13th Annual No-till On The Plains Winter Conference

2009 Conference Speakers

Click here for the entire agenda and speaker sessions
Click here to print a condensed list of all speakers and topics!

Brian and Keith Berns, Producers, Bladen, NE
No-till cover crops:  Advantages, Disadvantages, Water Use, and Grazing   Brian and Keith experimented with over 20 different cover crop types and mixes planted into wheat stubble and will share their findings and thoughts on crop growth, nitrogen fixation, moisture usage, and grazing utilization of cover crops.  Soil moisture sensors were installed in cover crop plots to measure water usage and the results may surprise you!  Cover crops experimented with include:  lentils, vetch, soybeans, mung beans, milo, dwarf esse rapex, Ethiopian cabbage, turnips, radishes, hybrid brassicas, millets, and a variety of mixes.  Cow-calf pairs were also grazed on 50 acres of cover crops this past year.

Cover Crop Research Website

Cover Crops article in Nebraska Farmer

Some Assembly Required - Featured Farmer article in Leading Edge

Humberto Blanco, Kansas State - Hays, KS

No-till Management Impacts on Soil Compactibility and Carbon Sequestration

Dr. Humberto Blanco, born in Bolivia, is an Assistant Professor of Soil Science, Dept. of Agronomy, Kansas State University and working at the Agricultural Research Center in Hays, Kansas. He received his M.Sc. and PhD degree in Applied Soil Physics from the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.  Dr. Blanco’s research experience includes work on highly relevant topics of soil and water conservation such as crop residue removal for feedstocks with cellulosic ethanol production and no-till farming and its impacts on carbon (C) sequestration and soil physical quality in Ohio (2004-2007) and Kansas (2008). He has also studied issues in relation to the transport of non-point source water pollutants from croplands using conservation buffers.  Humberto has published about 30 research articles between 2003 and 2008 on the topics above. He has recently authored a textbook entitled Principles of Soil Conservation and Management, in which he addresses contemporary issues including water pollution, no-till farming, conservation buffers, soil C dynamics, food security, and global climate change. He has received several awards including the Fulbright Scholarship. He is also the 2008 recipient of the Young Scholar Award from the Soil and Water Management and Conservation Division, Soil Science Society of  America.   

Tom Cannon, Producer - Blackwell, OK

Past, Present, Future

Tom is a Goodson Ranch managing partner and fourth generation Oklahoma Centennial Ranch/Farm.  He has been no-tilling for over a decade on Port Silt Loam, clay class I, II, III soils.  He experiences 32” of annual rainfall and utilizes some irrigation.  Crops grown include wheat, corn, soybeans and various cover crops.  He chose no-till when he faced tillage equipment costs and after listening to Dwayne Beck at the No-till on the Plains, Inc. Winter Conference.  Tom has experienced reduced erosion, increased yields, increased top soil in flood events, and lower cost per unit of production.  Tom remarks, “Why do we share trade secrets with competitors across the fence?  Because we love the land.”

"Ceiling Unlimited" - Featured Farmer article in Leading Edge

Lyle Frees,  Salina, KS       Water Quality Specialist
  Rainfall Simulator

Few people are willing to physically stand in a cropland field during an intense rainstorm to view the water erosion process at work. The Rainfall Simulator is designed to show what happens to topsoil on cropland fields and construction sites during rainstorms. Spectators to this demonstration can view a rainstorm in progress, watch the power of raindrops and see water erosion as it occurs. The Simulator demonstrates the benefits of crop residue management in protecting topsoil during rainstorms.   The very portable simulator shows the results of a 3-inch rainstorm in approximately 15-20 minutes. Four soil trays placed below the oscillating raindrop nozzle have different levels of crop residue placed on the soil surface. The “Seeing Is Believing” demonstration shows the protective benefits of crop residue is in direct proportion to the level of residue covering the soil surface, the more residue the less soil loss and more water infiltration. The quantity and quality of runoff from the soil trays is captured in clear gallon jugs placed below each tray. A tray of growing grass is used to show the water quality benefits of grass buffer strips.

Lyle is native Kansan.  He was born and raised on a wheat, milo and cattle farm in central Kansas.  After graduating from Fort Hays State University, he began working for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly SCS).  Lyle has worked at several locations in central and western Kansas as District Conservationist of NRCS.  Lyle currently is a Resource Conservationist at the NRCS State Office in Salina.

