12th Annual No-till On The Plains 
2008 Winter Conference

Tuesday and Wednesday, January 29-30, 2008      
at the Bicentennial Center,  Salina, KS
 

  Conference Agenda and Schedule
  Conference Exhibitors
 

The 12th annual No-till on the Plains Winter Conference has evolved into the most respected “continuous No-till” conference and trade show of its type in North America.   At the 2008 Winter Conference, you will have the opportunity to visit with other No-tillers from various regions.  This year, about one dozen “producer speakers” -- each in a different stage of continuous No-till (CNT) with a variety of unique conditions – will offer presentations.  In addition, another dozen No-tillage experts – some of the world's foremost authorities in No-tillage systems, will engage the crowd.  The all-star lineup features names such as Amado, Anderson, Beck, Bieber, Brown, Cott, Duiker, Forgey, Frenzen, Gadzia, Hatfield, Holle, Humburg, Jasa, Mindemann, Needham, Nichols, Ruwoldt, Smith, Ward, Watson, and Wiltse.   These experts are the most knowledgeable No-till aficianoadoes, and growers will have the opportunity to ask questions, share trade secrets and interact with other attendees, participants and presenters.

Winter Conference 2008 Photo Gallery
Click any picture for a larger view!

Scheduled Speakers include:

Thanks to all of our outstanding speakers!
2008 Winter Conference Speakers and No-till on the Plains Board Members.

Telmo Amado, University of Santa Maria, Brazil
  Brazilian No-till: Last advances in soil carbon management and improvements in cropping systems  Since the 90’s No-till had a fast farm adoption in Brazil achieving more than 24 millions of hectares. In tropical and subtropical climate the requirement for soil crop residue input is much higher than in temperate environment. This demand had been supplied by an intensive cover crops and crop rotation systems -- new tools as precision agriculture has been useful to improve cropping systems management.

Dr. Telmo Jorge Carneiro Amado is a Full Professor of Soil Conservation at the Federal University of Santa Maria in RS Brazil.  He obtained his Ph.D. in Soil Science, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul / Auburn Univ., 1997.  His research area of specialization is No-tillage systems, carbon sequestration in agriculture, cover crops and soil rehabilitation, soil quality, residue management, water and wind erosion control, tropical agriculture, sustainable agriculture, nitrogen cycle.   Telmo is on sabbatical at KSU and is currently an adjunct faculty member there.  

Taking Stock of the Brazilian "Zero-Till Revolution":  A Review Of Landmark Research and Farmers' Practice

Randy Anderson, USDA ARS, Brookings, SD

  A New Approach to Weed Management, Based on Population Dynamics 
 

Crop diversity and No-till can help producers expand their approach in managing weeds.  In the Central Great Plains, management that includes cultural tactics to disrupt population growth of weeds requires 50% less inputs and cost to control weeds.  Our presentation will describe this approach that is reducing the need for herbicides in cropping systems.

• An Ecological Approach to Weed Management  by Randy Anderson  (Leading Edge 2004)

• Tillage, Rotations, and Weeds by Randy Anderson (Leading Edge 2003)

• Crop Sequence and Interval by Randy Anderson (Leading Edge 2003)

Dwayne Beck, Dakota Lakes Research Farm
  Let Mother (nature) Do It
 

Dwayne Beck, manager of Dakota Lakes Research Farm, Pierre, S.D., has been studying farming systems for both irrigated and dryland. In addition to updating us on his latest research results and rotational ideas, Dwayne will also focus on how the most important crop nutrient, carbon, can be managed effectively only in No-till.

• Cropping Strategies In Semi-Arid Climates by Dwayne Beck (Leading Edge 2004)

• Fertility Placement  by Dwayne Beck  (Leading Edge 2001)

• Dakota Lakes Research Farm

Rick Bieber, Trail City, South Dakota   No-till Producer
 Economics of Rotations in No-till Dryland Farming

Rick Bieber is a No-till farmer from north central South Dakota.  He farms in a 16 inch precipitation zone on 5000 acres of cropland and also has 5000 acres of rangeland for a 400 head cow/calf operation.  He has been in a continuous No-till system for the past 21 years with main crops of hard red spring wheat, hard red winter wheat, corn, flax, peas, soybeans, sunflowers, safflower , and alfalfa.  Rick is intensely interested in keeping the farm operation economically viable and gets to the heart of a problem quickly before it becomes major.  Rick is a strong advocate of diverse crop rotations and profitability for successful No-till systems and has been a popular speaker at a number of No-till conferences throughout the Northern Great Plains and Pacific Northwest of the United States over the past 16 years.

