Polk County Soil and Water Conservation is partnering with the Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Organic Association, and The Rodale Institute – Midwest Organic Center to demonstrate roller-crimping rye in an organic soybean field at Aaron Lehman’s farm near Alleman on Saturday, May 27 from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

**Please note there may be a slight adjustment to the event date as roller crimping must occur when the rye crop is in the “boot” or head stage – near the end of the plant growth cycle.  We anticipate the date to be June 1 - please RSVP and we will reach out by email and text to let you know if this date and time will change.   

Staff from partner organizations will also briefly introduce their organizations and share materials about their services and programs. 

Roller “crimping” has become a common way to mechanically terminate cover crops.  Crimpers are used to kill grass cover crops (cereal rye, barley, wheat, sorghum, Sudan, pearl millet), vetches (hairy and common), annual clovers (crimson and balansa), buckwheat,  and multi-species cover crops.  The advantages of crimpers are they kill cover crops mechanically, suppress weeds by forming a mulch, decrease hot summer soil temperatures, conserve soil moisture, decreases soil erosion,  and add organic matter.  Crimping cover crops works well on big seeded row crops like corn and soybeans but does not work on small seeded crops like hay.

Field Day contact: 

• Michael James, PCSWD Water Quality Initiatives Coordinator
• [email protected] | 515-491-7544
  

Register for the field day below.