A cover crop workshop this week drew about 160 farmers to Northwest Missouri State.

Farmers and producers from as far away as Wisconsin showed up Tuesday to the event by the university’s Agriculture Department.

The day-long, free event on cover crops focused on education on using cover crops and how they can help. It featured guest speakers, including local producers, university experts and representatives of the Missouri Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Attendees also had the opportunity to tour cover crop demonstration plots on the Northwest campus that consist of various cover crop species and cover mixtures.

Cover crop usage has grown about 400 to 500 percent to increase soil organic matter contents, porosity and nutrient levels, as well as reduce erosion, said Dr. Jamie Patton, associate professor of agricultural sciences at Northwest.

“Often times we’re not taught this kind of information in college, the whole idea of the soil being an ecosystem,” Patton said. “So this was a way to try to get producers to look at soil not just as a geologic material but as a living being and how we can treat that living being better so that she can better serve us in food production.”

Northwest’s agricultural sciences department has grown various types of cover crops during the last three years.