Farmers Turn Up for Soil Health Field Day

GEORGETOWN, Del.– Soil health field day featured presentations from local soil health leaders. It is also a day that farmers get to come out and network with some of the leading experts in their field.

Experts at the field day spoke on a number of issues– including water quality, fertilizer use, and this years climate trends, all of which have major impacts on a farmer’s season.

Conservation Specialist Amanda Smith says weather in particular plays a crucial part in a year’s harvest.

“Well weather is a huge issue,” Smith said. “This year we’ve had the drought. So, you know getting crops in when they’re supposed to and if people are also applying fertilizer it all comes down to timing.”

Clay Lowe a cotton and peanut farmer from Wakefield Virginia spoke to the issue of farming resiliency. The ability of an agricultural system to withstand and adapt to shocks like extreme weather and market changes.

On Lowe’s 1500 acres in Wakefield, he’s been experimenting with banded starter fertilizer,  a  concentrated line of phosphoric nutrients placed close to the seed.

“It’s a huge game changer economically,” Lowe said. “It’s the economics, profitablity is pretty tough right now. I think anything we can do to try to really improve that for ourselves is a big win.”

For farmers the work happening in the fields is occuring both above and below the ground. Lowe reminds all the farmers out there that getting their hands dirty will set them up for future success.

“I think we just always have to remind farmers that you know it is a benefit to themselves and their future generations.” Lowe said.