Virtual Field Day Access Instructions:
To participate in the live virtual field day at 1:00 pm CT on February 12, click this URL: https://iastate.zoom.us/j/91411984892.
Iowa Learning Farms (ILF), in partnership with C-CHANGE: Grass2Gas, will host a virtual field day on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 1 p.m. CT. The event, which is available at no cost, will feature a live discussion with Carl Kurtz, a professional writer, teacher, naturalist, and photographer with over 50 years of prairie establishment and management experience.
This field day aims to assist farmers, landowners, and conservation professionals with establishing and maintaining prairie perennial vegetation. These areas offer many benefits, including: pollinator habitat, reducing soil erosion from sensitive areas, building soil health, improving wildlife, providing beauty to the landscape, and serving as biomass feedstock for the production of renewable natural gas.
“About 50 years ago, I was introduced to the prairie by Roger Landers, who was a botanist at Iowa State University, and with my background in wildlife biology, I began to see that this is probably some of the very best wildlife habitat there is,” noted Kurtz.
“You've got to remember you're going to be in it for the long haul. It's not something you plant for one year, and then you plow it up ten years,” explained Kurtz when asked what advice he would share with those looking to establish a prairie. “In ten years, it's just getting started doing what it will do best, and the diversity will start to get really good.”
Any person interested in establishing and managing a prairie is welcome to attend the virtual field day. Participants are also encouraged to bring any questions they would like to ask.
To participate in the live virtual field day, visit Iowa Learning Farms Field Days - Exploring Prairie Establishment and Management With Carl Kurtz, or join from a dial-in phone line (Dial: 646-876-9923 or 646-931-3860, Meeting ID: 914 1198 4892). The field day will be recorded and archived on the ILF Virtual Field Day Archive for future viewing.
Participants may be eligible for a Certified Crop Adviser board-approved continuing education unit. Information about how to apply for and receive the CEU will be provided at the end of the event.