Farmers Forum - No-till direct sowing on sand

Brave fortune favours the brave, or how a young man manages on the sands of the lowlands without his own direct launcher. Lecture, experience sharing, sowing demonstration, autumn crop viewing.

H K Sz Cs P Sun V
11 April 2023.
08:00 - 13:00
Farmers Forum - No-till direct sowing on sand
Location
6120 Kiskunmajsa, Hősök tere 6.
GPS coordinates: 46.43973508181039, 19.734175728835382
Kiskunmajsa | Land of Zoltán Szabó

Video report

About our events
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"I talked to a lot of interesting people. Some of them were complete beginners, pathfinders, and I hope they enjoyed this experience of a world full of life as much as I did. I'm excited for the next sessions. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be part of the Event."
StephenPusztaszabolcs
"I really liked the fact that Flórián, when he had no experience, was honest and said that was the next step. His translation was also perfect. All credit to him."
OttoLudas
"I've been trying cover crops for a few years now, with more success in a small plot rather than less. But I've had a lot of answers here about what I've got wrong. Encouragement is important and I feel like I've gotten a serious positive "push" for the whole technology again."
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Farmers' Forum

No-till direct seeding on sand

The educational day will take place on Zoltán Szabó's land in kiskunmajsa, from 8.15 to 8.45 a.m. Registration is open, and from 9 a.m. we will introduce the Soil Renewal Farmers Association, the host, and talk about the theoretical basis of regenerative farming, the challenges of sand farming and the attempts to find solutions.

The host of the day is Zoltán Szabó, assisted by Sándor Hargitai.

The practical demonstration will start at 10 am, the first part of which will explain the justification of triticale-pea intercropping while inspecting the stock. We will also discuss the method and the reason for sowing in October and its use in the light of the experience gained from previous experiments.

The next topic is the presentation of minimum nutrient winter barley.

Then comes the transfer of the experience gained so far with cover crops.

Finally, you can see direct seeding of maize, which will be done by Reto Stocker, a member of the TMG Association, with a John Deere direct seeder brought from Switzerland, while he will explain why he uses this seeder, what it is suitable for, what he has changed.

At the same time as sowing, a nutrient trial is also set up, as Zoli wants to see if the soil is in a condition that does not require fertiliser. So there will be one part where nitrogen is applied and another where it is not. The ultimate goal is not to have to apply any extra nitrogen at all.

Detailed programme

8:10 – 8:45

Registration

9:00 – 09:10

Introduction of the TMG Association - Sándor Hargitai

09:10 – 09:20

Introduction of the host

09:20 – 09:35

Brief introduction to the principles of regenerative farming - Sándor Hargitai

Sándor Hargitai

One of the founding members of the Soil Renewal Farmers Association, owner of the No-Tillage, No-Tillage, Strip-Tillage Facebook groups, open to the world and farming good quality land in Békés County for ten years, five years without rotation.

 

09:35 – 10:00

Challenges in sand farming - Zoltán Szabó and Sándor Hargitai

Practical demonstration

  • Presentation of triticale-pea intercropping, its justification in production.
  • Presentation of minimum nutrient winter barley.
  • Cover crops at work: sharing useful experiences.
  • Setting up a maize direct seeding and single pass nutrient experiment.

10:00 – 13:00

Reto Stocker

A Swiss farmer who now lives and farms in Hungary, with much more modest rainfall conditions, using no-till. He is the association's direct seeding provider with many years of experience.

At the end of the event, everyone is welcome with a simple sandwich and a refreshing beer.

The organisers reserve the right to change the programme and the dates.
The event will be video, audio and video recorded.

Get to know
the host

Zoltán Szabó graduated as a geographer, then worked in agricultural research, helped out on his family's farm, and seeing his parents' struggle, he thought, surely there must be a better way to do this.He took over the farm in 2014, and farms a total of 34 hectares, 22 of which are arable and the rest grassland. From the beginning, he has been trying to get away from ploughing, and for three years he has been doing this with minimum tillage and direct seeding. He is persevering with the experiments he started a long time ago: his 90% experiment is set up.

His biggest problem: he cannot buy a 5-6 million direct seeder, as it is not profitable for a few hectares. He sows his own crops with his own machine, some of which is only suitable for direct sowing, and the rest he has contracted out. His long-term goals are to buy a direct seeder and to manage the organic manure by composting it and spreading it on winter cover crops.

He has been a member of the TMG Association since its inception.

It has heterogeneous slabs: the soil is humic sand, which is quicksand in particle size, but higher in humus content: 1% in the higher areas and 3-4% in the flatter areas.

GY.I.K.

We recommend it primarily for farmers, and especially for those who farm on sand. Participation is limited and preference will be given to farmers.

The event will still be held at the Konecsni György Cultural Centre (6120 Kiskunmajsa, Hősök tere 6.). In this case, there will be a presentation with a screening on the topics given in advance.

There could be several reasons. You may not have entered your email address correctly when registering. Alternatively, since it's a human being sending the feedback, rather than an automated system, it may take some time for the confirmation message to arrive. For example, if you register in the evening, at night or at dawn, you can expect to receive a reply in the morning. If you register at the weekend, the earliest you will receive a reply is Monday. But if you get stuck anywhere in the process or are in doubt about anything, call the number provided during the day.

Video of the Farmers' Forum

Pictures from the Farmers' Forum