Experienced no-till researchers and producers will be speaking on various aspects of no-till production at this year's Panhandle No-till Winter Conference Feb. 26-27.
The conference will open Wednesday at 8 a.m. at the Civic Center in Gering and run until 4:45. Sessions on Thursday will run from 8:45 to 3:30 p.m. Speakers will include no-till researchers Dietrich Kastens, Paul Jasa, Gail Fuller, and Jonathan Ludgren.
Other speakers will include
- Gary Peterson, who will open the conference with a talk on lessons learned while farming on the High Plains;
- Ray Ward, owner of Ward Laboratories, who will discuss innovations in soil fertility testing and how improving soil health has widespread economic and crop production benefits;
- Jessica Johnson, extension educator - agricultural economics at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, who will address limited irrigation and economics; and
- Weatherman Don Day who will present on current and expected weather patterns.
Late registrations at the door will cost $120.
According to Mark Watson, a no-till education coordinator in western Nebraska, the Panhandle No-Till Winter Conference will give producers an opportunity to re-evaluate their operations.
"Many irrigators are looking at the water saving benefits of no-till crop production systems as a way to minimize the impact on our water resources and still produce profitable crops. Dryland farmers are looking at no-till farming practices to help better utilize rainfall."
Watson adds, "Livestock producers are looking at raising forages for cattle grazing on their dryland acres as a way to offset the negative effects that some past dry years have caused in pastureland. Attending the no-till conference will help area producers realize the benefits that no-till crop production has to offer in each of these scenarios and for other types of operations as well."
The conference is a cooperative effort between the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Panhandle Resources Conservation and Development, Inc. (RC&D), and the South Platte, North Platte and Upper Niobrara White Natural Resources Districts (NRDs). Funding is also provided by the Nebraska Environmental Trust, the Nebraska No-Till Cadre, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln No-Till Education Fund, the High Plains Journal, and area agribusinesses.
For more information or to register for the Panhandle No-Till Winter Conference, please visit panhandlenotill.org or call the Upper Niobrara White NRD at (308) 432-6190.
Panhandle No-till Partnership News Release
