Gibson County SCD/NRCS Hold Soil Health Workshop
In August, the Gibson County Soil Conservation District and NRCS hosted an informational meeting/workshop on soil health and the benefits of cover crop. The meeting was open to producers, as well as NRCS and SCD employees. With about a 120 in attendance, a few of the topics covered were, weed suppression, improved soil moisture, soil structure, and finding the right cover crop mix for your operation.
Local farmer Matt Griggs offered his own experience and spoke of the variety of mixes he has been trying. While admittedly not all have turned out the way he would have wished or necessarily expected, he has gained valuable data and believes that cover crops can work for weed suppression, as well as soil health.
TDA Soil Specialist Mike Hubbs presented the differences in management techniques and soil health and productivity during the stop at the Gibson County SCD Demonstration site.
NRCS Regional Soil Health Specialist Dennis Chessman delivered with statistics that show the benefits gained with improved soil health. Several other speakers and guests spoke on topics related to winter covers and methods of “burn-down” or termination.
District Conservationist Matthew Denton gave a rainfall simulator presentation and entertained questions. In this presentation five cropping scenarios were used. As seen in the picture below, they each have characteristics which effect their infiltration and runoff potential.
The buckets in front of each soil tray reveals the amount of runoff from each of the 5 cropping scenarios.
After 5 inches of "Rain"
