January 2007

The Nebraska No-Till Conference will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Ag Center in Holdrege and Feb. 7 at UNL's Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead. Registration begins at 9 a.m.

"Producers will learn the benefits of no-till and how it can work for them," said Keith Glewen, UNL Extension educator.

Speakers will include no-till farmers, university specialists and industry representatives.

Rolf Derpsch, an international agricultural consultant specializing in conservation agriculture, no-till, cover cropping and on-farm research, is the featured speaker at both locations. He will speak on "Tillage Effects on Soils, Crops and Ecosystem" and "Critical Steps to No-Till Adoption," said Chuck Burr, UNL Extension educator.

Born in Chile of German parents, Derpsch now lives in Paraguay. He is fluent in six languages which has been helpful in communicating his experiences as one of the world's leading experts in no-till systems. Derpsch has done no-till consulting in 14 countries and spoken about no-till in many more.

Other topics, speakers and their locations include:

No-Till – Making it Work in Southwest Iowa, David Dukes, Bedford, Iowa (Holdrege);

Crop Residue Survey and Fuel Calculator, Dan Gillespie, USDA-NRCS no-till specialist (ARDC);

One Planter –Three Crops Corn/Soybeans/Wheat, Merle Holle, grower, Marysville, Kan., and Paul Hay, UNL Extension educator (ARDC);

New Trends in Corn, Cropping, and Diseases, Tamra Jackson, UNL Extension plant pathologist (Holdrege);

My Latest No-Till Experiences, Paul Jasa, UNL Extension engineer (ARDC);

No-Tilling Corn on Corn, Mark Schroeder, farm operations manager, UNL ARDC, (both sites); and

No-Till and Fertilizer Management, Charles Shapiro, UNL Extension soils specialist (ARDC).

Pre-registration is due Feb. 1. For more information or to register at the ARDC location, call (800) 529-8030 or e-mail at kglewen1@unl.edu. For more information or to register at the Holdrege location, call (308) 995-4222 or e-mail cburr1@unl.edu. Online registration is available at Nebraska No-Till Conference.

The event is available at no cost to producers and is sponsored by UNL Extension in the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nebraska Soybean Board, Sustainable Agriculture and Education, Lower Platte North Natural Resources District, Tri-Basin Natural Resources District, Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Credit Services of America, John Deere Risk Protection and Ag Service Associates.

IANR News Release