2007 Winter Conference Speaker Page
(more information to be added soon)
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Rolf Derpsch, Paraguay -

Born in Chile, Rolf Derpsch has the Chilean and the German nationality. He studied agronomy in Chile, and obtained a M.Sc. degree from the University of Reading, UK. He has worked for GTZ, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation from 1966 to 2001. He has a 15 year working experience in Conservation Agriculture in Brazil and 16 years in Paraguay. Since September 2001 he is working as Freelance Consultant. He was among the first to research the No-tillage technology in Brazil and Latin America in 1971. He has been a consultant to FAO in several countries. The countries he has working experience include: Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, Cuba, South Africa, Somalia, Tajikistan, North Korea, Australia and Germany. He has been a key speaker to many international conferences.

Workshop Topic: The No-tillage Revolution in South America
Can we learn something from South American farmers? When looking at the experiences in South America we of course can not “copy” what is done there. Farming is always site specific, but the principles of no-tillage farming are valid all over the world.  
While more than 85% of South American farmers are applying permanent no-tillage systems, this is only the case with 10 - 12% of farmers in the US. Under a situation of rotational tillage the soil is always in transition so that farmers will never get to experience the full benefits of the system.   These three factors, lime incorporation, phosphorus redistribution and compaction, are probably the main reasons why farmers in the US till the soil ones in a while in the no-till system. An additional factor is mindset. Often landlords in the US will not lease their farm to a no-tiller because of the “dirty trash” that is left on the soil surface. Thus, the long term benefits of continuous no-till will never happen. Contrary to this, landlords in South America in general will only lease the land to a no-tiller to ensure protection against erosion, avoid soil degradation and not only maintain but improve soil fertility over time.   Farmers in Brazil, Argentina or Paraguay would only in exceptional cases consider plowing or tilling the soil to mix phosphorus in the soil profile, incorporate lime or even loosen soil compaction. The high percentage of permanent no-till (> 85% of all Conservation Agriculture technologies practiced) demonstrates this.

Wayne Smith, Australia

Wayne is an independent farm consultant in Albany Western Australia specializing in agronomy. From 1987 to 1992, Wayne worked with the Department of Agriculture developing high yield wheat packages for the south coast of Western Australia, an area that at that time could only achieve wheat yields around 30% of what was possible. From 1992 until now, Wayne has been consulting to farmers and farmer groups around Australia and produces  two newsletters, one on cropping agronomy and one on pasture agronomy. He is married with three kids, is a staunch advocate of no-till, is a part-time cattle farmer and aims to run large corporate size farms as soon as he can, and hasn’t stood in snow since he was four!

 Workshop #1 Topic:  Yield potentials - how far can we go?   Learning Plant Language – How to know what your plant is telling you it needs without testing.  

Workshop #2 Topic: Beef cattle production - how far can we go?  

Dr. Val Farmer, Missouri

Dr. Val Farmer is a well-known clinical psychologist and syndicated columnist, specializing in rural mental health and family relationships. His professional portfolio includes a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arizona in 1976 and thirty years of counseling experience in North and South Dakota. He was the Executive Director of Community Counseling Services in Huron SD for four years. He most recently worked for Meritcare in Fargo, North Dakota for nine years prior to setting up an independent practice in Wildwood, Missouri.

Besides his work with marital relationships and rural mental health issues, Dr. Farmer has developed mediation and conflict resolution consultation services to family businesses, particularly farm and ranch families in business together. Several national farm publications have carried his ideas on how integrate a business and family perspective into a viable business structure and the communication/organizational skills involved for successful team building.  

 Dr. Farmer started a syndicated weekly newspaper column in 1984 and continues to be published in numerous newspapers in United States and Canada. His column is carried by the main agriculture in the Midwestern states. Dr. Farmer has just released his new book, “To Have and To Hold: Thoughts on Successful Marriage.”  Dr. Farmer has written two previous books, “Honey I Shrunk the Farm” and “Making the Good Life Better.” He has written numerous booklets on various mental health and rural mental health topics. His archived articles can be accessed through his subscription-based website, www.valfarmer.com.

Val and his wife Darlene have celebrated 40 years of marriage. They have seven children, five daughters and two sons. Currently they have 16 grandchildren. Through his relationships with his wife and children, Dr. Farmer has had rich personal experiences and offers a practical approach to dealing with human relationship problems in both business and personal life. 