Gail Fuller, Producer - Emporia, KS
Kansas Cover Crops Experiences

Gail Fuller has been experimenting with no-till since the mid-1980’s and has been has been 100% no-till since 1995.  He dryland farms on loams and silty loams with approximately 32” of annual rainfall.  Gail owns a small feedlot and is starting to incorporate livestock, intensive grazing, and cocktails into his no-till system.  In his presentation he will discuss cover crops and his experiences with a wide variety of them that he has tried over the past 10 years.   Gail has been president of Flint Hills Beef Hills Fest three times and has served on the board for 17 years.  His son and daughter are currently students at KSU, and that consumes quite a bit of his spare time. 

Kirk Gadzia, Resource Management Services   kgadzia@msn.com
Innovative Grazing Tools and Techniques

Kirk Gadzia owns and operates Resource Management Services, a training and consulting firm located in Bernalillo, NM. Kirk has extensive international experience in consulting with many large ranching and agricultural operations throughout the United States and overseas.

The focus of his work is a holistic approach to agriculture and life, whereby land, animals, crops, wildlife and other resources are planned into the operation and financial picture.  The model for making this work is mimicking natural systems and balancing life style with long and short term goal. 

Kirk also provides customized training and consulting to a wide variety of public and private business and conservation organizations. Kirk is co-author of the National Academy of Science 1994 publication entitled Rangeland Health, and is working to improve rangeland health monitoring techniques in a wide variety of environments.   Kirk has presented talks at the No-till on the Plains Annual Conference in 2003 and 2004, 11th AAPRESID Argentinean No-till Farmers Association Rosario, Argentina in 2003, and The South Dakota No-till Annual Conference in 2007.

Rangeland Health and Planned Grazing Field Guide by Nathan Sayre and Kirk Gadzia
www.resourcemanagementservices.com
Bullseye! Targeting Your Rangeland Health Objectives

Stuart Hoff   - Research Farm Manager for the UNL's Rogers Memorial Farm near Lincoln.
Rotation,  Are you doing enough?  Stuart Hoff will discuss the rotation of crops and ag pesticides in no-till at Rogers Memorial Farm.  Why we do these things?   What do we feel it gains for us?  How much more effort is it?   Stuart will also cover things he has learned managing a no-till farm.

Stuart has served as Rogers Memorial Farm Manager for the University of Nebraska Biological Systems Engineering Department since 2004.  He is a graduate of University of Nebraska, and has experience in the field of hydraulics and electronic sales and irrigation technician and manager.  Stuart was raised on family farm in southwest Nebraska, Chase and Hayes Counties, wheat fallow, milo, dryland summer fallow grain production system (Kuma Silt-Loam), with a 120 unit cow-calf livestock operation. Stuart shares that in the late 1970’s no-till was something a person would read about in farm magazines.  It was something merely chatted about in college in the early 1980’s.  Stuart got his first experience when the Agriculture Engineering Department farm manager in 1991 decided it was time for a change to no-till for the Department’s approximately 1100, irrigated and dryland acres.  Stuart learned first-hand the differences in the thought process from tillage to a 100% no-till crop production system, including change of thought process in labor, equipment, and horsepower requirements to produce a successful crop. 

Rogers Memorial Farm

Andy Holzworth, Agronomist - Kansas
Nitrogen Management for No-till

Tamra Jackson, UNL  Corn and Sorghum Specialist
Responsible Foliar Fungicide Use in Row Crops - Don't Forget Your IPM Principles

Tamra Jackson completed her M.S. in plant pathology at the University of Arkansas.  She began her Ph.D. program at the University of Missouri-Columbia before transferring to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she completed her degree in crop sciences with an emphasis in plant pathology and nematology.   Tamra began working as an extension plant pathologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with statewide responsibility for diseases of corn and grain sorghum in April 2005. Her appointment is split between extension and research and she is based in Lincoln in the Department of Plant Pathology on East Campus.  Her extension and research activities involve educating clientele about disease identification and management and research projects encompassing a broad range of topics, including plant parasitic nematodes in corn, Goss’s Bacterial Wilt and Blight, mycotoxins in ethanol distillers grains, and use of fungicides for disease control.    

Paul Jasa, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, No-till Expert
   The Importance of Uniformity
Paul serves as an Extension Engineer, University of Nebraska.  Paul develops and conduct educational programs related to No-till equipment and system management.  He has been working with planting equipment and tillage system evaluation at the University since 1978.  With the experiences gained from research and Extension activities, he has become a good source of information in the Midwest on No-till planting equipment and system management. If there is a mistake to be made with No-till, he has either made it himself or has seen it done.  More importantly, he has learned from those mistakes and wants to share that information in presentations that stress the systems approach and the long-term benefits of No-till.

