Resources

Choose Popular Category

Blogs Farmer-Led Research Winter Webinars Magazine Articles News Podcasts Publications Videos

Blogs Farmer-Led Research Winter Webinars Magazine Articles News Podcasts Publications Videos

Published Feb 18, 2026

Share this post

2025 Field Day Season Photo Gallery

By Practical Farmers of Iowa

The summer of 2025 hung on until all the leaves fell at once, and PFI farmers kept on with field days through Nov. 13!

Over 3,200 people have attended field days in 2025. Here are a few things attendees said were most valuable:

Honesty | Candid discussions | Talking to other farmers | Getting to ask questions in person | Learning new things that are a little outside my comfort zone | Hearing questions and ideas from the group | Seeing two young folks choose to farm differently | Chance to say thank you to the landowner | In-person exposure to techniques, as opposed to internet | How beautiful the land is | Seeing the crops | Seeing the equipment | Seeing and hearing firsthand from the farmer | Getting to connect with really smart people who share | Seeing I’m not alone when thinking differently | Family involvement | Being out in the field | Respectful people | Feeling encouraged to have conversations with all my kids about what will happen in the coming years (farm transfer)

Thank you to all the field day hosts for opening your farms, and to attendees brought their curiosity and ideas!

John Wesselius explains how his farm team uses their transition house for starts, storage and microgreens. (Nov. 13, Sioux Center, IA)

Mike Paustian talks with field day attendees about his cover crop and manure management plans ahead of corn. Behind him is a lush stand of split-row cereal rye, which followed a pass with his drag line manure applicator. (Nov. 4, Walcott, IA)

Nothing better than delicious lamb chops and good c ompany in the O’Neill and Wolf family pasture at sunset. (Oct. 7, Winona, MN)

Kate Solko explains the infrastructure required for the overhead irrigation design at Root to Rise Farm. (Sept. 28, Ames, IA)

Turnip the cat enjoys the sun during Root to Rise’s hands-on irrigation field day. (Sept. 28, Ames, IA)

Aaron Lehman, president of Iowa Farmers Union, leads a group to the highest point in Polk County, located on his farm. During the hike, participants looked for birds and learned about farming practices that can be beneficial for birds. (Sept. 23, Polk City, IA)

PFI staffer Solveig Orngard peers into the control structure of a saturated buffer at Clark and Sharon Porter’s field day highlighting conservation land management practices. (Sept. 18, Reinbeck, IA)

Tiff Clifton and Matt Johnson show attendees their many growing structures at Long Walk Farm. (Sept. 18, Council Bluffs, IA) (

Turkeys on parade try to steal attention at Laura Tidrick’s value- added lard field day. (Sept. 16, Clear Lake, IA)

Amanda and Knute Severson, with Landon and Anne Plagge, pose for a picture after showcasing the new Green Acres Milling oat mill at their field day. (Sept. 13, Albert Lea, MN)

Horses and sheep graze in front of Jamie Hostetler’s chicken barn. (Sept. 13, Bellevue, IA)

Robert Harvey shows how farming practices affect soil structure. At left is a soybean plant grown in tilled soil without cover crops. At right, no-till combined with cover crops created a robust soil ball and healthy soil layers. (Sept. 11, Redfield, IA)

After a short hayride to the field, attendees hear from field day host Daniel Sheetz about his high-protein food-grade soybeans. (Sept. 9, Garwin, IA)

Dean Dedert happily waits for field day attendees to arrive so he can offer them a ride to the barn to hear David Dedert andMike Rice discuss cover crop and soil health strategies at Twin Mill Farm. (Sept. 6, Quincy, IL)

Seth Watkins gathers his sheep with some treats for the field day crowd to see. (Sept. 4, Clarinda, IA)

Tyler Bruck, land stewardship director at Whiterock Conservancy, discusses the cover crop mix that was planted a month prior to the field day. This pasture will be grazed later in the fall by Whiterock’s cattle herd. (Sept. 3, Coon Rapids, IA)

Attendees at the Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day test out tools in “Walk-Behind Alley.” (Aug. 20, Ames, IA, in partnership with Glacial Drift Enterprises, The Land Connection and Iowa State University)

Attendees gather among the implements for the opening remarks during the Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day. (Aug. 20, Ames, IA, in partnership with Glacial Drift Enterprises, The Land Connection and Iowa State University)

Hosts Ben and Katherine De Boef welcomed guests to their farm to learn about owning and operating a drone and their management-intensive cattle grazing practices. (Aug. 25, Montezuma, IA)

The Broulik family showed off their no-till equipment after a presentation and tour of their new cattle building. (Aug. 28, Mt. Vernon, IA)

Host Shanon Jamison describes how her drones operate before flying them for a cover crop seeding demonstration. (Aug. 30, Martensdale, IA)

Tim, Courtney, Sara and Tara Goedken pose with their farm sign after a successful field day where guests toured their dairy operation. (Aug.19, Hopkinton, IA)

Brandon Iddings, of the Iowa Soybean Association, explains how creating habitat on working farms can benefit water quality. The ISA helpedfarmer host Jeff Pudenz create an oxbow on his farm. (Aug. 16, Churdan, IA)

Host Tim Gottman drives attendees along his cover cropped soybean field on the way to an on-farm watershed project monitoring runoff from fields with and without cover crops. (Aug. 14, Monroe City, MO)

Bryce Irlbeck talks about his small herd of cows, which are part of a project he’s working on to expand the organic dairy market. (Aug. 12, Manning, IA)

Geese graze near round bales as the sun se ts at Wade Dooley’s field day where he shared how he grows pumpkins. (Aug. 7, Albion, IA)

Attendees at Lee Buchholz’s field day chat on the hay rack while heading to view a soybean field planted after a rye cover crop. (Aug. 7, Avoca, NE)

Tricia and Seth Engelbrecht make their way through the supper line at the end of their Engelbrecht Farms field day. (Aug. 5, Waverly, IA)

Monarch butterflies are released at the Plant Washington community garden during a field day showcasing their new pollinator habitat. (Aug. 2, Washington, IA)

Tom Cummings takes field day attendees to see his rye straw storage space at TRC Farms. (Sept. 16, Redfield, IA)

Aaron Alons and Andy Getting’s field day must be going well because Sally the dog is all smiles. ( Sept. 10, Sanborn, IA)

What's the latest with Practical Farmers?

Visit our blog to explore the latest research, news, podcasts, and more!

visit blog