Workshop Topic:    “A Rural Psychologist Shares Hidden Factors in Farming Success”

A rural psychologist coincidently named Farmer shares insights on farming success from his 32 years of counseling experience with farm families. His talk will cover these four areas:

*     The ability to manage stress

*     Creativity, flexibility and innovation grounded in conservative fiscal management

*     Caring leadership: Managing human resources in a multi-family operation 

*     Marriage and family life: The emotional engine that drives family farming

Dr. Farmer has a new book, To Have and to Hold on having successful marriages that will be available at his sessions.   Special Book Signing Opportunity (click here for details)

Dr. Farmer is being sponsored by the Kansas Agri-Women

Adrian Polansky, Kansas Secretary of Agriculture

Mr. Polansky was appointed secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture by Governor Kathleen Sebelius in February 2003.  Along with his duties as secretary, Polansky serves on the steering committee of the Governor’s Rural Life Task Force.  He also serves on the Kansas Energy Council, the Governor's Council on Homeland Security and Kansas Task Force on Methamphetamine and Illegal Drugs.  He is chair of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s biotechnology task force.

Polansky brings a lifetime of agriculture experience to the governor’s Cabinet.  He owns Polansky Farms and Polansky Seed, both in Belleville.  Until 2001, he served as state executive director of the Kansas Farm Service Agency.  Since 1964, he has been a member of the Kansas Crop Improvement Association and served as president of that organization from 1986 to 1987.  He was on the Agriculture Council of America from 1979 to 1985 and served as chairman from 1983 to 1984.  In 1985 he was chairman of the U.S. Wheat Associates and was a member of that group for seven years.  Polansky also served as secretary-treasurer of the National Association of Wheat Growers Education Foundation in 1987.  Earlier in his career, he served as president of the Republic County Farmers Union and policy chairman of the Kansas Farmers Union.

Polansky is a lifelong Kansan who graduated from Kansas State University in 1972 with a bachelor of science degree in agronomy.  He has received many honors and awards, including the Hammer Award USDA, which recognized his efforts to build a government that works better and costs less; a USDA distinguished service award for outstanding leadership and management contributions made to the Farm Service Agency; the 1986 wheat man of the year award given by the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers; and the outstanding service to agriculture award in 1986 by the Kansas Crops and Soils Industry Council.  In 1994, he received the KSU Ag Alumni Association outstanding young alumnus award.    Polansky lives in Topeka with his wife, Kristine, who is an attorney. 

Bud Davis, USDA NRCS State Agronomist (Kansas)

Bud is responsible for the technical adequacy of agronomic practices planned and implemented by USDA-NRCS in Kansas. It is Bud’s vision and passion that has brought No-Till on the Plains to the forefront in educational practices, and he continues to serve as an invaluable advisor to the Board of Directors.

Workshop Topic:   Rainfall Simulator    Bud will be demonstrating the rainfall simulator during the conference breaks.  A great way to see how no-till virtually eliminates soil erosion!

 As the director of technical services for the International Grains Program at Kansas State University, Mark works with business executives around the world to improve the utilization of grain and oilseeds for food, feed and industrial applications. Before returning to Kansas, Mark was the Technical Director for the Africa division of Seaboard Corporation based in Durban, South Africa.  He has also worked in the flour milling division for Cargill Incorporated in Kansas and California.   Mark has written and published articles in World Grain Magazine.

He holds a B.S Degree in Milling Science and Management, KSU and an M.S Degree in Agricultural Economic, KSU (just completed Dec 2006).   Mark’s family includes his wife Courtney, daughter Piper (9) and Paige (5), and the family farms near Emporia, Kansas.

Workshop Topic:  National Trends in Production Agriculture  

Peter Gamache    Reduced Tillage LINKAGES, Edmonton, AB

Peter was born near Cass Lake, Minnesota. His folks moved to Three Hills, Alberta, Canada in 1960. He completed high school, Bible School and university in Alberta. After graduating from the University of Alberta he spent about four years on an irrigated farm in southern Alberta. He trained as a district agriculturalist in Athabasca and spent 5 years in Sedgewick before returning to a farm in Southern Alberta for another three years. Peter returned to Edmonton in 1988 to complete a Masters of Agriculture degree.  He worked for Alberta Agriculture and Food in two soil conservation programs from 1989 to 1995 before joining the Alberta Reduced Tillage Initiative. Peter has been the Team Leader of the Alberta Reduced Tillage Initiative and Reduced Tillage Linkages since August of 1995.