Rogers Memorial Farm

Tips for No-tilling Corn on Corn

Bryan Jorgensen, Ideal, SD  - No-till producer
No-till Nuances: Tweeking the System    Bryan will talk about several management issues including rotations, grazing and hunting systems along with soil fertility tips they have learned along the way.

Bryan is the Crop Production and Marketing Manager, General Partner of Jorgensen Land & Cattle.   The Jorgensen’s farm in South central South Dakota, 100% dryland no-till and receive about 21 inches of rain annually.  They have no-tilled since 1984.  Bryan is a board member for Dakota Lakes Research Farm since 1991, board member for Tripp Co. Water Users District since 1990 & board chair for 10 years, SD Soybean Assoc. board for 2 years and current board member of the SD Corn Utilization Council.  His interests include camping, traveling with his family and helping other farmers.

www.jorgensenfarms.com

Bill Kuenstler and Jerry Lemunyon, NRCS - Fort Worth, TX
No-till is more than just avoiding tillage!   Melding  farm backgrounds  with years of experience working in soil and water conservation, Jerry and Bill will expound on the shortfalls of just avoiding tillage in your No-till farming systems. The complete farming package includes adherence to nutrient and pest management, managing crop residues, building crop rotations, and minimizing soil compaction. These are all major components of a conservation agriculture system.

Bill is an agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service on the Central National Technology Support Center staff in Fort Worth, TX.  He has 32 years of experience with USDA/NRCS, 25 of those as an agronomist in Illinois, Florida, Colorado and Texas.  Bill has helped develop and deliver training to NRCS employees in nutrient and pest management planning, conservation buffers, and phosphorus management.  He has a B.S. in Agronomy from the University of Illinois, and is a Certified Crop Consultant and Certified Professional Agronomist.

Jerry is a conservation agronomist with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service living in Fort Worth, Texas.  Born and raised on a cash crop farm in central Michigan, near Owosso, he worked on his uncle's and neighbors' dairy farms.  Graduated from Michigan State University and spent two years with the Peace Corps in India developing irrigation and cropping systems.  Jerry has worked for USDA SCS/NRCS for over 30 years.  Currently, he is involved in developing agronomic parameters for the national cropland assessment of CEAP.  Also, he is spending time with the management of phosphorus in agricultural systems.  He worked three years in Mexico with USDA, developed research projects in Bulgaria and the Dominican Republic, and worked on teams in South America and Europe.  He recently translated and published a second soil conservation book from Spanish to English.  Jerry received graduate degrees from Ohio State University and the University of Rhode Island.

Gary Maskus, Producer - Arriba, CO

Systems approach to Long-term No-till  -- in a semi-arid environment

Gary is a member of the No-till on the Plains Board of Directors and a member and former President of the Colorado Conservation Tillage Association.   He also is the owner/operator of a dryland farm in Colorado, 50 miles West of the Kansas  border, just north of I-70.  With an elevation of  5200 ft. and a  16” annual rainfall, he gets the most out of his short grass prairie environment.

Steve Melvin - UNL Extension Educator - Frontier County (Southern Nebraska)

No-Till and Irrigation  Long term No-Till create a different environment to irrigate. Some of these differences make for opportunities and some make for challenges. The presentation is designed to help you start thinking about ways to optimize the water and the money you spend on irrigation.

Steve will speak on water usage and irrigation.  Since water is becoming one of our most valuable natural resources, it is imperative that farmers be armed with the knowledge to protect its quality while squeezing the most production from the water available, even in drought years.   Steve will address how to get more production from the water that producers have available.

Steve Melvin is an Extension Educator with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension.  He provides leadership for a water conservation education program focusing on irrigated crop production. One of his major activities is an irrigation demonstration project that is conducted in cooperation with farmers on their fields. The sites are used to teach different irrigation management strategies that optimize the use of a limited  irrigation water supply. Steve also teaches irrigation topics at several workshops across Nebraska. He holds a B.S. and a M.S. in Mechanized Agriculture from the University of Nebraska.

Jim Millar, Redfield, SD
Utilizing Cover Crops to Improve Soil Productivity

Jim worked as a soil scientist for 20 years with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in South Dakota before starting a precision faming business (Precision Soil Management) in 2005. He has been working with different cover crops since 2005 collecting plant data and soils data. Jim is currently recommending a number of different cover crop seedings to help utilize excess soil moisture, to alleviate soil salinity issues, to increase soil organic matter, to help cycle crop residue and nutrients, to help alleviate soil compaction, along with providing extra forage for the cattle producer. 

