Equipping farmers to build resilient farms and communities.
A handful of PFI staff made their way to Hilton Coliseum to watch the Iowa State women's basketball team take on Oklahoma State on Wednesday!

Don't recognize some of these faces or want to get to know the rest of our staff? Head to the staff page to learn more about us!
ON THE BLOG
Though cover crop seed markets offer the advantages of a favorable price and local markets with little transport cost, growing oats for seed is more difficult than the other most popular cover crop, rye.

This is due to the federal Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act that protects all seed sales in the U.S.
NEWS
Andrew Dunham of Grinnell Heritage Farm and T.D. Holub of Garden Oasis Farm share their organic weed management philosophies, along with equipment and strategy preferences.

They specifically discuss the use of cultivation equipment, plastic mulch, cover crops, crop rotation, compost and transplants.
This was the second year of on-farm research trials designed to evaluate planting corn in 60-inch row-widths for the purpose of improving the success of interseeding cover crops to the corn in early summer, while maintaining corn grain yield.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Join us next Tuesday, Feb.11, at 7 p.m. CST to hear from Sam Bennett, a farmer from Galva, Iowa, and Gina Nichols, an Iowa State University doctoral student in the Department of Agronomy, as they discuss cereal rye’s ability to suppress weeds in corn and soybean systems. 
Meet-ups are a time for farmers to discuss the upcoming season, challenges, opportunities and ideas, and to network with other farmers over a cup of coffee and some breakfast. These events are free and open to all fruit, vegetable and flower growers. You don’t have to be a PFI member to attend!

All meet-ups are 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Feb. 11  – Des Moines
Hoq

Feb. 13 – Algona
Feed Mill Coffee Co.
Feb. 25  – Solon
Salt Fork Kitchen
++Bonus: Flower meet-up

Feb. 27  – Ames
PFI office
Double-header oat meet-ups in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota on Feb. 21
Talk oat production with other farmers and learn about the Oatly program, which offers oat contracts with Grain Millers and PFI's cost-share to establish a cover crop following oat harvest.
Latimer, IA | 9 - 11 a.m. | Details

Join current and prospective oat growers over coffee and donuts from around northern Iowa for an “Oat Meet-Up”.
Hayward, MN | 3 - 5 p.m. | Details

Join current and prospective oat growers from around southern Minnesota for an “Oat Cream Social”.
Feb. 11: Meet-Up - Vegetable Farmer
9:30 - 11:30 a.m. | Des Moines

Feb. 11: Farminar - Cereal Rye
7 p.m. | Online

Feb. 11-13: Workshop - Holistic Management
Montour

Feb. 13: Meet-Up - Vegetable Farmer
9:30 - 11:30 a.m. | Algona

Feb. 18: Farminar - Creating Habitat
7 p.m. | Online

Feb. 21: Meet-Up - Oat Growers
9 - 11 a.m. | Latimer
Feb. 21: Meet-Up - Oat Growers
3 - 5 p.m. | Hayward, MN

Feb. 25: Meet-Up - Vegetable Farmer
9:30 - 11:30 a.m. | Solon

Feb. 25: Meet-Up - Flower Farmer
9:30 - 11:30 a.m. | Solon

Feb. 25: Farminar - From Cows to Pigs
7 p.m. | Online

Feb. 27: Meet-Up - Vegetable Farmer
9:30 - 11:30 a.m. | Ames

Mar. 3: Farminar - Livestock and Cover Crops
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
In this session, Loran Steinlage of West Union shares his intercropping knowledge and explains how he accomplishes his goal of growing a crop every day of the year.

Watch Loran share what works best for him and how you can successfully adopt this technique in your operation.
Forget something at the annual conference?
Check the lost and found at the PFI office
Did you lose a coffee mug or stocking cap at the annual conference? We may have it back at our office. We would love to find the rightful owner of lost-and-found items!

If you left something behind at the conference, email Debra at debra@practicalfarmers.org or call the office at (515) 232-5661 and we will help get it back to you!
MEMBERSHIP
PFI member survey – we’re halfway there!
We're making good progress toward our member survey response goal – but we still have about halfway yet to go. If you have a PFI membership, we need to hear from you!

If you’re a member, check your inbox for an email from “steve@practicalfarmers.org via SurveyMonkey” for a survey link specific to your membership.

Survey: Digital or Paper? Please help us save on paper, postage and staff time needed to mail, receive and intake your survey responses by completing the survey online. We will honor requests for a paper copy. Please indicate your preference below.
Indicate your preference for completing the member survey:
Please send me a paper copy of the PFI member survey
No thank you, I will complete the survey online
IN THE NEWS
Members in the News
Fred Kirschenmann of Ames was featured in CivilEats: An Elder Statesman of Sustainable Ag Looks to the ‘Regenerative Generation’

Patti Naylor of Jefferson was featured on the National Family Farm Coalition blog: Carbon Markets and Agriculture Don’t Mix

Paul Mugge of Sutherland was featured in the Chronicle Times: Sutherland Farmer Awarded the Sustainable Ag Award

Bruce Carney of Maxwell was interviewed for a video by Tim Wagner of The Izaak Walton League
PFI in the News
PFI was not featured in the news this week
Have you been featured in the media? Tell us when and where to find a link to the article, and we'll feature you in a future issue of Practical News.