Bow Creek
2025 Field Days
June 11, 2025 - Cover Crops and Compost at Doug & Traci Steffen Farm
1-3 PM
89312 548 Ave
Crofton, NE 68730
Doug and Traici's goal is to reduce the inputs needed for the farm by using the resources they have. To do this, Doug and Traci grow a polyculture of cover crops for livestock feed. They also bale the cover crops for animal bedding and compost waste from the hoop barn. To get more out of their compost, they inoculate it with farm grown beneficial microbes, which they apply to fields and use to create extract for seed treatments or foliar sprays. Join the Steffens at this field day to learn more about their approach to compost. You’ll also hear about the role cover crops play in supporting their livestock operation and improving soil health.
RSVPs appreciated at practicalfarmers.org/field-days
July 8, 2025 - Regenerative Ag Field Day at Junior Pfanstiel Farm
¼ mile north of Hwy 20 on 522 Ave. Intersection
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Lunch available with RSVP at The Breakroom in Randolph, NE
Junior is experimenting with strip cropping corn and cover crops. The idea is to exploit what is referred to as the edge effect (increased photosynthesis of the outside two rows) in corn to increase production of each corn plant and at the same time provide a "regen year" of cover crops in the field. Instead of skipping an entire year of income to provide the regen year cover crop Junior is attempting to grow the corn and cover crop at the same time. Next year the regen cover crop and corn strip will be switched effectively growing a cover crop over the entire field in two years while still generating his average corn profit each year.
RSVP for the Regenerative Field Day
For more information contact Becky Ravenkamp, Lewis & Clark NRD Bow Creek Watershed Coordinator at bravenkamp@lcnrd.org or by calling 402-254-6758.
The Bow Creek Watershed contains 392,574 acres in portions of Cedar, Dixon, and Knox Counties. A rich history extends back to before the days of Lewis and Clark. Clark’s journal entry on August 26, 1804 mentions Bow Creek, writing, “above the mouth of this creek a Chief of the Maha Nation displeased with the conduct of Black Bird, the main cheif, came to this place and built a town which was called by his name Petite Arc (or Little Bow)...we gathered great quantities of grapes and three types of plumbs, one yellow round, one ovel and one the common wild plumb.”
In 2019, the Lewis & Clark NRD updated their Water Quality Assessment Plan and added Bow Creek as a priority area based on Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Basin Rotation water quality testing. The 2016 Basin Rotation water quality testing showed elevated levels of sediment, phosphorus, nitrates and E. coli in Bow Creek. Working with FYRA Engineering, models were created to show the potential to decrease nonpoint source pollutants in Bow Creek by increasing the adoption of best management practices (BMPs) in priority Bow Creek sub-watersheds.
Those best management practices include, but are not limited to:
- Nutrient Management
- Cover Crop
- No-till Management
- Land Use Change: CRP or Riparian Buffer Strips
- Grazing Management Plans
- Livestock Exclusion Plans with Alternative Water Sources and Fencing
- Septic System Upgrades
Through grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust and Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, these BMPs are eligible for additional practice implementation and education payments through the Bow Creek Watershed Project. Practices must be part of approved conservation contracts to be eligible. Details for implementation of BMPs will be planned with NRCS technical assistance and Bow Creek programs will then be applied for through the LCNRD office. For more information contact:
Bow Creek Watershed Coordinator
Becky Ravenkamp
Lewis & Clark NRD Office
608 N Robinson Ave., Hartington, NE 68739
Phone: 402-254-6758.
