Equipping farmers to build resilient farms and communities.
Oats from the field to the shelf!

Landon and Anne Plagge, of Latimer, Iowa, recently spoke with Sara Fletcher, communications and public affairs director for Oatly North America, about the value of seeing the ingredients they grow on the farm in their local grocery store. Landon and Anne are part of PFI's small grain cost-share program.
NEWS
A big PFI welcome to Martha McFarland
Martha McFarland has been hired as PFI's new farmland viability coordinator.

In this position, Martha will support land seekers and landowners with land access and farm transition assistance and resources.

Martha also runs Hawkeye Buffalo & Cattle Ranch near Fredericksburg, IA.
In addition to our weekly email newsletter, Practical News, PFI also runs five monthly newsletters each focused on a different farming specialty.

  • The Practical Cover Cropper - News and resources for farming with cover crops
  • Beginning Farmer News - News and resources for beginning farmers
  • The Practical Horticulturalist - News and resources for veggie, flower and fruit growers 
  • The Monthly Feedstuff - News and resources about livestock and grazing
  • Small Grain News - News and resources for farming with small grains
Thank you to all who joined our last farminar on Tuesday evening, hosted by Rob Faux.

In this farminar, Rob shared his firsthand experience with pesticide drift and gave advice on how to identify and respond to a drift incident.
For organic row crop farmers, seed bed preparation is one of the first jobs of the spring.

In this video from our organic weed control video series, several PFI farmers share knowledge on early season tillage, seedbed preparation and timing of planting to get control of weeds early in organic field crop production.

Watch the entire video series that explores crop rotations; early-season light tillage implements like rotary hoes, tine weeders and harrows; an in-depth look at row crop cultivators; and more.
UPCOMING EVENTS
**There are no upcoming PFI events at this time. We encourage you to check our events calendar for non-PFI events as well as keep an eye out for more info on our 2022 field day season, coming to you later this spring.** 
ON THE BLOG
Should I plant corn into a green, living cereal rye cover crop? Or should I wait until the cereal rye cover crop is brown and dead before planting corn?

Just as the robins and crocuses reappear each spring, so too do these questions among corn farmers using cover crops. Research by PFI farmers and university scientists over the past decade provides some insights.
MEMBERSHIP
Protect yourself from the sun this season with one of our new PFI hats.
IN THE NEWS
Members in the News
Justin and Ellen Rahn of Mount Carroll, IL, were featured in Illinois Farmer Today: Beef leader gets more involved in industry groups

Dwight Dial of Lake City, IA, was featured in Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship: Secretary Naig to Honor Dwight Dial with Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award

Nick Wallace of Keystone, IA, was featured on the blog Into the Green: Why I moved to Chicago and started a frozen meat company to combat climate change

Beth Hoffman and John Hogeland from Lovilia, IA, were featured on Offenburger.com: The by-God best book on farming I’ve read, and the unlikely author & story it involves

Phil, Sharon, Jon, and the late Dan Specht, of McGregror, IA, and Mary Damm of Bloomington, IN, were featured on the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation Website: "For the Birds."

Sara and Jim Anderson of Fairfield, IA, were featured on WHO13: Forever a food farm: Fairfield couple donates land to Sustainable Iowa Land Trust

Matt Russell of Lacona, IA, Kayla Koether of Decorah, IA, Seth Watkins of Clarinda, IA, Wendy Johnson of Charles City, IA and Ryan Marquardt of Van Meter, IA, were featured in Wallaces Farmer: Biden administration appoints Iowa FSA committee

Lee Tesdell of Slater, IA, Mike and Charles Helland of Huxley, IA and Sarah Carlson of Pleasant Hill, IA, were featured in Progressive Farmer: Collaboration Spurs Conservation

PFI members Maya and Carmen Black were featured on the “AgArts from Horse & Buggy Land” podcast with host Mary Swander.

Mary Swander was interviewed on Kevin Gallagher's Show: "Digging in the Dirt"
PFI in the News

Practical Farmers of Iowa was mentioned in No-Till Farmer: Best of the Web No-Till Highlights: Put Some Covers On

Practical Farmers of Iowa was mentioned on Farm Progress: Everyone wants a piece of soil health

Practical Farmers of Iowa was featured in an Iowa State University's publication: Innovation at Work: Breaking ground on next-generation agricultural markets

Practical Farmers of Iowa was mentioned on Public News Service: From Big Farms to Smaller Producers, Tracing the Bird Flu Impact

Practical Farmers of Iowa was mentioned on a Unilever webpage: Regenerating nature
Have you been featured in the media? Tell us when and where to find a link to the article, and we'll feature you in a future issue of Practical News.