No-till? No problem

Nicolle Ritchie<ritchi67@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension -

The No-Till Field Day on July 19 will allow registrants to view no-till soil surfaces and subsurfaces and learn about the challenges and successes of no-till.

A man stands in a big hole in the ground with people standing around the hole.
Photo by Christine Charles, MSU Extension.

Michigan State University Extension is hosting a No-Till Field Day in Southwest Michigan on July 19, 2024, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for anyone who no-tills, is considering no-till or is interested in soil health. Registration begins at 9 a.m. Lunch will be provided. Although no-till practices have the potential to conserve soil and preserve beneficial biology in the soil, they have not been widely adopted due to a variety of reasons. This event aims to help break down some of those barriers to understanding and potentially adopting no-till practices in southwest Michigan.

The event will be held at Stuck Farms, 93599 County Road 652, Marcellus, MI 49067, which has been successfully implementing no-till practices for over 40 years.

Speakers will discuss a wide range of topics, including weed management in no-till systems, key learnings from no-till research, soil health indicators and more. There will be a soil pit for participants to see below the surface of a long term no-till system.

The agenda is as follows:

  • 9:00 a.m.: Registration
  • 9:30 a.m.: Welcome and discussion of farmers for soil health (Kristin Poley, Michigan Corn)
  • 9:45 a.m.: Managing weeds in no-till (Erin Burns, Michigan State University)
  • 10:30 a.m.: Cover crops in no-till (Madelyn Celovsky, Michigan State University)
  • 11:15 a.m.: What do we know after 30 years of no-till research? (Christine Charles, Michigan State University Extension)
  • 11:45 a.m.: No-till on our farm (Stuck Farms)
  • 12:15 p.m.: Soil pit and soil health indicators (Nicolle Ritchie, Michigan State University Extension)
  • 1:00 p.m.: Lunch

This event is sponsored by and hosted in partnership with Farmers for Soil Health and the Michigan Corn Growers Association. As such, the event is offered free of charge to participants. One private core and fields crops 1A restricted use pesticide and three certified crop advisor (two SWM, one IPM) credits have been requested for the event. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged and closes July 12.

Register for the Southwest Michigan No-Till Field Day

Questions or help with registering can be directed to the St. Joseph County MSU Extension office at msue.stjoseph@county.msu.edu or 269-467-5511.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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  • agriculture,
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  • small grains,
  • soil conservation,
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