The Alberta Reduced Tillage LINKAGES (RTL) program is a sustainable agriculture production initiative. RTL is a partnership with broad-based farmer, industry, educational, wildlife and government support. The partners pool their expertise and resources to provide an extension program focused on improving the environmental and economic sustainability of farming in Alberta. No-till or direct seeding is the foundation of the organization.   Peter works with five reduced tillage agronomists to deliver extension information to Alberta farmers and agri-business. He assists the agronomists in developing and delivering programs for their areas.

Workshop Topic: The Value of Crop Residue - Treating It As Trash Can Be Costly
Bale, plow, disk, burn – anything to get rid of the enemy – crop residue. In our quest to seed without interference we have likely sacrificed a lot more than we realize. I believe farmers need to make residue their friend. What some call trash is really money in your pocket.

Dean Graumann attended the Univ. of Tulsa on a baseball scholarship, and graduated with a Marketing degree in 1974.  For the next five years, Dean was employed by the Cincinnati Reds.  He returned home to Granite to begin farming with his father.  Other career interests have included banking, insurance, and other entrepreneurial ventures.  Dean currently farms, with his operation consisting mainly of wheat and cattle.  No-till has been practiced for the past six years.  He served on the Granite Public Schools Board of Education for 20 years, and is currently a member of the Board of Regents of Western Oklahoma State College. Dean is also a consultant for the Oklahoma State School Board Association, where he conducts Board Development workshops.  He has recently expanded his experiences to motivational speaking.  Dean is currently a board member for the Greer County Conservation District. 

 Workshop Topic:  “SPARC Ignites Change"
 Dean explores the formation of SPARC (Southern Plains Agricultural Resources Coalition) and its possibilities for marketing no-till wheat.

Workshop Topic: Long-Term No-Till Fertility: What Field Research Tells Us About N, P and K Needs of Corn and Soybean
This presentation illustrates that it took 20 to 25 years of field work to show the speaker (who had a bad case of "hardening of the mental categories") what really matters in no-tillage soil nutrient management.  The more important components of N, P and K rate, timing, placement and source controversies will be discussed (yes, discussed) with the audience.

Workshop Topic:   Realistic Asset Management

Alan Hubbard graduated from Kansas State University in 1978.  From 1978 – 1985, he traveled throughout the Midwest showing cattle.  In 1985 he started from scratch purchasing land and worked up to a 6,000 acre operation.  In 1990 he began implementing rotational grazing,  getting intense with it in 1993.  Alan has been practicing some form of rotational grazing for 17 years and completed a ten-year grazing research plan with KSU.  Alan floats more toward intense asset management and multi-species grazing with sheep, goats, and cattle – a true holistic approach.

Workshop Topic:  Computerized Financial Records – Where Do I Start? 

Lisa Lee has experience with a wide variety of financial software packages. She will be sharing her knowledge with an overview of several software programs including Quicken, QuickBooks, MCFP and Farm Works.

Jerry Lemunyon and Bill Kuenstler, both agronomists with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service out of Fort Worth, Texas will emphasize the vital role of nutrient management for no tillage systems. Often overlooked when transitioning from other tillage systems, the rate, timing, form, and method of nutrient applications can enhance the soil fertility to produce expected yields, while at the same time building up the soil's organic matter. The focus of the discussion will be on nitrogen and soil pH management.

Workshop Topic:  Applying and Managing Nitrogen Nutrients

Jerry is a nutrient and pest management specialist 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.  He 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 30 years.  Currently, he is involved in developing training and technical material on four core agronomic practices—Conservation Tillage, Nutrient and Pest Management, and Conservation Buffers.  Also, he is involved with the hottest topic currently in USDA and the animal industry: the management of phosphorus in agricultural systems. He translated and helped publish a soil conservation tillage book from Spanish to English for the American Society of Agronomy. He worked three years in Mexico with USDA, developed research projects in Bulgaria, Spain, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, and worked on conservation teams in South America and Europe. Jerry received his M. S. graduate degree from The Ohio State University and Ph. D. from the University of Rhode Island. He is a certified crop advisor (CCA) and certified professional agronomist (CPAg).

