.

This is a great tour, hope everyone can come and participate on September 7, 2016. Please call 406-654-1334 x 3 for more information about the tour.