Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with Horizon II Climate-Smart Partners, will host an establishing and harvesting prairie field day Tuesday, August 20th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Bryan Sievers’ farm near Stockton, IA. The free event is open to farmers and landowners and includes a complimentary meal.
This field day aims to assist farmers and landowners with establishing and maintaining prairie perennial vegetation. These areas offer many benefits including: pollinator habitat, reducing soil erosion from sensitive areas, building soil health, improving wildlife, and providing beauty to the landscape. Additionally, the field day will highlight the innovative use of harvested prairie for renewable fuel generation through anaerobic digestion.
Mark Licht, Iowa State University Extension Cropping Systems Specialist, will begin the program highlighting best management practices for establishing and maintaining prairie perennial vegetation and share water quality research results from ongoing ISU prairie research. Keith Webster, ISU Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Technical Project Specialist, will lead a tour and discussion of the machinery used for harvesting and storing prairie for use as bedding and feed source for anaerobic digestion. Scott County farmer and host, Bryan Sievers, will share how he has incorporated and managed perennial vegetation on his farm. He will lead a tour of their prairie area and discuss how they have added prairie and winter crop biomass into their anaerobic digestion program. More>>