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 Lemunyon and Bill Kuenstler, both agronomists with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service out of Fort Worth, Texas will emphasize the vital role of nutrient management for no tillage systems. Often overlooked when transitioning from other tillage systems, the rate, timing, form, and method of nutrient applications can enhance the soil fertility to produce expected yields, while at the same time building up the soil's organic matter. The focus of the discussion will be on nitrogen and soil pH management.

Roger Long, Great Bend, KS

Roger is a NTOP Board of Director and Field Representative for United Agri Products.  Roger grew up on a row crop farm near Washington, KS.  After graduating from Kansas State Univ., he went to work for then Ciba-Geigy (now known as Syngenta) as a sales representative selling herbicides and other crop protection products.  While with Syngenta, he also worked as technical specialist where he performed product efficacy trials, and provided product technical training to Syngenta sales and customers.  He now works for United Agri Products as a sales representative in central KS.

 Workshop Topic: Resist Herbicide Resistance: Using Alternative Chemistry to Develop an Efficient Chemical Program

A discussion about how no-till affects weed management and how herbicide resistance affects the crops we grow and the herbicides we use.  What weeds are resistant, how weeds become resistant, and the future of glyphosate resistance will also be examined. 

Gary Maskus,

Gary is  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.

Workshop Topic:  Be Flexible, Just say No to Fallow

Managing His Ecology- feature farmer Gary Maskus by Matt Hagny (2005 Leading Edge) This article will give you great insight into Gary's operation and his no-till farming philosophy.

Kenneth Miller is a a farmer/rancher and a District Technician with the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District in Bismarck, North Dakota who works with clients to design & install planned grazing systems, the EQIP program and the District no-till program.  Ken has 35 years farming/ranching experience with his wife Bonnie and son Ryan. They operate a 2000 acre cow/calf ranch have utilized an intensive rotational grazing system for over 20 years and a no-till cropping system for 6 years. He belongs to the Missouri Slope Irrigation Development Association and the North Private Grazing Lands Coalition.  Ken has had an exciting year learning about cover crops.

Workshop Topic: Cover Crops Up North

Phil Needham, Needham Ag Technologies
phil@needhamag.com

 Phil Needham is the owner of Needham Ag Technologies, LLC. a family owned agri-business and agronomic consulting company based near Owensboro, KY. Needham is a native of Great Britain and holds a diploma and an honors degree in agricultural technology from Cranfield University in England.

Needham first visited the USA in 1989 and joined Miles Enterprises based in Owensboro, KY in 1990. Phil was promoted to Opti-Crop (a division within Miles Enterprises) Manager in 1996, where he managed a team of crop consultants and projects from Texas to Manitoba and from Virginia to Washington state.

Needham also has professional agronomy experience with dealers, farmers and manufacturers in Canada, Mexico, England, France, Germany, Sweden, China, Romania, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Needham considers himself a vehicle of technology, moving and implementing agronomic technologies around the world to ultimately increase farm efficiencies, yields and profits. 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 wheat production practices and systems to producers across the Central Plains, to help them increase their yields and profits.

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.

Phil travels the world searching for new ideas and he considers himself a vehicle of technology. His professional work experience includes supporting a team of 20 crop consultants from South Australia to Queensland, consulting on a 65,000 former state farm in Russia, to managing a 7500 acre farming operation in Romania. Phil also has professional consulting experience in Mexico, Germany, Holland, Sweden, France, China and South America.

 Workshop #1 Topic: Profitable No-Till Canola Production
Phil has worked with Canola for over 20 years in many different climates and countries. With increasing world demand for canola, he believes the rotational break crop has great potential to help producers obtain a more profitable long term production system.

