The Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance will host a Summer Field Day on Thursday, July 27 at the Future View Farm, 12 Radcliff Road in Willow Street, Pennsylvania. All are invited to this event, which commences at 8 a.m. The Alliance has planned a full day of activities which include educational presentations, a cover crop plot walk, and panel discussions with industry and government representatives, as well as no-till farmers.

Steve Berger, well known speaker and corn-soybean-pig farmer from southeast Iowa will provide the keynote presentation, talking about the importance of cover crops. The event will also include a variety of panel discussions, focusing on topics including Practical Experience and Lessons Learned when "Planting Green," Growing Your Own Cover Crop Seed, Why Water Quality Matters, and Summer/Alternative Forage Options.

In addition to speakers and panel discussions, the event also features a Cover Crop Seed Give-Away, sponsored by PSU/SARE and viewing/discussion of a variety of different planters, each brought in and owned by local farmers. Jeff Graybill will provide a tour of various cover crop plots and a soil pit, while Leroy Bupp will host a soil health demo. 

To conclude the program, PA Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Karl Brown will be in attendance for a celebration of the 10th anniversary of REAP and recognize the No-Till Alliance for their support.

The Alliance also offers a “Meeting of the Minds” dinner/discussion on Wednesday, July 26 which begins at 6:30 p.m. The focus will be on ‘Manure Management in No-Till and Cover Crops,’ with the opportunity to converse with other dedicated farmers and industry professionals. Come out and join the conversation!

If pre-registered by July 21, both the Meeting of the Minds and the Field Day are FREE. Pre-register via email (jhowes@pennag.com), calling 717-651-5920, or mailing the registration form. If not pre-registered, cost to attend each event is $10, collected at the event. More event information is available at www.panotill.org.

The Census of Agriculture is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Even small plots of land - whether rural or urban - growing fruit, vegetables or some food animals count if $1,000 or more of such products were raised and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the Census year.

The Census of Agriculture, taken only once every five years, looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures. For America’s farmers and ranchers, the Census of Agriculture is their voice, their future, and their opportunity.

While seed laws and regulations have not changed, breeding has. Advancements with scab tolerance, standability, yield, and disease resistance have been great. As a result, owners of various varieties - biotech companies - have sought to safeguard their research and investment by obtaining patents and PVPA protection on new variety releases to protect their intellectual property. For instance, on wheat and triticale varieties, approximately 70% are currently patented and 28% are PVPA protected (the remaining 2% are older lines that are limited and falling out of favor). Protecting their investment in this way will allow them to continue to bring you better varieties in the future.

Pay close attention to the tag on the seed you are planting so as not to inadvertently violate patent and PVPA laws. Violations can include: 

• Purchasing a patented variety and producing the crop for more than one use
• Saving seed back for your own planting
• Offering seed for sale or trade
• Purchasing a PVPA variety and selling this grain as seed, trading, or offering this seed for sale to anyone else (you are allowed to save seed back for planting on your farm only)

The owner of the variety can seek huge damages for such actions.