Kenneth Miller, Burleigh Co Soil Conservation - Bismarck, ND

Crop Response Following Cover Crops

Ken Miller along with his wife Bonnie own and operate a 2000 acre ranch in Morton County, North Dakota. They have utilized an intensive rotational grazing system for over 20 years. At the present time the Miller’s are switching to a custom grazing operation with an intensive rotational system on irrigated pastures. They have been no tilling for the past 7 years and have been growing cover crops since 2006 for grazing. Ken also works full time for the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District. His duties are working with producers on grazing systems, no till and cover crops.

José Fernández Moreno  - AAPRESID - Argentina
Certified Agriculture Program, the evolution of no-till

Jose is member of AAPRESID (Argentine no-till farmers association) and will present AAPRESID´S recently launched Certified Agriculture Program, the evolution of no-till, an Environmental and Productive Quality Management System in Conservation Agriculture, based on GAPs (Good Agricultural Practices).

Phil Needham, Needham Ag Technologies
phil@needhamag.com

Managing Residue With The Combine and Seeding Equipment in No-Till  Successful long term no-tillage begins with uniform distribution of residue at harvest.  Phil will discuss choppers vs. spreaders, plus many different options and configurations to help producers manage residue.  Phil will follow up by discussing the most effective methods of managing residue at seeding time, to achieve the uniform stands required for maximum yields.

Phil is a British born and educated agronomist who works with many dealers, farmers and manufacturers around the world. He considers himself a vehicle of technology and plans to bring many sound production practices and systems to producers across the Central Plains, to help them increase their yields and profits.  Phil spoke at both the 2007 and 2008 Winter Conferences, and his sessions are always brimming with producers interested in his latest findings.

The impact of Needham and his teams work can be seen in his home state of Kentucky. USDA data show that average wheat yields more than doubled over a 15-year period from low 30 bushels per acre to the high 60 bushels per acre, with some farmers seeing wheat yields in excess of 100 bushels per acre on fields and farms.

Marlyn Richter, Producer - Bismarck, ND

Cropping Systems with Cover Crops

Marlyn Richter is a third generation farmer from Menoken, N.D.  Marlyn, his brother Patrick, and their parents, co-own and operate Richter Farms.  A family operation consisting of dairy, cow/calf, feedlot, cash grain, irrigation, custom seeding and harvesting.  Their no-till system started in 2001 and is an excellent example of crop diversity.  All four major crop types are used with cover crop combinations seeded immediately after early harvested crops. The cover crops are used as a bridge to integrate livestock and connect the cropping and grazing systems together. Richter Farms and soil health have been highlighted in numerous workshops and farm publications, such as: Hay and Forage, Successful Farming, and Dakota Farmer.  Marlyn has served as a District Supervisor with the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District since 1995.  He enjoys all outdoor activities and spending time with family.

Travis Rome, Kansas NRCS
How to Access Free Geospatial Data for Kansas   As computer technology has growing exponentially over the past 10 years so has the availability of geospatial information.  Once considered for use on only the largest computers with the fastest networks geospatial data today is available in many forms from online free web browser to large data warehouses.
 

Travis is a State GIS coordinator with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  He has a B.S. Degree from Kansas State University in Geography and 16 years of experience with USDA/NRCS.  Travis has statewide responsibility for geospatial data development, delivery and integration in its day to day use for NRCS planning and program activities.

Moe Russell, Panora, Iowa  Founder and President of Russell Consulting Group

Managing your entire business with the same discipline you manage No -Till

Moe provides consulting services to clients in 36 states and Canada specializing in risk management services, performance compensation systems, and business planning and feasibility analysis. He grew up on a diversified grain and livestock farm near Monticello, Iowa where his family is still involved in production agriculture.    He graduated from Iowa State University in 1971 with a degree in Agricultural Business and received an Executive MBA degree from University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1997.
Moe spent 26 years with Farm Credit Services and served as Division President-Branch Lending, where he was responsible for 82 branch offices in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, serving 45,000 customers with over 4 billion in loans outstanding.
He has international consulting experience in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Middle East, and South Africa. Moe is on the faculty of TEPAP at Texas A & M University and is an adjunct faculty member at Buena Vista University where he teaches management and business courses.
Moe is a frequent business speaker on marketing, motivation, planning, and entrepreneurship. Moe has authored over 150 articles and webinar series and writes a monthly column called “Riskwise” for Corn and Soybean Digest Magazine which can be found at: www.cornandsoybeandigest.com.

DeAnn Presley, Kansas State
Soil Demonstrations in conjunction with the Rainfall Simulator

DeAnn Presley is an Extension Specialist in the Agronomy Department at Kansas State University.  Since 2007, she has developed and delivered educational programs in the area of environmental soil science and soil and water management.  Quantifying and demonstrating the effects of management practices on soil properties, soil and water quality, and crop yield is the focus of her extension and applied research program. 