 Workshop #2 Topic: Profitable No-Till Wheat Production Within The Central Plains and its Climate

Kris Nichols, Soil Microbiologist Mandan, ND

Her experience includes over 13 years of research on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi – a beneficial plant root symbiont that helps plants obtain nutrients from the soil. She has B.S. degrees in Plant Biology and in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota, a M.S. in Environmental Microbiology from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Maryland. Since 1996, Nichols has investigated glomalin – a glycoproteinaceous substance produced by AM fungi. Glomalin contributes to soil structure and plant health by helping to form and stabilize soil aggregates. Nichols has found that glomalin is a major component of soil organic matter (ca. 20%) in undisturbed soils and may be an agriculturally managed soil carbon sink.  Kris is also studying the production of native prairie grasses for potential biofuel production and soil carbon storage. 

Workshop Topic: Hunting Nutrients and Trapping Carbon  

Soil is a precious resource which supports all life on earth.  In this diverse environment, billions of organisms – earthworms, insects, mites, bacteria, fungi, etc. – exist in a complex food web where nutrients and energy (in the form of carbon) flow.  Fungal hyphae, or the threadlike bodies of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, are conduit for nutrients from abundant areas in soil to depleted areas around roots.  A coating of glomalin – a glycoprotein (sugar protein) – protects conduit hyphae from nutrient loss and microbial attack and also acts as a glue in soil aggregate formation and stabilization.  Soil aggregates are pellets of various shapes and sizes that increase aeration, water infiltration, and nutrient cycling and decrease compaction, erosion, and organic matter loss.  Management systems which include reduced tillage, continuous plant cover, and a diverse crop rotation of AM host crops assist in the proliferation of glomalin, hyphal networks and soil organisms to maintain a consistent supply of plant available nutrients to meet the demands of food, feed and fiber production for a growing global population.

Panel Members:

• Brian Berns, Bladen, NE   Farmer and NTOP Board Member

• Keith Berns, Bladen, NE   Farmer and NTOP Webmaster
  Keith and Brian Berns combine over 15 years of No-Till Farming with 10 years of teaching Agriculture and Computers.  In addition to no-tilling 2,000 acres in South Central Nebraska they also design and maintain over 50 websites, including the No-Till On The Plains website.  Their farming operation, Providence Farms, LLC raises irrigated and dryland corn, beans and wheat and also does over 3,000 acres of custom no-till drilling every year.

• Doug Palen, Glen Elder, KS  Farmer and NTOP Board Member
  Doug Palen is a farmer in north central Kansas near Glen Elder.  He has no-till farmed for fourteen years, twelve of those years as 100 percent no-till. His dry land operation averages 25-inches of precipitation annually on mostly silt loam and clay loam soils.  Palen’s crop rotation is made up of winter wheat – corn – milo – soybeans – sunflowers with an occasional field of more non-traditional grain or cover-crop.  He chose to go no-till to increase efficiency and better protect the soil and water resources by using the crop stubble as mulch on top of the soil surface.  This change in seeding environment has lead Doug to continue improving seeding performance. 

• Joe Swanson, Windom, KS  Farmer and NTOP Board Vice President
  Joe started his no-till system in 1992 and was 100 percent no-till by 1996. His first reason for converting was soil erosion. He has experienced additional benefits as a result of the no-till system including improved water infiltration, increased earthworm populations, improved water quality runoff, increased organic matter, increased wildlife populations, reduced equipment overhead, reduced labor, higher yields and profits.

Join us for an interactive discussion of no-till planters and drills.  See changes and modifications that we have made to our equipment and ask questions about your planters and drills.

Workshop Topic: "Getting the most out of glyphosate."

Formulations, adjuvants and water conditioners, strategies to manage weed resistance.

Workshop Topic:   For Beginners:  No-till 101 Interactive Q & A
 

• Josh Lloyd of Oakhill, KS  NTOP Board President
  Josh graduated from Kansas State University in 1998 with a BS in Management Farmer.  He is a Class VII member of the Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership (KARL) Program.  He is married to Monica and farms with his father Gale and hired hand Chuck.  Josh has been no-tilling for 7 years and enjoys the profitability gained from it as well as time savings and improvement in the soil.  Josh is currently President of No-Till on the Plains, Inc.
   

