Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day 2020 [VIRTUAL SERIES]

4th Annual Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day goes VIRTUAL!

In collaboration with Practical Farmers of Iowa and Sam Hitchcock Tilton

UPDATE: Due to (more) unforeseen circumstances, Hans Bishop will no longer be participating in this event. However, we are proud to feature Peter Seely of Springdale Farm in Plymouth, WI and Jared Oomen of Oomen Farms, Ltd., in Hart, MI.

The Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day (MMWCFD) is the nation’s largest event devoted to weeding tools. This year, due to Covidian circumstances, the field day is taking a quantum leap forward and will move into a digital state. MMWCFD organizer, Sam Hitchcock Tilton, and farmers, Peter Seely and Jared Oomen, will share tips and insight into mechanical cultivation. Join them to see and discuss new and old weed control equipment, set-up and use in both row crops and vegetables.

Each virtual field day will take place at 12:30pm to 1:15pm and be streamed live on The Land Connection’s and Practical Farmers of Iowa’s Facebook pages.

September 11 — Episode 1: Drone Wars

Watch the set-up of a camera-guided cultivator with finger weeders in corn and beans. See which field conditions need to be entered into the computer for a camera-guided cultivator as well as how the tools are calibrated for field conditions and run in crops. We will also look at conventional front-mount cultivation.

Tools and tractors: Camera-guided cultivator with shovels and finger weeders; 12-row front mounted cultivator; IH 806

→ Eligible for 1 CEU – Crop Management

September 18 — Episode 2: The Awakening

Watch preliminary Tool Set-up in the shop – starting with a bare toolbar, see the measurements and progression of adding parallelogram units and tools to exactly match a crop spacing. Then watch all of the preliminary adjustments that can be made more accurately in the shop so that by the time you arrive at the field your machine only needs limited adjusting.

Tools and tractors: parallel units; side-knives; cut-away discs; torsion weeders; finger weeders; diamond-bar and belly-mount options; Modified Allis-G; Saukville; Super C; IH 274

→ Eligible for 1 CEU – Crop Management

September 25 — Episode 3: The First Encounter

Learn about precision cultivation of direct-seeded vegetables. Once the weeding tool has been mounted and adjusted in the shop (episode 2) watch the first run in the field and see how results are judged and adjustments are made to correct issues in order to quickly achieve accurate weeding in direct-seeded crops.

Tools and tractors: parallel units; side-knives; cut-away discs; torsion weeders; finger weeders; belly-mount options; Modified Allis-G; Saukville; Super C; IH 274

→ Eligible for 1 CEU – Crop Management

About the presenters:

Sam Hitchcock Tilton is a Horticulture Instructor at Lakeshore Technical College, just North of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He has a background in vegetable farming and earned a Master’s degree in Horticulture from Michigan State University, where he studied and conducted research on precision weeding tools. Sam was the Midwest Sales Representative for KULT-Kress precision cultivation tools. For this work he designed weeding machines for all types of crops, developed new tools, and traveled through Europe and the US visiting farms. He writes for Vegetable Grower’s News and Growing for Market.

Peter Seely, Springdale farm, Plymouth, WI

Peter Seeley and his wife, Bernadette, began farming at Springdale Farm in 1988, at the dawn of the CSA movement in the Upper Midwest. Over 25 years, the farm has expanded to twenty acres and 800 CSA shares, plus thirteen greenhouses and five children. The farm has always followed organic principles and is USDA certified. Production techniques include on-farm compost-making, cover crops, the use of electric tractors, wood-fired boilers to heat all greenhouses and farm buildings, PV-generated electrical power, and over 1 acre of hoophouses/greenhouses.

Jared Oomen, Oomen Farms, Ltd., Hart, MI

Jared Oomen grew up on the family farm in Hart, Michigan. He farms with his father, uncle, brother and cousins. They grow 3,000 acres of conventional asparagus, carrots, squash and green beans mostly for processing. They grow primarily green beans, carrots, parsnips and squash Organically on 500 acres and are transitioning more.

Please register to be sent links and reminders for the Facebook live event series.