By Pat Melgares, K-State Research and Extension news service
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas Forest Service will host its annual Agroforestry Field Day on June 15 to demonstrate successful forestry and natural resource practices, and help landowners avoid “common pitfalls that come with ‘try and see’ approaches to land management,” according to rural forestry program coordinator Ryan Armbrust.
The field day is scheduled 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the family farm of 2019 Kansas Agroforestry Award winners Roger and Nancy Wells, located northeast of Americus in Lyon County.
Registration is available online and costs $12 prior to the event, $15 for those who register on June 15. Pre-registration is recommended to help organizers get an accurate meal count.
Topics for this year’s field day include
Range management.
Tree removal and planting.
Wildlife habitat and food plots.
Prescribed burning.
Timber stand improvement and management plans.
Streambank stabilization and riparian forest buffers.
Armbrust said those and similar topics “can be a little abstract without the opportunity to see them implemented in person, and to learn from real-world successes and challenges.”
“Field days like this are designed to bridge that gap and meet landowners where they are…to assist them in accomplishing their stewardship goals.”
He said forestry and natural resource management is often about selecting short-term actions that will achieve long-term goals.
“Tree seedling spacing, prescribed fire intensity, species selection for wildlife benefit, forest stand improvement and more are all based on significant studies that ensure landowners stand the best chance of getting the outcome they want the first time around,” Armbrust said.
More information on the 2022 Agroforestry Field Day is available online from the Kansas Forest Service, or by calling 785-532-3300.