• Keith Thompson of Osage City, KS  NTOP Ex Oficio
  Keith farms with his brother Doug and son Ben in east central Kansas near Osage City.  Their farming practices have evolved to continuous no-till from full tillage. Since Keith started farming with his dad in 1965, they have moved in steps from full tillage, to using a combination min- till, no-till system (called skip-a-till now) in 1973 and have been 100 percent continuous no-till since 1991. They average 34-inches of rainfall annually on shallow silty clay soils. Their main crops are  corn – milo – soybeans – wheat – sunflowers and cover crops grown in various rotations that are designed to lower weed pressure to help cut herbicide  use. T

   

• Rod Peters of Hillsboro, KS  NTOP Treasurer
  Rod graduated from Kansas State University in 1976 with a BS degree in Animal Science.  He has been a board member with NTOP since 2002 and currently serves as Treasurer.  Rod has recently been appointed to the Marion County Surface Water/Reservoir Advisory Board.  He started no-tilling on his farm in 1996.  He has harvested sunflowers, cotton, hard red winter wheat, grain sorghum, corn, soybeans, hard red spring wheat, and has tried cover crops such as sunhemp, mung beans, hairy vetch, prosso millet, Austrian winter peas, and spring cow peas.  He also has a 50 cow/calf herd that he integrates with his no-till operation.  No-till has been a system that allows for; creative ways to improve profitability, improve soil structure, increase organic matter, observing clean water runoff, and no-till prepares the land a better place for the next generation.

Workshop Topic: "New option for weed management in sorghum."

Discussion of Lumax for control of herbicide-resistant pigweeds in sorghum.  He will also address issues like herbicide application in fall to control winter annuals;  weed control in corn; tree control in no-till fields.

Jack and Tina Schmitt own and operate a no-till farming operation in Scott County Kansas.  Their operation includes both dry land and irrigated production.  Jack is a 1988 graduate of Fort Hays State University, and has been involved in production agriculture since that time.  He has been invited to speak at numerous no-till meetings and brings a positive outlook to no-till management.  Jack has over 10 years experience planting no-till and has tried several planter attachments.  Jack has planted his irrigated corn no-till since 2001. 

Workshop Topic:   No-Till Planting

This session will cover:

• Problems with No-Till Planting, including wet conditions, seed to soil contact, stand establishment, timing and fertility.

• Positives with No-Till Planting, including Soil Moisture Retention, Water Infiltration, Cost Savings, Stand Establishment, Crop Disease Issues.

•  Tips to Make No-Till Planting Work, including Planting Location, Planter Settings, Patience, Residue.

Quentin and Maria Stoll have worked at the USDA-ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory in Auburn, AL for the past 2½ years.  At the NSDL, their research focuses on conservation tillage systems which include cover crops.  Quentin works with conservation tillage equipment as an engineering technician. Maria works with weed management issues in conservation tillage systems. Both originally from Kansas, Quentin received a M.S. degree in agricultural engineering and Maria received a M.S. degree in agronomy from Kansas State University in 2004.

  Workshop Topic:  Conservation Systems Used In The Southeast:  Cover crops, weed management and no-till equipment

Dan Towery

Dan Towery is an ag consultant and president of Ag Conservation Solutions.  His previous experience includes 25 years with USDA NRCS with the last 10 years at the Conservation Technology information Center.  Dan was awarded the 2005 No-till Innovator Award in Education and Research from No-till Farmer magazine.  Dan believes, “Let the soil work for you, instead of you working the soil!!”

Opening Keynote Address:  No-Till for Life!”
Closing Keynote Address

 Workshop Topic:  The Benefits of Using Annual Ryegrass as a Cover Crop - Where Wheat is Not Part of the Crop Rotation

Midwest no-till growers are discovering the benefits of using annual ryegrass as a cover crop.  It helps break up compaction, scavenges nitrogen, may reduce soybean cyst nematode populations, increases organic matter and improves soil quality. Annual ryegrass has a fit in Eastern Kansas and Nebraska where wheat is not part of the crop rotation.   Like other cover crops, only top no-till managers should consider this practice.        

 Workshop Topic:  Adopting New Technologies in Agriculture: “Getting the Other Half of the Picture”

We all have seen spots and streaks in our fields but have been too busy working “on the farm” to really look into the cause. Allow yourself to work “for the farm” and learn the “causes” of these spots and streaks and how you can get the knowledge to start making the appropriate daily management decisions to improve profits in all areas of your fields, including the spots and streaks. These areas may appear small, but they are costing you big time.