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Soil Health Field Day: Mitigating Soil Compaction with Cover Crops
May 15 @ 10:00 am - 5:00 pm EDT
Are you a medium to large scale farmer concerned about soil health, especially soil compaction? Join us for the morning and/or the afternoon at Appleton Farms in Ipswich, MA to discuss soil health and various tools at our disposal to mitigate soil compaction in annual vegetable production. During the morning session Ruben Parrilla, Soil Technical Program Director for NOFA/Mass will present the basic concepts of soil science including:
- The physical elements of soil
- The chemical properties of different soils
- An overview of the main biological components
In the afternoon Farm Manager Andrew Lawson will lead a tour of the farm, along the way we will examine and discuss several areas of the farm to learn more about their soil building practices. Guest Presenters Julie Fine, Climate and Agriculture Specialist at American Farmland Trust and Ruben Parilla will both add their expertise to the discussion of soil health in our region and demonstrate several tests we can perform on site to evaluate soil health. Throughout the tour we will:
- Learn about Appleton Farm’s use of various cover crops and combinations
- Discuss various practices for improving soil health
- Discuss soil compaction and tools for mediation
- Learn several methods to assess soil health onsite with simple and inexpensive tools