Please join us in welcoming Coggon farmer Anna Hankins (left) and Waterloo farmer Shaffer Ridgeway (right) to Practical Farmers of Iowa’s board of directors! Anna and Shaffer are the newest additions to our 12-person board and were among five individuals elected in January by PFI members to join or renew their tenure.

Anna and Shaffer are each starting their first terms and will serve three years on PFI’s board. Read our latest news release to learn more about our new board members.

Apply for PFI's Landowner Coaching Program

How does your land's productivity affect your rental rates? Want to learn more about your farm's potential? Apply for PFI's Landowner Coaching Program!

Landowners who rent to farmers get a free, custom farm review report with recommendations and achievable, actionable steps on how to make their land more resilient.

Research Report: "Replacing Corn With Oats in Ration for Pasture-Raised Broiler Chickens"

Anna Hankins and Shae Pesek, and Carlos Williams and Maja Black, wondered whether replacing a portion of the corn in a typical ration with oats would affect gain and economics of broiler chickens.

The chickens fed the oat ration performed equally well as the chickens fed the typical ration in terms of gain, average daily gain, feed conversion ratio and cost per pound of gain.

Farminar: "Diversified Crop Rotations in an Organic System"

On Tuesday, Illinois organic farmer Jacob Landis shared his experience with crop rotations, including alfalfa, field peas and sunflowers, both as single crops and double crops.

Learn more about how these crops fit within Jacob’s operation.

Don't let nitrogen costs cut into your bottom line in 2023. Sign up for our yield warranty!

Reduce your reliance on purchased inputs with our fertilizer yield warranty.

Farmers who are new to cutting purchased inputs and farmers who’ve reduced nitrogen previously are both eligible for our program.

Learn more and apply today.

Spring small grains planting is right around the corner. Have you signed up for cost-share?

Sign up for small grains cost-share and earn up to $20 per acre for growing a small-grain (barley, oats, rye, triticale, wheat) with a legume cover crop.

Get the support and payments

you need to successfully grow small gains on your farm. Farmers in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin are encouraged to apply. 

Join the PFI team

Work with us! We have five openings you can apply for. We're only highlighting two in this issue, so be sure to check out other openings on our employment page:

• Are you an experienced video storyteller with an interest in regenerative agriculture? Apply to be our new senior video coordinator. In this role, you'll produce, shoot, edit and publish creative, high-quality videos that feature farmers on various digital platforms.

• Are you a talented scientist who believes in the value of real-world research on farms? Be our next senior research coordinator and play a pivotal role in helping us expand on-farm research in Iowa and neighboring states. You’ll work with curious, creative farmers of all types and farm sizes who are transforming their farms for the better.

Senior Video Coordinator

Senior Research Coordinator

UPCOMING EVENTS

Farminar: "Navigating Iowa’s New Cottage Food Law: A Farmer-Focused Q&A"

In 2022, Iowa passed a new law expanding opportunities for unlicensed home-based food businesses, often referred to as “cottage foods.”

So what does this mean for farmers who grow produce and want to process it for sale?

Find out Tuesday at noon and ask speakers Julie Kraling and Kurt Rueber any questions you have!

Members in the News

Eric Madsen of Audobon, IA, was featured on WHO 13 Des Moines: Honoring Iowa Farmers: Eric Madsen

Meredith Nunnikhoven of Oskaloosa, IA, and Mitchell Hora of Brighton, IA, were quoted in Yahoo! News: Ernst talks Farm Bill cover crops in southeast Iowa

Michael Vittetoe of Washington, IA, was mentioned on American Soybean Association's website: ASA Congratulates the 2023 Regional Winners of the Conservation Legacy Award

Matt Russell of Lacona, IA, was quoted in the Newton Daily News: Agricultural producers have until March 15 to enroll in USDA’s key commodity safety net programs

Steve Strasheim of Mitchell, IA, was featured on the DonnaLonna Kitchen Show Podcast: 046: Greens Under Cover With Steve Strasheim

Dayna Burtness of Spring Grove, MN, was mentioned in the Oil City News: UW Extension Plans Wyoming Bee College and Garden to Market Conference in Cheyenne

Alison Robertson of Ames, IA, wrote an article that was featured in Wallaces Farmer: Cereal cover crop could adversely affect corn

Have you been featured in the media? If you're a PFI member, tell us when and where to find a link to the article, and we'll feature you in a future issue of Practical News.

Contact: rachel.burke@practicalfarmers.org

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