Rolled rye cover crop with burndown herbicide applied.

Conservation Farmers in North Central Florida are getting their corn crops planted and applying burndown herbicides. They know a thick mulch layer will keep soil temperatures lower and will conserve soil moisture from their non-irrigated fields until peanut and cotton planters roll in a few weeks. We have a wide variety of cover crops and winter grazing planted in North Florida this winter. Those include rye, ryegrass, radish, crimson clover, and blue lupin. A few acres will be harvested for seed rye and wheat. Some of this land is grazed and other farms are simply planting cover crops for the many benefits including building soil biological health. UF/IFAS Extension and the NRCS are hosting a Soil Health Meeting and Farm Tour on April 1, 2014 in Monticello, FL. This is a great opportunity for “farmer to farmer” learning about managing and improving a farm’s most valuable resource, the soil. My colleauge with FDACS Office of Ag Water Policy, Joel Love, was out visiting  many of our conservation farmers this week and provided photos and video from area farms. I have shared some of his observations in a very brief video. I saw many of the same things in my travels through the countryside this week, although it seemed I couldn’t slow down long enough to set up my camera. I have included the AGENDA for the Soil Health Meeting and Farm Tour and hope you will attend to learn more.