Nemaha County Conservation District will sponsor a Soil Health/Cover Crop Workshop that is planned for Thursday, January 5, 2017, at the Nemaha County Community Building located at 1500 Community Drive, Seneca, KS.

Registration for the Soil Health Workshop begins at 9:00 a.m. At 9:30, Shawn Tiffany will be presenting “Grazing Cover Crops for Livestock and Soil Health.” Shawn has owned and operated Tiffany Cattle Company, with his brother Shane and their families since 2007. Tiffany Cattle Company is a custom cattle feeding and grazing business that also has extensive farming operations. The focus of the farm is to raise as much of the feed for the cattle feeding operation as possible while at the same time managing both owned and leased acres with methods that ensure sustainability well into the future. Grazed and mechanically harvested cover crops have become an important part of this philosophy over the last seven growing seasons. Cover crops, manure application, grazing programs and a no-till motivation have led to better productivity and improved soil health in addition to allowing the business avenues to better serve their customers.

Dusty Schwandt, a Rangeland Management Specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, will then give a presentation about “Grazing Cover Crops.” Dusty will explain the goals and considerations to think about when planning for cover crops. He will discuss the different blends he has used for his cattle operation as well as how to calculate stocking rates.

Our guest speakers will then be rounded up by Jaymelynn Farney, the Beef Systems Specialist at KSU’s Southeast Area in Parsons, Kansas. Jaymelynn’s presentation is entitled “Integration of Livestock and Cropping Systems.” She grew up in Fort Sumner, New Mexico where her family had a cow-calf operation. She completed her A.S. in Agriculture at Butler Community College where she was a member of the livestock judging team. Jaymelynn continued her education at KSU in Animal Science and then went on to OSU to complete her M.S. in Ruminant Nutrition with an emphasis on receiving calf management. She returned to KSU to complete her PhD in Ruminant Nutrition, using the dairy cow as the model for how inflammation impacts production.

Lunch will be served at 11:30 catered by Home Cookin’ of Seneca. Lunch is sponsored by Nemaha County Co-op and Heinen Brothers Agra Services. There will be booths set up from our local businesses to visit about cover crops and answer product questions. In order to know how much food to prepare for the Soil Health Workshop, please contact the Conservation District office at 785-336-2186 ext. 110 no later than December 30, 2016.