A virtual field day on relay intercropping will be held online, Thursday, March 7, at 1 p.m., Central Time. Presenters will be Matt Helmers, Iowa Nutrient Research Center Director, Mark Licht, Iowa State University Assistant Professor and Extension Cropping Systems Specialist, Ross Evelsizer, Natural Resource Projects Director with Northeast Iowa RC&D, and Alex Schaffer, Iowa Soybean Association Research Agronomist.

Iowa Learning Farms (ILF), in partnership with the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, and Conservation Learning Group, is hosting the event. 

A new National Conservation Innovation Grant, led by ILF, is developing agronomic best practices and working to understand farmer attitudes toward relay intercropping soybean into a small grain following corn. Relay intercropping is a form sustainable intensification using three crops in two years and has two crops with seasons that overlap are grown in the same field with one planted into the other before harvesting. In Iowa, the system includes corn and soybeans, with the addition of small grains actively growing later in the fall and earlier in the spring then a typical corn-soybean rotation.

“This virtual field day will explore early results from the Multi-Cropping Iowa project and on-farm trials conducted by the Iowa Soybean Association,” said Licht. “We will also discuss the diffent components of this new grant project that are aiming to develop best management practices for the system to help farmers and landowners successfully integrate this into their operations, as well as improve our understanding of the social factors and economic issues influencing relay intercropping adoption.”

A recording of this event is available.