Gabe Brown, Bismarck, North Dakota
  Integrating Livestock in a No-till Cropping System

Kenneth Miller, Burleigh County North Dakota Soil Conservation District
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 6 years. He belongs to the Missouri Slope Irrigation Development Association and the North Private Grazing Lands Coalition.  Ken has had an exciting year learning about cover crops.

Richard Cott, Clay Center, Kansas  No-till Producer

   A Pragmatic View of No-till

Richard Cott along with his brother Robert operate a diversified irrigated and dryland crop and livestock operation near Clay Center, KS.  Richard is a 1976 graduate of KSU in Animal Science. He has been No-tilling milo following wheat since then.  The operation has been in a complete No-till system for over a decade. He will offer practical examples of successes and failures they have experienced.   Richard will be joined by his son Kyle, a 2004 KSU graduate in agronomy who recently returned from 2 ½ years in Central Asia serving as an agronomist.  Kyle will present a unique perspective on soils and No-till practices in this area of the world.

Sjoerd Duiker
  Designing Better No-till Systems - A View from the Soil Surface Down

Sjoerd W. Duiker is an Associate Professor of Soil Management and Applied Soil Physics at Penn State University.  His specialization focuses on the effects of soil management practices on soil physical properties and processes. This includes the effect of No-tillage and tillage on soil physical properties, how soil compaction affects soil and crops, what effect crop rotation plays in maintaining soil quality, and the benefits and challenges of cover crops. The use of a systems approach to No-tillage, soil compaction and crop rotations is a crucial element in all his work. Research takes place on Penn State’s research farms as well as in collaboration with farmers and field agronomists in Pennsylvania.

Dan Forgey, Gettysburg, South Dakota  No-till Producer 

  Another Step Forward With No-till

Rising To The Challenge - Feature Farmer Article, Leading Edge 2006

Lyle Frees,  Salina, KS       Water Quality Specialist
  Rainfall Simulator

Few people are willing to physically stand in a cropland field during an intense rainstorm to view the water erosion process at work. The Rainfall Simulator is designed to show what happens to topsoil on cropland fields and construction sites during rainstorms. Spectators to this demonstration can view a rainstorm in progress, watch the power of raindrops and see water erosion as it occurs. The Simulator demonstrates the benefits of crop residue management in protecting topsoil during rainstorms.   The very portable simulator shows the results of a 3-inch rainstorm in approximately 15-20 minutes. Four soil trays placed below the oscillating raindrop nozzle have different levels of crop residue placed on the soil surface. The “Seeing Is Believing” demonstration shows the protective benefits of crop residue is in direct proportion to the level of residue covering the soil surface, the more residue the less soil loss and more water infiltration. The quantity and quality of runoff from the soil trays is captured in clear gallon jugs placed below each tray. A tray of growing grass is used to show the water quality benefits of grass buffer strips.

Lyle is native Kansan.  He was born and raised on a wheat, milo and cattle farm in central Kansas.  After graduating from Fort Hays State University, he began working for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly SCS).  Lyle has worked at several locations in central and western Kansas as District Conservationist of NRCS.  Lyle currently is a Resource Conservationist at the NRCS State Office in Salina.

Craig Frenzen, Fullerton, Nebraska  No-till Producer
  What I Do and Why

Craig & Jan Frenzen are actively involved in a diversified No-till operation near Fullerton, NE.  They farm 1400 acres plus custom-farm 600 acres.  Their crops in rotation include corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, and alfalfa.  Frenzens have a 125-head commercial cow herd using rotational grazing systems which include double-crop turnips, oats and rye mixes following wheat or soybeans.  They farm a combination of dryland and irrigated ground, mostly rented.  Soil types range from sand to clay/silt/loams. 

Grazing in Natures Image - Principles of Integrating Livestock and Crops

The focus of his work is a holistic approach to agriculture and life, whereby land, animals, crops, wildlife and other resources are planned into the operation and financial picture.  The model for making this work is mimicking natural systems and balancing life style with long and short term goal. 

Kirk also provides customized training and consulting to a wide variety of public and private business and conservation organizations. Kirk is co-author of the National Academy of Science 1994 publication entitled Rangeland Health, and is working to improve rangeland health monitoring techniques in a wide variety of environments.   Kirk has presented talks at the No-till on the Plains Annual Conference in 2003 and 2004, 11th AAPRESID Argentinean No-till Farmers Association Rosario, Argentina in 2003, and The South Dakota No-till Annual Conference in 2007.

