Schools almost out… kids bored yet?

What parent has heard that annoying refrain, “There’s nothing to do!” Or maybe you can’t get the kid to look up from a device. We just might have a little reprieve for you from our two upcoming summer day camps. Sign up the kids for day camps on June 11 and June 20. ISU Extension will be hosting two “Water Connects Us All” Day Camps. RegenPGC personnel will be on hand to educate the kids (Grades 3-6) about our project.

The camps will feature hands-on activities and experiments to learn about perennial ground cover and other conservation practices that protect soil and water. Activities include rain simulators, soil microbes, cover crops, bioreactors, and more.

Sign-up information is available here:

June 11 – Contact Shelby County Extension and Outreach for more information and to register (https://www.extension.iastate.edu/shelby/)

June 20 -Contact Union County Extension and Outreach for more information and to register (https://www.extension.iastate.edu/union/)

RegenPGC & Iowa Learning Farms collaborate on producer focused video

In our newest video, “A New Direction in Cover Crops Developing Perennial Ground Cover for Corn Systems in the Midwest,” Professor and Research and Extension specialist Dan Andersen (Iowa State University) provides producers with information from the RegenPGC project on perennial ground cover in row crop cropping systems. Dan addresses the vital question, “Can we come up with a cover crop that we only have to plant once and then manage instead of reestablishing it every year to help with environmental services while we are producing our row crops?

The video focuses on:
– Corn selection
– Types of groundcover
– System management (including groundcover establishment and suppression)
– Ecosystem services (potential to reduce spring herbicide applications & to reduce insect presence).

This video is part of a collaboration between the RegenPGC project and Iowa Learning Farms – https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/.

RegenPGC featured in No-Till Farmer Magazine

Check out the no-till farming community’s view of our perennial ground cover project in the latest edition of No-Till Farmer magazine.

Producer Charles Martin’s article, “Productivity Meets Conservation with Perennial Groundcovers & Strip-Till,” explains our perennial ground cover project from the perspective of the working no-till farmer. The article is available online (free, registration required).

RegenPGC in a podcast? You bet!

RegenPGC Project Director Dr. Raj Raman was a guest on a recent episode of the Cereal Grain Café podcast. Hosted by self-described “Food Engineer” Dr. Kurt Rosentrater (Iowa State Univ. Ag & Biosystems Engineering), this Cereal Grain Café episode focused on the question “Is perennial ground cover the future of agriculture?”

Naturally, Dr. Raman had much to say about the potential role of perennial ground covers in making agriculture more resilient to the challenges posed by modern and intensive farming practices in the USA.

Access the entire Cereal Grain Café lineup here.

 

RegenPGC teams up with 4H


We are pleased to be working with 4H to share our project with youth on June 23rd at the Iowa State University Northern Research Farm.
Our team will share information and coordinate hands-on activities and experiments for kids to learn more about PGC and its benefits. Activities include rain simulators, insect collection and identification, soil microbiology, exploration of cover crops, and more.
Date: June 23 / Time: 8:30 AM-12:30 PM
Lunch included
MORE INFORMATION: hayslett@iastate.edu

Listen to the data, and learn!

screen shot Regenpgc.org website
New, and improved RegenPGC tagline and “Goals and Vision” statement

Good research is all about paying attention to pertinent data. By listening to the savvy producers in our FLAG* group, we decided to change our RegenPGC tagline and our Goals and Vision Statement.

We know too many of you have been subject to those mind-numbing meetings where you must develop the perfect mission statement. Lucky for us, we didn’t have to do that. We had been thinking about and applying for funding for our Perennial Groundcover vision long before we were fortunate to be funded by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. So, when we put our website together, we were sure that we had distilled the language to express just what we needed to say.

We were close, but we did not nail it. When we met with the FLAG group yesterday, the participants pointed out that farmers are more interested in “reliability” in their cropping systems than worrying about the finer points of risk. Sure, risk is part of the everyday life of those making their living on farm ground. But we were told that risk is something to manage and that what farmers need before adopting new strategies and techniques, like adopting a perennial ground cover approach, is an assurance of reliability.

It was an “ah ha” moment for our team members, and before sunset, we changed our language and remembered that good data is everywhere. You just have to look and listen.
*Farmer and Landowner Advisory Group

RegenPGC releases latest quarterly progress report

RegenPGC Yr. 2 Q2 Report Cover

Our latest quarterly progress report (Nov. 1, 2022 – Jan. 31, 2023) is available for download. Catch up on our Team’s latest activities. Questions? Contact Anne Kinzel (akinzel@iastate.edu). Don’t forget to check out our latest news on our new RegenPCG LinkedIn page. Our research team has been incredibly busy preparing for the summer 2023 field trial season. Stay tuned for our new field trial webpage coming out in late April. We anticipate hosting multiple field day events in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Ohio, where we will share the latest developments on perennial grass establishment and suppression. We learn more about perennial grass cover management daily and look forward to sharing our new knowledge with multiple ag constituents.