 Dr. Ray Ward, Ward Laboratories, Kearney, NE  

Nutrient Cycles & Your Fertilizer Program
 
Dr. Ward is president and co-owner of Ward Laboratories, Inc. since 1983.   He holds numerous memberships in scientific and honorary academic societies and organizations.  His goals for agriculture and agronomy are to help production agriculture use its resources as efficiently as possible, to provide information and data for developing the best use of soil and water resources while maintaining environmental quality, to be involved in “value-added” agriculture, and to provide accurate laboratory data for managing production enterprises.   Come experience his vast knowledge of soil quality and agronomic expertise in an easy-to-understand presentation.  He will answer all of your questions on continuous No-till.

• Nitrogen As A Plant Nutrient  by Ray Ward (Leading Edge 2004)

• Soil Organic Matter and N Cycling by Dr. Ray Ward 

Mark Watson, Producer - Alliance, NE    

Water and Soil   I’ve chosen this topic because I am amazed at the water management potential of no-till crop production practices.  Most of us farm in areas where water, whether it be precipitation from Mother Nature or irrigation, is our limiting factor in crop production.  We have been able to manage water on our farm and produce good crops with minimal irrigation and low rainfall.  Managing soil quality and residue are the keys to managing water.

Mark farms 3,500 acres with his brother Bruce 10 miles north of Alliance, Nebraska.  His farm has been in the family for approximately 115 years so Mark considers himself definitely born and bred to farm.  They have been completely continuous No-till since 1994.  Their farm is dryland and irrigated, raising wheat, corn, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, proso millet.  Mark is married to Denise and has a son Jacob and daughter Hannah.  Bruce and Mark have been selected as Master Conservationists for the state of Nebraska and will be receiving the award in September 2007.  Mark Watson also serves as the No-till education coordinator for Western Nebraska.    Mark will deliver an excellent presentation on the how’s and why’s of continuous No-till featuring real-world economics from his own operation.  

 

New No Till “Breaking the tillage mindset” Dryland" Farming No-till and Water What is Soil Quality by Kathy Buttle Soil Quality Indicators by Kathy Buttle Improving Soil Quality Rain! Forages Chem Fallow is NOT No-till!

The Value of Residue   The Value of Residue - Part 2 Managing Residue Part 1 Managing Residue Part 2 Equipment to Handle Residue What A Difference No-till Sugar Beets What if water allocations are cut? No-till Edible Beans No-till Corn

Crop Rotations and Weed Control   Planning Crop Rotations  Understanding The Soil Parts 1 and 2 Cover Crops Irrigation Efficiency Last Irrigation Drought Considerations 6 inches of water  An 8 part article on how to grow crops on 6 inches or less of water!

Marty Williams, Producer - Red Rock, OK   
Simple Strategies to Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency in No-till  Marty will be mentioning many specific methods which he has used (and some that he hasn't) that can increase more efficient use of nitrogen fertilizers.   These include, but are not limited to, application timing, methods of application, uniformity of application, and variable rate, in-season applications using GreenSeeker.  He plans to stress how using in-crop sensing, instead of previous year harvest record data, is far more accurate in determining the crop needs, and how GreenSeeker can be utilized for different situations.  Oklahoma State research will be discussed and cited, as well as farmer data.  Marty will also provide an overview of how the NRCS and its EQIP program will assist innovative farmers in purchasing variable rate in-crop sensing equipment.  Questions are highly encouraged.
 

Marty graduated from Oklahoma State University in the spring of 2004 with a BS in Plant and Soil Sciences with an emphasis in Agronomy.  At that time he knew that he wanted to farm full time, yet he was faced with the challenges of acquiring equipment and enough land to support a family.  Marty’s entire family was conventional tillage, cattle operations. He knew that no-till was the only way to grow an operation that would be sustainable in the long-run.  He and his wife Crystal and daughter Ava now farm 3,000 acres of Noble County, Oklahoma land -- of which all is in no-till or is being prepared for no-till.  Rotations includes dryland corn, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, canola, and various cover crops.  Marty strives to correct soil problems on each farm as the rental agreement will allow. He believes that none of his techniques are ever good enough, and that he can always find more efficient ways to produce a crop. Marty also enjoys building a seed dealership as well as teaching others what he has learned on his farm.

    Visit www.salinakansas.org for assistance in planning your visit to Salina, Kansas.  You can also request a free visitor information packet.