One of the stops on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour was Traub Farm. Our presenter was John Traub. The family farm grows corn, soybeans, specialty hybrid seed corn and hybrid sunflowers. The farm was named the Livingston County SWCD Conservation Farm Family in 2010. So they take conservation seriously.
I spoke with John after his presentation. He says he got involved with the project through their relationship with the SWCD and NRCS. It just “made sense” to them. He says that many of the projects they have participated in provide rewards for doing so. For this project he says they didn’t have to do a lot of things different but they are doing more testing to find the right rate, timing and place to apply nutrients. He says people often get so busy they don’t take time to look at what they’re doing. One of the real benefits of the project for him is being forced to look at what the things are they should be doing.
The Traub farm uses strip-till conservation systems with minimal tillage. They are currently comparing fall applied N with an RTK strip-till system to a conventional chisel plow system.
You can listen to my interview with John here: Interview with John Traub
CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour Photos
AgWired coverage of the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour is sponsored by
The Conservation Technology Information Center’s Indian Creek Watershed Project is funded in part by the 
My first stop on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour was Harms Farm. Our host was Kevin Harms (left) pictured pointing to a chart being held by Harold Reetz. Kevin’s farm is in southern Livingston County, Illinois. He’s one of the farmers that has volunteered to participate in this project.
Field days and tours are heating up this summer along with the weather. During the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour one of our stops put us right out in the corn, looking at the impact of various levels of nitrogen application. Martin Case, 
American agriculture has a great story to tell of increasing productivity while at the same time decreasing its environmental footprint.
During the Conservation in Action Tour one of our farm stops was the Carter Farm where we met Jon Black (pictured left). He gave us a presentation on no-till cotton which he is standing in. I caught up to him on the phone afterward since we didn’t have time for an interview there.
Conservation Technology Information Center Chairman Tim Healey, 
Not all the farmers I met during the Conservation in Action Tour were making presentations. One of them was Wayne Kirby, Virginia corn farmer and Chairman of the Virginia Corn Board. Wayne says a lot of people are interested in agriculture in their area and especially what’s happening with the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort. 
One of our Conservation in Action Tour bus speakers was Katie Kyger Frazier, V.P. Public Affairs, 
Harold Reetz is one of the board members for the Conservation Technology Information Center and has formed 
Representing 
Precision ag was highlighted at the Nutrient Use Efficiency Expo during the Conservation in Action Tour by a company called Geosys represented by Don Lampker. Don says Geosys is a relatively small technology supply company. He says they do a lot with satellite imagery and have a product called 
During the Nutrient Use Efficiency Expo on the Conservation in Action Tour our sponsor, 
Paul Davis farms in New Kent County, VA and drives a truck with a bumper sticker that says, “Never-Till.” His farm was a stop on the Conservation in Action Tour. He’s been in continuous no-till since 1999.
The Deputy Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, USDA, is Ann Mills. Ann oversees the Natural Resources Conservation Service. During lunch on the Conservation in Action Tour she spoke to us about several initiatives under her oversight. She talked about her goals of getting 100 percent participation from Chesapeake Bay area land owners to help with the watershed cleanup efforts. She acknowledged farmers work on this and told people during the tour how much she was learning about the practices they employ. I think this shows how important it is to invite government officials out to the farm. If they’re going to regulate you it would be nice if they actually knew what you do!
The Conservation in Action Tour provides an opportunity for farmers to see how other farmers are implementing good conservation practices but it also allows policy makers a chance to learn more about this area. One of our tour participants who spoke to us at our lunch stop was Kelly Shenk, EPA. She works in the Chesapeake Bay Program office.