EPPIC displays new crop interseeding technology
On June 23, the farmer-led watershed group, the Eau Pleine Watershed for Integrated Conservation (EPPIC) hosted a field day with Pete Graff at his farm, Ramblings Acres near Stetsonville, WI, demonstrating his latest interseeding applicator he purchased this winter to bolster his cover crop program. The rig is a Cover Crop Interseeding Unit equipped with a Valmar Air Flow unit from Fennig Equipment, based out of Ohio.
The equipment is specific to applying crops within standing corn, for some an unusual practice to place more plants in a row crop system that desires to be weed-free. The farmer, owner and operator of Rambling Acres, shared that sentiment.
“The first time this idea of putting stuff with my corn was explained to me I thought, ‘This is nuts. I spray to keep the field clean, but you want me to turn around and put stuff back out there?’” But since then, Graff has been expanding his cover crop program for the last five years, and continues to think of ways to grow it even further. “Once I started getting better and better established interseedings, the impacts and benefits were seen right away,” Graff said.
Interseeding is placing plants like clovers, brassicas, radish, oats into standing corn when it is between the growth stages of V1-V4, or roughly the size of a soda can.
Brooke Bembeneck, the Marathon County Grazing Specialist and EPPIC coordinator, says the goal is to create continuous cover on the field to help regulate moisture, build stronger soil structure so equipment do not get stuck at harvest, and “set the farmer up to have a head start on diffi cult tasks, such as manure management and weed control.”
For Graff, it was more about the idea of having management of his farm fields, and keeping the soil where it needs to be.
“Erosion bothers me. Spring time after the snow would melt we would come back to bare fields and see dirt moving, getting concentrated in water ways, piled up in ditch lines, and thinking that the nutrients we invest in and work so hard to get on that field is easily getting carried away into creeks and streams was getting annoying to me,” Graff said.
With interseeding providing a buildup of soil structure and surface cover the solutions to his erosion issues were beginning to “grow.”
“Now we see cleaner tires at harvest, the soil is staying on the field, I am seeing cleaner water coming off of my fields. It is a good feeling,” Graff said.
The Fenning Cover Crop Interseeding Unit covers 30 feet, and can air flow small to large sized seed. As the seed blown onto the field numerous metal disks lightly till the surface to incorporate the cover crops to have better seed-to-soil contact.
According to another applicator at the field day, the seeds only need three-fourths of the seed to have soil touching, and not to be buried past one inch in the ground.
EPPIC’s field demo saw numerous attendees show up to witness the application in person. Mike Redetzke, Wisconsin’s 2021 Young Outstanding Farmer Runner-Up was in attendance, and was glad EPPIC is setting up more of these field days.
“It’s one thing to have a winter meeting and showing pictures but it is way better to see a live demonstration,” Redetzke said. “Also seeing guys like Pete being in a position to do stuff like this is great to see.”
Farmers like Graff and Redetzke continue to work with EPPIC to provide support, knowledge, and create interest in implementing conservation practices into agriculture.
For Graff, demonstrations like these are about getting the word out.
“Farmers want information, want to know how it works, and when EPPIC puts field days like this together it makes another opportunity for someone to learn about a practice and learn how they can use it…and how it will benefit their farm and the Eau Pleine.”
The meeting lasted for three hours with 12 attendees onsite at Graff’s corn field across from his farm. Water and cookies were served.
For more information on EPPIC you can visit them on their Facebook page @ EPPICThe Eau Pleine Partnership for Integrated Conservation, or contact Brooke Bembeneck at Brooke.Bembeneck@co.marathon.wi.us.
