Save the Date: Farming Evolution No-till Conference Feb. 15-16 in Colorado

Save the Date: Farming Evolution No-till Conference Feb. 15-16 in Colorado

The 2017 Farming Evolution Conference, scheduled for Feb. 15-16 at the Phillips County Fair Grounds Event Center in Holyoke, Colo., will focus on no-till crop production for both new and experienced users. 

No-till is not just the lack of tillage, notes Julie Elliot of the NRCS Office in Holyoke.  "To reap the benefits of no-till, one must see it as system. Cropping rotations and, in most cases, bringing livestock back to the farm are key to no-till success."

Presenters and their topics include:

  • Odette Menard, a world recognized expert  and advisor in soil and water conservation for the Ministry of Agriculture in Quebec, Canada. Menard will explore the complexity of soil life, the soil food chain, earthworms, and the challenges of managing the soil system. 
  • Rudy Garcia and Clark Harshbarger, both staff with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, (NRCS), will show how tillage affects soil properties and explain how to use soil health tests. 
  • Jacob Miller, a producer from Culbertson, Nebr., will share how his dryland and irrigated no-till systems have evolved over the years.  He is 100% no-till and recently became both chemical- and fertilizer-free.  Livestock graze all of his cropland acres. He will share economics and other details of the cover crop and cash crop rotation on his farm. 
  • Darrell Oswald and Ken Miller of the Menoken Farms of Burleigh County, North Dakota will discuss cover crops, cropland grazing, and soil health as well as their insights from integrating livestock into the cropping system. 
  • Meteorologist Don Day from Cheyenne, Wyoming, will discuss the facts and myths around what influences weather east of the Rocky Mountains.
  • Kyle Kautz, who has just started integrating cover crops on his Merino, Colo., farm, will share what sparked his interest in changing his operation and his experiences so far.
  • Tim Becker, Holyoke producer and NRCS employee, and Steve Tucker, crop producer near Venango, Nebr., will show and discuss a live microscopic view of soil life.
  • Todd Gaines will wrap up the program exploring chemical weed resistance. Gaines is a world-renowned specialist in herbicide resistance and a Flagler, Colo, wheat farm kid.

More Information

For more information contact Julie Elliott, rangeland management specialist at the Holyoke NRCS office, 970-854-2812. To purchase tickets see Farming Evolution 2017.

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