Wednesday, January 14, 2026
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Exhibit Hall
Moderator: Chris Brosch, Deputy Secretary, Delaware Department of Agriculture
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Harnessing cover crops to address unique farm needs and achieve maximum benefits
Dr. Sarah Hirsh is the Agriculture Extension Agent for the University of Maryland in Somerset County since 2018. She has a background working in agricultural research and Extension, in areas of soil, water, and crop management. She is currently leading an Extension program to help farmers advance cover cropping and design strategic cover crops. Sarah aspires to work with farmers to improve the productivity and profitability of agriculture while conserving soil, water, and biodiversity.
7:00 p.m.
Lightning talks (20 mins inclusive of questions)
Tim Woodward is an agronomist and Managing Member of Virginia Seed Co. He and the Nixon family, a farm family based in Orange, VA, started Virginia Seed Co in 2021 with a focus on delivering profitable cover crop systems to farms across the Mid-Atlantic region. Prior to founding the seed company, Tim worked as an independent consulting agronomist with an emphasis on consistent yield and profitability increases year after year. This work led him to working with cover crops and has developed unique cover crop systems. Those systems significantly reduce input costs and increase yields.
Nichole Krambeck, Insight Ag Scouting – Nichole launched her business in 2021, located in Kent County, DE and services the Mid-Atlantic region. The past two years, she has been implementing soil microbe-DNA testing to understand the local soil microbiomes’ nutrient cycling ability and the effects of current practices on them. Her leveraging this insight will help growers select cover crop seed mixes–such as nitrogen-fixing varieties, that thrive best in their soils. Nichole received an ASS in Horticulture from Del Tech in 2009, is a graduate of LEADelaware this week, and has over 10 years of agronomy experience, which includes managing Harvest Ridge Winery’s vineyard.
Mary Chandler, Blessings Blends – Marion Chandler is Vice President of Blessing Greenhouses & Compost Facility. She holds degrees in Business Administration and Legal Studies and studied Environmental Science at Wilmington University. For more than 20 years, Blessings has worked with poultry integrators to develop innovative, more sustainable, cost-effective methods of organic waste disposal such as dewatering, biogas production and composting. Blessings Blends product line of soil amendments and compost blends is available for residential, commercial, and agricultural purposes.
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Credits for this Session:
DE Pesticide Certification Credits: 0
MD Pesticide Certification Credits: 0
DE Nutrient Management Credits: 2.50
MD Nutrient Management Credits: 2.00
Certified Crop Advisor Credits: NM: 1.00 SW: 1.00