Farmers, industry folks gather to talk conservation tillage
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/23/2012 9:22 AM
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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Farmers, researchers and industry professionals came together last week at the Conservation Tillage Conference to share ideas and network.
The conference, hosted by University of Minnesota Extension for the fifth year, drew about 120 people and 20 vendors to the International Event Center in Rochester for its Feb. 7 and 8 run. It was the first time the event was in southeastern Minnesota.
The show focuses on education, with vendors as backup, while late summer strip till events focus more on vendors and equipment with education as the backup, said Extension educator Jodi DeJong-Hughes, who organizes the conference.
Farmers Mark Thompson and Tim Stensland from Badger, Iowa, found the conference very useful.
"I thought it was outstanding," Thompson said.
He has used strip till for eight years and Stensland uses mostly conventional tillage. Stensland does strip tillage on one farm and came to the convention to get answers to some of his questions regarding the tillage system. His goal is to switch completely to strip till.
Stensland discovered the answers to his questions weren't that clear cut. But he didn't leave the conference empty-handed, he carried a binder full of information and notes he'd taken himself to review at home.
Stensland's only regret was that he couldn't be in two places in once to catch both seminars going on at the same time in different rooms.
It was definitely worth their time to drive three hours north, Thompson said.
"Always make time to go and to learn more," he said.
DeJong-Hughes said 75 percent of the conference attendees were farmers, with the rest being government agency staff, agronomists or other agricultural professionals.
New this year were table talks, where small groups of people gathered with a speaker to learn more about a topic.
Presenter Roger Toquam, a ridge tiller from Dodge County, gathered in the lobby with a half-dozen farmers who discussed ridging end rows, field traffic and an implement called a Row Stalker.
At another table, Jill Sackett from Rural Advantage talked about cover crops and at another, George Rehm talked about fertilizing corn after corn. There were 12 tables in all for six different time segments.
DeJong-Hughes said the table talks were popular and also indicated interest areas of attendees.