Dane Demo Farms

Happy Earth Day to the farmers who care for the land a little more each year.

Thank you to the producers who plant cover crops, reduce erosion, protect water quality, build healthier soils, and invest in conservation practices that benefit the whole community. Your work strengthens the land today and helps ensure it stays productive for future generations.

We appreciate your commitment, stewardship, and willingness to keep improving. Thank you for all you do to support soil health, clean water, and a more resilient future.

Wondering what soils temps are in your area? 🌱

Farmers can use the Wisconsin Environmental Mesonet (aka Wisconet) to check soil temperatures at stations across the state, including temperatures at multiple depths. It’s a handy tool for tracking field conditions and planning spring fieldwork.

As of yesterday, the Verona station showed soil temps at 2" of 58 degrees at 11 am, with 56 degrees at 4", 55 degrees at 8", and 51 degrees at 20".

Find a station near you here:

Wisconet Wisconet is a statewide network of weather and soil monitoring stations in Wisconsin, delivering high-quality data every 5 minutes to support research, agriculture, and public safety.

Are your cover crops making you a little nervous this spring? Setting a clear goal for your cover crop can help you decide how to manage it before planting. UW Extension offers helpful guidance on the best time to terminate a cover crop based on your goals, such as w**d control, erosion prevention, and more.

Check out the information here:
https://cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu/articles/biomass-thresholds-for-cereal-rye-cover-crop-goals/

You can also read the Dane Demo Farm newsletter, which includes an easy-to-use handout on this topic.

Biomass Thresholds for Cereal Rye Cover Crop Goals DOI Citation: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/96980 Biomass Thresholds for Cereal Rye Cover Crop Goals Biomass Thresholds for Cover Crop Goals What Affects Cereal Rye Biomass Accumulation? Termination Timing Tradeoffs Conclusion What benefits do cover crops provide? Cover crops can provide a ...

We’re still a couple of weeks away from ideal planting conditions, but now is a good time to make sure your planter is ready to go. Check out this video for tips on planting into cover crops and heavy residue. If you haven’t already, consider sharpening your opening discs to help ensure good seed placement when it’s time to hit the field.

Planting Green: Planter Setup Tips 1 A grower's perspective. This is one of a nine part video series on the basics of planting corn and soybean into a green living cover crop. These videos detai...

With rain in the forecast, it’s a great time to catch up on some reading. Our new newsletter is now available on the website and includes UW cover crop termination timing guidance, a recap of the no-till transition study, and the 2025 Data Summary highlighting results from many of our projects. Check it out and learn something new!
https://demofarms.danecounty.gov/documents/pdf/Newsletters/DDF-Newsletter-Vol-3-Iss-1-DataSummary.pdf

Neat cover crop seeding idea from farmers up north.

Hey there! Just a friendly reminder—there’s still time to sign up!

Join us on Wednesday and you’ll get the opportunity to hear directly from the farmers themselves—the ones who are making these projects happen on their farms. They know first hand all that goes into a change on the farm - they are facing the same challenges you do, and they’re happy to share what’s worked for them (and what hasn’t). It’s a great chance to learn from real-life experiences and maybe even pick up a helpful tip or two. Trust us, you won’t want to miss this!

Check it out here: https://demofarms.danecounty.gov/Event/Detail/2667

We’re just days away from our annual Winter Event. We know it’s hard to step away from the farm—and the to-do list never ends. Take a few hours next week to pick up new ideas, connect with other farmers, and get inspired to build your farm's soil health. Free event, free lunch—and worth your time.

To till or not to till - that is the question! Tim is hosting a new study to answer just that. We've collected a wealth of data in the first year as part of his project, anything from monthly nitrogen samples, slug and beneficial insect trapping, infiltration testing, soil temperature and moisture monitoring, and more!

Register today to hear all the details! https://demofarms.danecounty.gov/Event/Detail/2667

Be on the lookout for these blue cover crop signs posted on agricultural fields around Dane County. Cover crops are crops that are planted with the main purpose of protecting the soil, rather than for harvest. They are typically planted in the fall after the harvest of the main crop, and provide soil cover during the harshest months of the year. Implementing cover crops in cropping systems can improve water quality, increase biodiversity, reduce erosion, and build soil health.