2006 WHIRLWIND No-till EXPO
  July 19th, 2006     Fullerton, Nebraska

Featured Speakers

Return to Fullerton Expo page

Jill Clapperton -  is the Rhizosphere Ecologist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lethbridge Research Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. She is an internationally respected lecturer presenting research findings and promoting an understanding of how soil biology and ecology interact with cropping and soil management systems to facilitate long-term soil quality and productivity. Her research group studies soil food webs, nutrient cycling, soil fauna- plant disease interactions, rhizosphere interactions, and soil biodiversity. The Rhizosphere Ecology Research Group studies rangelands, and cropping systems under low-input and organic management systems emphasizing reduced and no tillage.  The aim of this research is to understand how soils function biologically so we can effectively manage and benefit from the long-term biological fertility of our soil.  Jill has a keen interest in promoting science in schools and participates with other researchers and educators to develop soil ecology educational programs. The Worm Watch program (www.wormwatch.ca) she founded, has recently been cited by the National Science Teachers Association for excellence in science education.  In 2000, Dr. Clapperton received the Patricia Roberts-Pichette Award from Environment Canada for enthusiastic leadership and commitment to advancing ecological monitoring and research in Canada.

Dwayne Beck,  Dakota Lakes Research Farm  (Invited) 

Beck serves as a Professor, Plant Sciences Department, South Dakota State University since February, 1983. From 1985 until now, his emphasis has been on developing No-till systems for irrigated and dryland areas in central South Dakota.  Primary achievements deal with development of programs that have allowed producers to profitably adopt No-till techniques in a large portion of central South Dakota.  Identification of the extremely important role played by crop rotation in minimizing weed, disease, and insect problems while increasing potential profitability was the key contribution of this project.   The Dakota Lakes Research Farm consists of 850 acres of owned land of which 280 acres is irrigated.  An additional 380 acres of land is rented for research purposes.  The entire operation is managed using No-till techniques.

Ray 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.

Mike Hubbs is the National Agronomist with NRCS in Washington D.C.  As an  agronomist for Tennessee and on the Soil Quality Institute, he trained and presented  on agronomy and soil quality  to agricultural groups and farmers with diverse agriculture enterprises in vegetables, irrigated specialty crops, corn, cotton, wheat, rice, soybeans, different variety of oil crops (canola, safflower, etc.), etc. in all regions of the United States.

Paul J. Jasa  serves as an Extension Engineer, University of Nebraska.  Paul develops and conduct 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 have 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.

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 Cooperative Extension (cropwatch.unl.edu).

Bud Davis  is the state conservation agronomist with NRCS for Kansas; a position he has held since 1992.  He is responsible for the technical adequacy of agronomic practices planned and implemented by USDA-NRCS in Kansas.  He has a diverse background in natural resource management spanning 25 years in a variety of positions with NRCS including RC&D coordinator, district conservationist and soil conservationist.  He was a strong supporter in organizing the Kansas Crop Residue Management Alliance—the forerunner of No-till on the Plains, Inc. and has been instrumental in cultivating (no pun) partnerships and getting industry, government, and farmers around the table to promote No-till and other profitable agronomic systems.  His primary work interest is the promotion of agricultural systems that are profitable and sound in the environment.  Major job responsibilities/subjects include erosion prediction, crop residue management, carbon sequestration, soil quality, crop sequences, nutrient and pest management, agronomic practice standards and specifications.  He manages the family farm in Ottawa Co.  which has been No-tilled for 9 years.