Rangeland Health and Planned Grazing Field Guide by Nathan Sayre and Kirk Gadzia

Merle Holle, Marysville, Kansas   No-till Producer

  15" Row Wheat -- The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Merle Holle has been an agricultural crop and livestock producer for 53 years with 14 years No-till, 10 years planting 15” row wheat, and 2 years as a crop loss insurance adjuster.  Additionally, he has served as an associate member of the Kansas Coalition for Carbon Management (KCCM) since 2002.  He has seen the benefit of better residue management on upland soils, soil and moisture conservation, increased soil microbial activity, environmental stewardship improvement, input cost and labor savings.  By utilizing No-till, Merle has better soil structure, less soil erosion, additional water retention, cleaner runoff (cleaner water in waterways), increased average yield, lower input costs and labor savings.

Paul Jasa, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, No-till Expert
Residue and Seeding Uniformity Effects on Yield

Rogers Memorial No-till Research Farm

Tips for No-tilling Corn on Corn

Alan Mindemann, Apache, Oklahoma   No-till Producer

  Crop-rotations considerations

Against All Odds - Feature Farmer Article, Leading Edge 2005

Phil Needham, Needham Ag Technologies
phil@needhamag.com

No-tilling with single disc and double disc drills  (tools and ideas to maximize their performance, including seeding speeds, seeding rates, row spacing, seeding depths etc)     

Spring nitrogen management (rates, forms of N, N timing, tiller management, growth stages for application, methods of application, etc)  

Phil Needham is the owner of Needham Ag Technologies, LLC. a family owned agri-business and agronomic consulting company based near Calhoun, KY. Needham is a native of Great Britain and holds a diploma in agriculture and an honors degree in agricultural technology from Cranfield University in England.

Needham first visited the USA in 1989 and joined Miles Enterprises based in Owensboro, KY in 1990. Needham was promoted to Opti-Crop (a division within Miles Enterprises) Manager in 1996, where he managed a team of crop consultants and projects from Texas to Manitoba and from Virginia to Washington state.

Needham also has professional agronomy experience with dealers, farmers and manufacturers in Canada, Mexico, England, France, Germany, Sweden, China, Romania, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Needham considers himself a vehicle of technology, moving and implementing systems and agronomic technologies around the world to ultimately increase farm efficiencies, yields and profits. Needham considers himself a vehicle of technology and brings many crop management practices and systems to producers across the Central Plains, to help them increase their yields and profits.

The impact of Needham and his teams work can be seen in his home state of Kentucky. USDA data show that average wheat yields more than doubled over a 15-year period from low 30 bushels per acre to the high 60 bushels per acre, with some farmers seeing wheat yields in excess of 100 bushels per acre on fields and farms.

Kris Nichols, Soil Microbiologist Mandan, ND

  Microbial Engineering to Enhance Your Bottom Line, Part 1

  Microbial Engineering to Enhance Your Bottom Line, Part 2

Her experience includes over 13 years of research on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi – a beneficial plant root symbiont that helps plants obtain nutrients from the soil. She has B.S. degrees in Plant Biology and in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota, a M.S. in Environmental Microbiology from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Maryland. Since 1996, Nichols has investigated glomalin – a glycoproteinaceous substance produced by AM fungi. Glomalin contributes 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. 20%) in undisturbed soils and may be an agriculturally managed soil carbon sink.  Kris is also studying the production of native prairie grasses for potential biofuel production and soil carbon storage. 

Robert Ruwoldt, Australia
  Advancing The Art of No-till Farming In Australia

Robert Ruwoldt, the immediate past president of Victorian (Australia) NoTill farmers association, comes highly recommended by Wayne Smith.  According to Wayne, “Robert Ruwoldt is one of Australia's best, if not THE best, notill farmer…and a dynamic speaker."  Robert is passionate about notill and has been notilling for 20 years.  He uses variable rate technology, autosteer, shielded spraying between crop rows and uses very little fertilizer for the amazing yields he achieves (because his soils are so alive after 20 years of notill and stubble retention).  Last year, for example, he achieved 30-35 bushel average cereal yields on 6-7" of total rainfall and soil moisture - his worst drought on record.  Virtually every farmer around him harvested nothing.  Zip.  He even averaged 0.78 t/ha lentil yields.  According to Wayne, his soils almost have a perceptible heart beat!  They are that alive after 20 years of notill, stubble retention and no burning, grazing or cultivation.” 

