The next
Manitoba - North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers' Association
Annual Workshop
 is scheduled for January 9 -11, 2012
at the Holiday Inn, Minot, ND.

The Manitoba-North Dakota Zero-Tillage Farmers Association is holding its 34th annual workshop and trade show January 9-11, 2012 at the Holiday Inn, Riverside in Minot, North Dakota.  The theme for the 2012 workshop is “Sustainable Ag Through Zero-Till”. 

The Man-Dak Board has put together a diverse agenda of sustainability topics encompassing soil biology, seeding systems, nutrient and pest management techniques, research updates, and management of soil carbon. “We have challenged our expert presenters to tie their science to practical farming practices. We have a great program lined up,” said Mike Zimmerman, President of the Board of Directors.

A few of the confirmed presenters include Dr. Dwayne Beck, Dr. Jill Clapperton, Bill “No-till Bill” Crabtree, Sarah Singla, Karl Kupers, Guy LaFond and Randy Anderson.  There will be several panel and rap session discussions and the famous International Beer and Bull session.

Beck, research manager for the SDSU Dakota Lakes Research Farm, Pierre, SD  will provide an interesting perspective on an evolving process in cropping systems and how no-till is changing old held traditions, concepts and ideas into a profitable system that addresses production, environmental and conservation issues in farm country.  One example of how concepts and ideas are changing is that many producers believe all nutrients found in fertilizers and soils are readily available to plants to absorb and use. This is not the case. Often times these nutrients must be converted to available forms by bacteria, fungi, and nematodes. Micro-organisms also convert leachable forms of nutrients into non-leachable forms protecting ground and surface water from pollution while providing plants nutrition they need. Jill Clapperton, former Rhizosphere Ecologist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, will discuss the link between soil biology and soil fertility and will help producers understand how to take advantage of the biology in their soils to increase profitability and gain maximum return from the fertilizer dollar they spend.

“No-till and crop diversity has led to a new approach with weed management, where cultural tactics that disrupt weed population dynamics supplement herbicide performance,” according to Randy Anderson, weed scientist at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Brookings.  This approach of combining cultural tactics and herbicides reduces weed populations in producers’ fields across time.  With lower weed populations, producers are effectively controlling weeds with 50% less cost compared to conventional management relying on herbicides and tillage. Producers attending this session will learn how to integrate this concept into their farming systems. 

Additional topics, speakers, and registration information can be found on Annual Workshop or by contacting Bonnie Staiger, Executive Secretary for the Association at 701-223-3184 or email at mandak@westriv.com.

The Man-Dak Zero Tillage Farmer’s Association pledges "to preserve our agricultural soil resource for future generations by promoting a system of crop production which drastically reduces soil erosion and builds up organic matter.”