Live from the Milan No-Till Field Day
By Roger RyDell Daniels, NRCS public affairs specialist
After going virtual in 2020, the 32nd Milan No-Till Field Day, sponsored by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, returned to an in-person event promoting no-till farming to areas prone to erosion and soil loss. This year’s in-person event was held at the University of Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Milan on July 28. Activities included several research tours of nearby farms and locations, demonstration booths from more than 25 companies and organizations, and live presentations on a variety of farming programs and productions.
Many NRCS employees attended the event, including Steven Morris, Somerville Field Office district conservationist, and Jeff Woodward, Jackson Area Office area resource soil scientist, who both helped demonstrate NRCS’ soil health rainfall simulator. Visitors also had the opportunity to experience NRCS’ soil health tunnel and utility terrain vehicle with a mounted giddings soil probe. Tennessee State Conservationist Sheldon Hightower met with several producers and field staff during the day and networked with Dr. Carrie Castille, the senior vice president of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.
“The Milan No-Till Field Day is an extremely important event for NRCS to attend, as the event brings out some of the most innovative no-till/soil health equipment and techniques being used in the today’s time,” Morris said. “We were able to promote our programs that work hand in hand with cutting-edge technology, our soil health trailer, our soil health rainfall simulator, which gives a visual demonstration of the effects no-till has on run-off and infiltration and goes a long way with a producer who is attending the event that has not quite grasped the concept.”
The field day began in 1981 to teach local producers the benefits of no-till farming versus traditional tillage. Now, it has turned into the largest in the nation devoted to conservation tillage, bringing thousands of people to Milan, according to event organizers.
