On-farm research projects under way

Practical Farmers of Iowa has 33 on-farm research and demonstration projects under way for  2011. 

Sixty-seven farmers, including Fransis Thicke of Fairfield, helped devise and then volunteered to participate in the projects to uncover answers to questions that will help to improve their profitability and land stewardship. 

Cover crop plus no-till organic soybeans versus tilled organic soybeans, GMO versus non-GMO corn hybrids, the use of vitamin A supplements to control pink eye in cattle, ways to control flea beetles in eggplant, and on-farm fossil fuel use, cost and CO2 emissions are just a few of the many topics being explored by Practical Farmers of Iowa farmers. 

?I want to see if it is possible to farm without herbicides,? says Practical Farmers of Iowa member and farmer Craig Fleishman, Minburn, who is participating in a PFI trial  titled, ?Steel Versus Herbicide Weed Control in Soybeans on Ridges.? In the trial, Fleishman will be measuring weed density and soybean yield to compare the effectiveness of cultivation for weed control versus herbicides for weed control in soybeans grown using a ridge till planting method. Ridge till is the process of sowing seeds into elevated rows of soil so that the earth between each row is lower. These furrows stay wetter and cooler, inhibiting weed growth. 

Fleishman and more than 100 Practical Farmers of Iowa members gathered in February to determine the focus of the on-farm research and demonstration projects being conducted this year. Winter feeding regimes, cover crop seeding and season extension were some other research topics identified by members at the group?s annual Cooperators? Meeting in Ames. PFI holds a Cooperators? Meeting each year to ensure that the group?s on-farm research and demonstration efforts are focused on farmers? wants and needs. 

?It was a good learning experience,? said Mark Peterson, a PFI farmer from Stanton. ?I wished I?d brought more of my friends and family with me. I left with ideas and opportunities for research that I can run on my farm to help me reduce the amount of fertilizer and chemicals I use.?

In an effort to continually strengthen its research program, Practical Farmers of Iowa has created research project pre- and post-tests to better evaluate farmers? interests in on-farm research.

  Research reports can be viewed as they become available online at www.practicalfarmers.org.