Demonstration Farm

Demonstration Plots on County Farm Agricultural Land

This year DeKalb County Soil & Water Conservation District was given the opportunity to utilize 12 acres of the county farm agricultural land to demonstrate conservation practices on.  Within the 12 acres there are 9 demonstration plots and each plot is approximately 0.64 acres.     

Our goal for the start of this season has been to design what the plot will look like and get the first crop of corn and soybeans in the ground.  In the rough diagram below, the yellow strips are corn and the green strips are soybeans.  Over the next several weeks, we will be finalizing a plan for what conservation practices to demonstrate once the crops are harvested. 

Soil Testing and Future Plans for Demonstration Plots

We are working with an independent agronomist to conduct different types of soil tests throughout every strip.  We will continue this practice over time to document soil improvements.  While there won’t be conservation practices to demonstrate until later this fall and into next year, we are working on our plans for marketing this plot to local farmers in order to let them know what we are doing and collect their input on what types of things they would like us to demonstrate.  We plan to begin having annual field days starting next year to give local farmers and up close look at what we are doing.

Thank you, DeKalb County Commissioners, for allowing us to utilize this space to demonstrate the power of conservation for agriculture in DeKalb County.

Spring Planting and Weed Management Update

As everyone probably noticed, the spring was pretty wet, but we managed to get things planted in a relatively timely manner.  Our soybeans were planted on May 24th and our corn was planted on June 1st.  Additional fertilizer was applied to corn about two weeks later.  We sprayed an initial burndown for weeds in late May, have sprayed the emerged corn in late June, and will likely spray emerged soybeans this coming week.  Multiple local farmers have made significant contributions to help us get this far.  We know they are very busy, and we appreciate their help!

The unique layout of a plot (compared to a field) combined with very heavy weed pressure in the western portion of the plot has required some extra management.  In the gray areas, we are planning to seed grass as a buffer in and around the plot strips in late August/early September.  Between now and then, we will continue mowing the gray areas and do one final spray to kill weeds prior to seeding.