MILLHEIM, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture is hosting an event that explores techniques to grow soil health by increasing the periods of the year that farm fields are populated by living roots.
PASA’s second annual summer conference will be held July 28-29 at the Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, and has the theme this year of living roots 24-7-365.
The event will offer practical soil health insights for both experienced and beginning farmers, with particular relevance for diversified vegetable and dairy farmers. Attendees can earn up to seven CCA CEUs: soil and water management (5) and crop management (2).
Key speakers
The event will feature leading no-till farmer and cover crop-innovator Steve Groff, of Lancaster County, Pa.
Groff developed the ground-breaking Tillage Radish, has overseen hundreds of cover crop research trials, and recently founded a Cover Crop Coaching business to further expand the use of cover crops through research, education and speaking.
He will be joined by a team of experienced farmers, soil health experts and industry consultants including Ben Stoltzfus (Stoltzfus Farms); Beth Gugino, Ron Hoover, John Spargo, and Charlie White (Penn State University); Dave Wilson (King’s AgriSeeds); and Jim Cicalese & Scott Rushe (Seedway).
The first evening’s program will provide a detailed introduction into soil testing and soil health assessment.
To learn more about the conference, visit pasafarming.org/sumcon, or call 814-349-9856. Pre-registration closes at 5 p.m. on July 27. Walk-ins are welcome.
