If there is one thing I took away from this year's Summit it's that cover crop interest is thriving all over North America. I was extremely pleased to see attendees from all over the map. And while there is some debate to be had about current cover crop adoption rates, it's encouraging to see so many people out there actively seeking out knowledge and education on the topic of cover crops. 

When I began planning this year's Summit at the end of Summer 2025, I reached out to several sources for suggestions on what topics and what speakers to include in this year's program. And as I traveled for the next several months to field days, farm visits and ag trade shows and conferences, I continued to ask pretty much anyone if they had any great ideas for speaker and topic recommendations. The 6 speakers and topics that ended up on the 2026 program came directly from those conversations. And to me, that's what makes this event so fun and rewarding to plan. 

Over the last few days during the Summit, I've received several emails and comments from attendees saying how much they enjoyed certain sessions or thanking me for including someone from their home state on the program. But really, I should be thanking all of the attendees for the great suggestions. One thing I always try to focus on when putting the program together is getting speakers from lots of different states/regions so that growers from all over the globe can find something on the program that might be applicable to the type of climate and soil in their own home state. This year we did not have any repeat-states amongst the 6 speakers. We featured farmers and researchers from Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

Another cool thing about this year's program was the diversity of "household names" in the ag industry and "local legends" who might only be known by the folks in their community. But regardless of how many people had heard of the speaker before, I felt like each presenter offered valuable information that can be directly applied to the farm operations of those who registered for the Summit. 

And while I am very proud of how this year's event went overall, I know that there is always room for improvement. That's where I'd like to ask any of you who attended this year's Summit to reflect on what you liked and what you didn't like about the event.

Maybe you have a critique about a key topic that we didn't cover this year. Or maybe you have a great suggestion for someone who simply HAS to be on the program next year. Whatever your thoughts might be, I'd love to get your feedback. So please do take our post-event survey or even send me a direct email at mvogel@lessitermedia.com so that I can continue to make this event better each year. 

Here's hoping that the 9th annual National Cover Crop Summit is even bigger and better than this year's event. And thanks as always for watching, listening and reading. 

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