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Nexus Coop leading free demo day Aug. 13 near Rose Creek

 

Strip tillage and the equipment needed for doing soil-health practices in a crop field are the focus of a free demonstration day near Rose Creek next month for area farmers and agricultural landowners.

Nexus Cooperative, which formed in spring 2024 from the merger of Northern Country Cooperative and Viafield, is leading the Strip-Till Demo Day set for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Vogt cropland just west of the City of Rose Creek along the north side of Minnesota Hwy. 56.

Brandon Vogt, the host farmer who has a custom strip-till business, will have his strip-till bar running as well as several other strip-till bars to have open house demonstrations at 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Strip till creates a narrow band of tilled soil while leaving the rest of a crop field’s soil undisturbed. This reduces soil erosion, increases pore space development through the soil profile and generally enhances the overall soil health.

Anna Cates of the University of Minnesota will give a soil-health presentation from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Cates is the first state soil health specialist in the Minnesota Office for Soil Health (MOSH), which is dedicated to improving soil health in Minnesota by working with farmers and conservation professionals. Her research focuses on soil organic matter cycling and storage in a variety of cropping systems.

A farmer panel then will commence from 11 a.m. to noon, leading into a free lunch from noon to 1 p.m.

Attendees can come and go at any time during the five-hour event. Pre-registration for the event – the first demonstration day hosted by Nexus – can be done by contacting Megan Solland, a conservation agronomist for Nexus, at 507-438-4295.

Parking for the event will be limited at the Vogt farm field but additional parking will be available in Rose Creek’s city park, with shuttle service to the demonstration site provided via golf carts.

Nexus does not offer custom strip-tilling at this time but the cooperative’s conservation agronomists are good resources for finding custom strip-till operators in the area. Nexus also can help with inter-seeding and broadcasting cover crops; various opportunities are available through Nexus, area SWCDs and USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service to incentivize strip till and other soil-health practice changes.

Various companies related to conservation equipment will attend. Fertilizer tanks and tractors also will be shown there.

Nexus, which employs more than 250 people, is a member-owned agricultural cooperative that serves northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. A team-oriented organization, Nexus aims to meet the needs of its customer’s businesses and provide expert advice on products, services and trends within agronomy, energy, feed, grain and lumber.

Related to strip till and other soil-health practices, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Soil Health Financial Assistance Program on Aug. 1 will begin accepting grant applications for purchasing or retrofitting soil-health equipment. This is open to individual producers, producer groups and tribal and local governments.

Applications must be submitted by Aug. 30 and are online at: www.mda.state.mn.us/soilhealthgrant; MDA will announce awards on Jan. 1. Under this program, grants can be used for new or used equipment that includes no-till drills, air seeders, strip-tillage units and other types of farm machinery.