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No Till Notes: 'No Till on the Plains Winter Conference'

I’m headed to Salina, Kan., again this year for the 19th Annual No Till On the Plains Winter Conference.

This year’s conference is scheduled for Jan. 27-28. I’ve attended this conference for the past 10 years or so to attempt to educate myself more about the benefits of continuous no till crop production systems on our farm. I’ve been looking over the agenda for this year’s conference and I’m intrigued by the lineup of speakers for this year’s conference.

I will be part of the speaker group as I’m teaming up with Paul Jasa, UNL extension educator, and Keith Thompson, producer from Emporia, Kan., to offer our “40 Tips in 50 minutes” for improving no till crop production. We did a similar presentation last year and our tips on no till crop production were well received by our audience, so we thought we would do a similar talk again this year. I’m sure some of our tips will cover topics we feel are important from our on farm experiences this year.

The following is a news release from NTOP website that introduces the conference and informs you about the keynote speakers. I’ve also looked at the rest of the agenda and I think there are some other topics of interest that I’ll write about after you read the news release from NTOP.

“This year’s conference has something for everyone who wants to learn more about no-till production practices,” said Ryan Speer, president of No-till on the Plains and a farmer from Halstead, Kan. “The conference program will help producers understand basic concepts and principles of moving to a no-till system, plus help those long-term no-tillers who are seeking to optimize their management to reach it’s highest potential for production, soil health and profit.”

Featured speaker Dr. Fred Provenza will deliver the keynote address “Unlocking the Potential of Your Mind-Creating Our Way Into the Future. Provenza will discuss how the changing landscapes and environments that producers and humans continually must adapt to, provides the opportunity to tap into the power of the human imagination and creativity of the mind.

Provenza is professor emeritus of Animal Behavioral Ecology and Management in the Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center at Utah State University. He’s a pioneer in the study of how behavior links soils, plants, herbivores and humans and their collective effects on the health of landscapes.

Our other featured speaker is Joshua Dukart, certified educator of holistic management from Bismark, N.D. Dukart’s talk will address the current misconception of sustainability and the need to think of regeneration of the landscape on farms and ranches. His career started as an agricultural and bio-systems engineer, but has evolved into a professional role of educator, facilitator, and mentor. He now works with land managers, families, and organizations in assisting them with achieving a sustainable balance of people, finances and resources.

I’m sure both keynote speakers will deliver some real food for thought with their presentations. There are other speakers I think will be very interesting during the break-out sessions at this year’s conference. Here’s a look at some of these sessions I plan to attend.

The first one that catches my eye is “Panel Discussion: Continuous No-till Top to Bottom, less than 22 inches precipitation. I’ll be interested to listen to the panel talk about their perspectives on no till in lower rainfall environments like ours.

Steve Tucker is a producer from Venango, Neb., who will be presenting “Thinking for a Change-Making Big Changes on the Farm to Stay Viable.” I’ve heard Tucker give a presentation before and really enjoyed his humor and message. I’m looking forward to hearing Steve again.

“Making the Weather Work for You: 2015 Weather Forecast” will be the presentation of Brian Bledsoe, Meteorologist, Colorado Springs, Colo. I’ll be curious to listen to his forecast and compare it to Don Day’s forecast at our Panhandle No till Partnership winter conference Feb. 10-11.

Dr. Meagan Schipanski of Colorado State University will present “Intensification for Improved Productivity and Soil Quality in Low Precipitation Environments.” I met Schipanski this past summer at a field da, and I’ll be very interested in her presentation.

Dr. Wendy Tahari, soil microbiologist, Pelham, Ga., will be speaking at our PNTP winter conference Feb. 10-11 in Gering as well. Tahari will be giving two presentations at the NTOP winter conference this year, “Managing Microbes: AMF in Cropping Systems” and “Understanding the Importance of Diversity.” I’ve had the pleasure of listening to Tahari and am looking forward to her presentations again this year.

There are many more topics at this year’s conference including cover crops and integrating livestock into no till crop production. To look over the full agenda and register for this year’s NTOP winter conference go to http://www.notill.org. If anyone is interested in carpooling to Salina with me give me a call at (308) 760-5259. I’ll look forward to seeing you there.

 

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