Organic Fertilizer - How Much?
Organic farmers try to grow most of a farm’s fertility. But that is not always possible, especially with grain-heavy rotations. Organic fertilizer for row crops can be hard to source and expensive - farmers don’t want to apply more than they need. In this episode we’ll talk with an organic agronomist and farmer to talk through some crucial questions: What are good sources of organic fertility? And how can we use field history, yield data, and soil tests to determine fertilizer rates? This episode will be helpful for agronomists, technical advisors, and farmers.
This is a free Zoom Event!
SPEAKERS
James Schroepfer, Crop Fertility Services
James is a Certified Crop Advisor and Organic Farmer located in Central MN. Growing up on a small 60 Acre Organic farm in N. Illinois, he worked on a number of different organic and conventional farms until going to South Dakota State University for Agronomy to try and understand the scientific connection between crops, soils, and animal health. After a number of years working as a private crop consultant for a small soil testing lab in Albany MN, James with his brother bought into an Organic Crop & Cow/Calf Operation. In addition to crop consulting for farmers through Crop Fertility Services LLC, he currently farms around 700 Acres organically with his brother with a small beef herd. In conjunction with a solid nutrient and manure management plan on the farm, they grow a diversity of crops including a heavy mixture of cover crops and other soil health practices on their farm to build and maintain fertility across their acres.
Sam Oschwald Tilton, Facilitator
“I have worked with organic farmers all over the US and Canada to understand production systems and solve weed management issues. This past season, on farms and in winter conferences, I spoke with as many farmers and ag professionals as I could to understand the questions that organic producers have, and the experts that they’d like to learn from. Those conversations helped me identify the topics and guests for this series. I am excited to bring together a wide range of farmers and ag professionals from many backgrounds, all of whom have an experienced perspective to share. In each call I look forward to having an intelligent conversation with the guest that introduces the topic to those who are unfamiliar and also dives deep to bring further understanding and clear tips to listeners. After the conversation, we’ll take questions from listeners, so that they can communicate directly with each guest to get the answers that they need. My goal for this call series is to provide crucial information on topics facing organic and transition-curious farmers, in an approachable conversation that listeners can easily listen to during their lunch hour.”
“This episode is a great opportunity to peer inside the mind of an organic agronomist, to see how they determine fertilizer source and rates for row crops.”
This series is brought to you by Albert Lea Seed House.
Albert Lea is a fourth-generation, family-owned, independent farm seed company with a full line of organic and non-gmo field crop seed, and knowledgeable reps.