No-Till Farmer editors have announced the launch of the first-ever National Cover Crop Summit — a free virtual event which will be held March 20-21, 2019.

This free-to-attend, 2-day virtual event will feature a series of knowledge-building sessions taught by the foremost authorities on covers today. Requiring no travel expense or time away from the office or farm, attendees will be able to participate from the comfort of their own office through a series of free video sessions.

At this January's 27th annual National No-Tillage Conference, held in Indianapolis, January 8-11, President of Lessiter Media, Mike Lessiter, was joined by cover crop expert Steve Groff to announce the first-ever virtual cover crop event. Watch a video of the announcement here.

Several educational sessions will go live each day from March 20-21, allowing attendees the opportunity to choose the speakers and sessions they’re most interested in and participate on their own schedule. Attendees will also be able to ask questions during the presentation and get timely feedback from the speakers, enhancing the interactive and educational nature of this inaugural event.

The first four presenters to headline the National Cover Crop Summit have been announced, along with their session topics. Additional speakers for this event will be announced in the coming weeks. The initial list of committed presenters and topics includes:

• Steve Groff, longtime no-tiller and cover crop consultant, Holtwood, Pa. — ​5 Mindsets that Successful Cover Croppers Have in Common
• Shawn Tiffany, no-tiller and rancher at Tiffany Cattle Co., Herington, Kan. — Improving Farm and Feedlot Soil Health with Cover Crops
• Erin Silva, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. — Rolling Cover Crops Successfully in No-Till Systems
• Damon Reabe, Dairyland Aviation — Finding Success with Aerially Seeded Cover Crops
• Tom Cotter, no-tiller from Austin, Minn. — Integrating Timely Interseeding of Cover Crops for Soil Health and Grazing Benefits
• Chris Teachout, no-tiller from Shenandoah, Iowa — Realizing the Potential of Alternative Row Spacings and Biomass-Building Cover Crops
• Paul Delaune, Texas A&M Environmental Soil Scientist — Examining Cover Crop Benefits in Continuous Wheat and Cotton Rotations in a Semi-Arid Environment
• Rob Myers, Regional Director of Extension Programs — A 360-Degree Perspective on How Cover Crops Affect Farm Profitability

“Lessiter Media is extremely excited to make valuable cover crop management expertise available to growers in a format that is easy to use and convenient for their busy schedules. These sessions are aimed not only at growers already seeding cover crops, but those who wish to learn more as they consider moving toward cover crop adoption,” says John Dobberstein, senior editor at No-Till Farmer.

Find more information and register for the National Cover Crop Summit here.