Learn at Crop & Soil Health Educational Meetings

As the New Year begins so do new opportunities for educational meetings during the next couple of months for agricultural producers in our area. I always make it a point to attend as many of these meetings as I can to further my education in agriculture and no-till crop production.

I would encourage everyone involved in production agriculture to attend these meetings. Agriculture is constantly changing and these meetings are a great place to learn about new technologies, marketing opportunities, crop production, and the opportunity to visit with other producers from around our region.

There have been a few new meetings added to the Stateline Producers field pea and edible bean production and marketing meetings I listed in last week’s article. Additional meetings were added for Bayard, Neb. on Jan. 28. Call Stateline Producers for the time and place for this meeting. An additional meeting will be held in Gering, Neb. on Jan. 29 at the Stateline Producers office beginning at 9 a.m. The meeting in Alliance, Neb., has been changed to Feb. 19 at the Alliance Public Library beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The first regional no-till winter conference meeting is the No-till on the Plains winter conference. This meeting is scheduled for Jan. 28 and 29 in Salina, Kan. This two-day meeting will feature speakers from around the world on various topics of interest concerning no-till crop production.

The following day on Jan. 30 is the Agriculture Innovative Minds symposium as part of the No-till on the Plains winter conference. This one-day session will feature Dr. Dwayne Beck and Dr. Ray Ward, both longtime supporters of no-till crop production. I think this will be a very educational and interesting meeting with these two internationally recognized supporters of no-till crop production. To preregister for these meetings go to the No-till on the Plains website at http://www.notill.org or call 1-888-330-5142.

The 2014 High Plains No-Till Conference sponsored by the Colorado Conservation Tillage Association will take place on Feb. 4-5 in Burlington, Colo. The CCTA has done a tremendous job of building this winter conference into one of the premier winter conferences in our region.

CCTA has lined up an excellent list of speakers again for this year’s conference. The keynote speakers will be Gabe Brown and Dr. Jill Clapperton. This conference has become so popular for regional agricultural producers that the registration has been limited to 550 producers this year. I would encourage you to register early to attend this conference.

The Natural Resources and Conservation Service in Holyoke, Colorado will be hosting a one day winter meeting titled “The Farming Evolution: Where do You Fit?”. The meeting is scheduled for Feb. 13. Numerous topics will be presented including weed control strategies, soil health economics, technology and how to use it in the field, along with a producer panel consisting of several excellent no-till crop producers in our region. To preregister for this informative winter meeting contact the Julie Elliott with the NRCS office at [email protected] or call 970-332-3173 ext. 3.

The Panhandle No-till Partnership will be hosting the annual winter conference in Gering, Neb. at the Gering Civic Center on Feb. 26 and 27. PNTP has once again assembled an excellent lineup of speakers who will cover numerous topics relevant to no-till crop production in the region. Please visit http://www.panhandlenotill.org or the “Panhandle No Till Education” facebook page to view the agenda and to access registration forms. You may also register by calling the Upper Niobrara White Natural Resources District at 308-432-6190 or emailing [email protected].