Background Information from Robert Ruwoldt:  
Our farm is now a fourth generation family farm and is situated in the middle of Victoria (Australia) and in the heart of the Wimmera farming region.  The farm consists of 7000 acres of cropping and strictly no livestock.  We are lucky to have some of the best soils in Australia to farm, they consist of mainly heavy black clay soil types with good water holding capacity.  Average rainfall is 16 inches a year of mainly winter rain fall and no reliable summer rain to count on.   We grow wheat, barley, lentils, canola, beans and chickpeas in our continuous cropping rotation, this amount of options give us plenty of diversity in our system.

We started to direct seed our crops back in 1983 and have continued to advance the system ever since then. The changes continued at a very fast rate with many new herbicides coming onto the market as well as changing machinery and farming methods all at once, It was a struggle to keep up.   Every time we would change something in our system we would think that we had the game sown up, but when I look back now I have to laugh at myself and my ignorance (lack of knowledge ) at that time of the development of the No-till system that we currently use today.

Change is the hardest thing for farmers to do as they have done it that way for so long and it worked most of the time, they are happy to keep getting the new tractor or truck but when change involves there farming practices they do not want to change.  Change will not happen until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.    There is always a better way to do things!  The challenge is for us to work through the issues that come along to challenge our current system, we have to keep on  top of these and continue to advance the art of No-till farming into the future.

Our current farming system is setup on 30ft seeders and combines, 90ft SP boom spray and 30ft shrouded sprayer.  All machines have 120inch wheel centres and we run them on a controlled traffic system every year.  Row spacings are 15inch and 30 inch depending on the crops grown.   We have been using GPS (VRT) and auto steer systems for many years now and every crop is inter row seeded into last years standing crop residue.  We are continually modifying machinery to do what we want it to do and to work with our soils and crops we grow.

Wayne Smith, Australia
  Achieving the Impossible (click for more info)   How good would last year have been if you had averaged 100 b/ac wheat, and carried 1 cow and calf on every acre of pasture?   That’s impossible you say?  What if it isn’t though?  (click for more info)

Wayne is an independent agronomy consultant with clients throughout southern Australia, Kenya and South Africa.  He publishes a monthly agronomy newsletter that is subscribed to around the world.    From 1987 to 1992, Wayne worked with the Western Australian Department of Agriculture developing high yield wheat packages for the south coast of Western Australia, an area that at that time could only achieve wheat yields around 30% of what was possible.    From 1992 until now, Wayne has been consulting to farmers and farmer groups around the world.  He is a staunch advocate of No-till, is a part-time cattle farmer and aims to run large corporate size farms as soon as he can.  He is passionate about farming.

Yield Potentials Are Far Greater Than You Imagine by  Wayne Smith 

Plant Language:  Diagnosing Trace Element Deficiencies by Wayne Smith

    Dr. Ray Ward, Ward Laboratories, Kearney, NE  
Fertilizer - How Do I Know How Much to Apply?

Dr. 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.   Come experience his vast knowledge of soil quality and agronomic expertise in an easy-to-understand presentation.  He will answer all of your questions on continuous No-till.

• Nitrogen As A Plant Nutrient  by Ray Ward (Leading Edge 2004)

• Soil Organic Matter and N Cycling by Dr. Ray Ward 

Mark Watson, Alliance, NE

  Water and Soil

Mark farms 3,500 acres with his brother Bruce 10 miles north of Alliance, Nebraska.  His farm has been in the family for approximately 115 years so Mark considers himself definitely born and bred to farm.  They have been completely continuous No-till since 1994.  Their farm is dryland and irrigated, raising wheat, corn, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, proso millet.  Mark is married to Denise and has a son Jacob and daughter Hannah.  Bruce and Mark have been selected as Master Conservationists for the state of Nebraska and will be receiving the award in September 2007.  Mark Watson also serves as the No-till education coordinator for Western Nebraska.  

• “Breaking the tillage mindset” by Mark Watson
• The Value Of Residue by Mark Watson     The Value of Residue - Part 2  by Mark Watson
• No-till Notes by Mark Watson
• No-till and Water by Mark Watson
• "Dryland" Farming by Mark Watson
• Managing Residue Part 1  by Mark Watson    Managing Residue Part 2  by Mark Watson        Equipment to Handle Residue by Mark Watson
• Upcoming No-till Conferences by Mark Watson         Weed Control by Mark Watson

    Visit www.salinakansas.org for assistance in planning your visit to Salina, Kansas.  You can also request a free visitor information packet.