One of the “high”lights of the recent Conservation Technology Information Center tour in Livingston County, Ill., was a demonstration of using a crop duster to seed ground cover on a field still growing corn. Eric Smith with Pontiac Flying Service explained shortly after one of his pilots (in fact, Scott Petersen, the company’s owner/operations manager) flew over the field and …
GROWMARK: CTIC Support is Being Good Stewards
The Conservation Technology Information Center tour just completed with a theme of “Community 4 Conservation” this year. Dan Maggart with GROWMARK (pictured to the right, talking to bus load on the tour about what GROWMARK offers in way of agronomic services) explained why his company sees itself as such a good fit as a sponsor for the tour and its …
Finding Solutions From the Land
Prior to the start of the 2013 Conservation in Action Tour attendees learned more about Solutions From The Land from Project Coordinator Ernie Shea. This was part of the pre-tour seminar. Here’s what SFL is all about: “A national dialogue led by agriculture, forestry and conservation thought leaders to help landowners and managers make the most of the land’s potential.” …
CTIC Tour Fosters EPA Watershed Understanding
Talk about some inter-agency friendliness. Here’s EPA’s Denise Keehner, Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds and Acting Chief Jason Weller, USDA-NRCS. They were attending the CTIC Conservation in Action Tour and met after luncheon remarks by Denise. I spoke with Denise after her remarks and on the subject of inter-agency cooperation she says it is the best she’s ever …
Welcome to CTIC Community 4 Conservation
Community 4 Conservation is the theme of this year’s Conservation Technology Information Center tour that just completed. To provide an overview of what the 2013 Conservation in Action Tour would cover I spoke with CTIC Board Chair, Dave Gustafson, Monsanto. Here’s Dave getting things started at our first stop of the day. Dave says about this year’s tour, “It’s going …
Farmers Need Conservation & Research
How important is conservation to farmers? John Hardin, Indiana grain and hog farmer, says that it is the last thing to cut in the farm bill and that coupled with research, they are the most government functions to help farmers! That’s saying a lot. Here’s a farmer who has real bottom line experience in how important being a good steward …
Conservation Resources Vital to Farmers
The Acting Chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Jason Weller, welcomed attendees to the Conservation Technology Information Center, 2013 Conservation in Action Tour, being held in Illinois. We got to talk for a few moments this evening and hopefully will have another chance tomorrow on the tour. I asked him how important a farm bill is to a …
Conservation in Action Tour Almost Full
My next stop on the agriblogging highway will be the 2013 Conservation in Action Tour in Illinois. There are only a few seats left. I’ve been attending Conservation Technology Information Center tours for years now and they are loaded with information. This tour is July 9-10 in Livingston, IL. A pre-tour seminar on July 9 has also been added. Learn …
2013 Conservation In Action Tour Registration Open
Registration has opened for the Conservation Technology Information Center’s 2013 Conservation In Action Tour, which will explore innovative conservation practices in and around the Indian Creek watershed in Livingston County, Ill., on July 9 and 10. Celebrating the theme of Community 4 Conservation, this year’s tour will bring together agriculture leaders from all over the country – including farmers, crop …
Soybean Growers Also Interested in Conservation
While much of the focus of the Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour has been on corn, and in particular, nitrogen use and runoff in corn, soybean growers are also interested in the event. “Corn is a major crop, but soybeans are also a rotational crop, and lot of the research they’re doing on nitrogen management is on corn-soybean rotation …