Native-grass grower to speak at conservation meeting
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 18, 2001
Owatonna farmer Don Vogt occupies a unique corner of agriculture.
Wednesday, July 18, 2001
Owatonna farmer Don Vogt occupies a unique corner of agriculture. As a native grass seed producer for the last 22 years, Vogt’s farm is one of the few places to find seed for perennial warm-season prairie grass.
Vogt said it took awhile for his neighbors to catch on to what he was doing.
&uot;They saw all that grass in my fields and were waiting for my bankruptcy sale,&uot; he joked.
Vogt, owner of Wildlife Habitat Seed Farms, supplies seed for native grasses such as switch grass, big blue stem and Indian grass to farmers planning to turn over land to the Conservation Reserve Program or CRP. Vogt said as more and more producers have left their farms because of poor commodity prices, they’re returning portions of the land to prairie.
&uot;These grasses were all across the Midwest before we plowed it all under for farming,&uot; Vogt said. &uot;We’re replanting all over the region in several states.&uot;
Vogt will share his expertise at the next soil and water conservation management practices session Thursday at Arrowhead Park on the east side of Freeborn Lake.
&uot;Mainly I answer questions about when to plant this stuff, how to care for it and what it will end up looking like,&uot; Vogt said. &uot;If you help the grass with a little weed control in the early stages, it lasts forever.&uot;
The session begins at 2 p.m. with Lowell Busman of the Southern Minnesota Research and Outreach Center who will discuss water management. With the excessive soil erosion problems of the spring, Busman will teach farmers how to avoid the problems for the rest of the year and next year.
Chris Borden of the Freeborn County Natural Resources Conservation Service will follow Busman with an overview of several little-known conservation programs that could be useful to area farmers.
After Borden’s presentation, Vogt will discuss native grasses, followed by a tour of area farms that utilize conservation practices.
The seminar is sponsored through the cooperative efforts of the South Central Chapter of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota, the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service and the SMNI Ridge Till Club.
For more information about the session, call Marlene Vogelsang at 507-256-4939.