Featured Speakers

Dr. Jill Clapperton

Earthspirit Consulting

8337 Lamar Trail

Florence, MT  59833

(406) 273-2228

earthspiritconsulting@gmail.com

Soil Health Consultant Dr. Jill Clapperton was the Rhizosphere Ecologist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lethbridge Research Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada for 15 years. During her time in Lethbridge, Jill lead the Rhizosphere Ecology Research Group studying plant-disease-soil-nematode interactions, crop variety-nutrient uptake rhizosphere community interactions, and soil organic matter quality influences on the diversity and population dynamics of soil fauna. In November 2006, Jill moved onto the Maclay family ranch near Carlton in western Montana where she owns and operates her own consulting business, Earthspirit Land Resource Consulting. Jill has been a popular speaker at several of our previous Winter Conferences. This is a rare opportunity to interact with one of the world’s authorities on the microbial interaction taking place in our soils. Get the tools to achieve the next step to unlock the potential in your soils. Jill will bring the world to you – things that are new and innovative that you can do on your farm. Don’t miss the chance to ask Dr. Clapperton the questions that will help you take your operation to the next level!

Francis Yeatman

Agricultural Advisor, Integrations Farming Systems

Soil and Crop Nutrition

South Africa

yeatman@kingsley.co.za

Francis has personal experience with intensive farming systems as well as serving as a Soil Technician for the South Africa Department of Agriculture where he was responsible for Run-off Control Planning, contour design and lay-out as well as dam designing. This gave him an opportunity to study soil physical characteristics, soil classification, moisture holding capacity, drainage, soil compaction, land capability classing, etc. Francis has been consulting on 70 different crops since 1999 throughout South Africa.

Paul J. Jasa
Extension Engineer
202 CHA University of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE 68583-0726
402-472-6715
Fax: 402-472-6338
Email: pjasa1@unl.edu  

Paul J. Jasa serves as an Extension Engineer, University of Nebraska. He develops and conducts educational programs related to no-till equipment and system management.  He received both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Nebraska and has been working with planting equipment and tillage system evaluation at the University since 1978. With his 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’s either made it himself or has seen it done! More importantly, he’s learned from those mistakes and shares that information in presentations that stress the systems approach and the long-term benefits of continuous no-till.

Number of years in no-till – 31 (research) and 26 (Extension)
Geographic/moisture regime (annual precipitation/irrigation)– mostly dryland 15 to 30”
Soils under no-till – sandy loams to silty clay loams
Crop rotations – various including corn, soybeans, grain sorghum, wheat, and some cover crops

Lisa Jasa, Paul’s wife, also works for the University of Nebraska and is the editor of Crop Watch, a crop production and pest management newsletter produced by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension (cropwatch.unl.edu).

 
Dr. Kristine Nichols
Soil Microbiologist
USDA-ARS
1701 10^th Ave SW
Mandan, ND  58554
Home phone: 701-663-9138
Business phone: 701-667-3008
Fax: 701-667-3054
E-mail:  nicholsk@mandan.ars.usda.gov
Website: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=8814                                                           

Kris Nichols grew up on a primarily corn-soybean farm in southwestern Minnesota.  She joined the research group at the Agricutural Research Service (ARS) Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory (NGPRL) in Mandan, ND in June, 2003 as a Soil Microbiologist. Nichols received Bachelor of Science degrees in Plant Biology and in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota in 1995, a Masters degree in Enivronmental Microbiology from West Virginia University in 1999, and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Maryland in 2003. Since 1993, Nichols has studied arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi – a plant-root symbiont. Her most recent work involves the investigation of glomalin – a glycoproteinaceous substance produced by AM fungi. Glomalin contributes to nutrient cycling by protecting AM hyphae that are transporting nutrients from the soil to the plant in exchange for carbon from the plant and 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. 15-20%) in undisturbed soils and may be an agriculturally managed soil carbon sink. Kris has been examining the impacts of crop rotations, tillage practices, and livestock grazing management on soil aggregation, water relationships, and glomalin at NGPRL.

Kenneth Miller

Burleigh County North Dakota Soil Conservation District

916 E Interstate Ave

Bismarck, ND  58503

Phone: 701-663-9350

Email:  Kenneth.Miller@nd.nacdnet.net 

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 7 years. He belongs to the Missouri Slope Irrigation Development Association and the North Private Grazing Lands Coalition. 

Gail Fuller
1862 Road M
Emporia, KS 66801
620-344-3363
fullerfarms@hotmail.com

Gail Fuller has been experimenting with no-till since the mid-1980’s and 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.

Past Whirlwind Tours
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