By Kristin Bednarski
Sun staff

Several local environmental and agricultural organizations are collaborating to host a farm field day in Brown County that will explain the benefits of cover crops March 22.

“We are working with our farm service agency partners and the USDA to host workshops where we are promoting the practice of cover crops,” Becky McClatchey, watershed coordinator for the Clermont County Soil and Water Conservation District, said about the event.

McClatchey said planting cover crops can benefit the environment and farmers.

“The benefit to cover crops is they retain the soil on the ground,” McClatchey said. “They improve the soil quality for the farmers.”

McClatchey said the practice can be confusing and sometimes is a trial and error process, which is why they thought a field day would be helpful for area farmers.

“There are a lot of cover crop varieties that people can choose from,” McClatchey said. “The good thing about this workshop is farmers can talk about what has worked for them.”

McClatchey said Dave Brandt, an Ohio farmer, will speak about cover crops at the event as well as Matt Deaton with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Steve Baker with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and George Derringer also with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

There will be several demonstrations at the event as well as a question and answer session and an opportunity to talk to neighboring farmers.

The event will be held at Brad Barber’s farm in Mt. Orab from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 22.

McClatchey said farmers are encouraged to register ahead of time.

Registration is $10 ahead of time and $15 at the door. The event includes donuts and coffee before presentations and lunch.

Other organizations participating in the event include Ohio State University Extension, the Office of Environmental Quality, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Office of Research and Development, the United States Department of Agriculture, the East Fork Watershed Collaborative and the White Oak Creek Watershed.

For more information about the field day, or to register, visit www.clermontswcd.org, or call Susie Steffensen at (513) 732-7075.