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The new Conservation Technology Information Center website contains thousands of documents and links to information on conservation farming systems.

December 21, 2018

2 Min Read
scenic corn and soybean fields
NEW WEBSITE: CTIC says its new website is easy to navigate and search for information on conservation farming practices.

The Conservation Technology Information Center, a clearinghouse of information on conservation farming practices, has launched its brand-new website, ctic.org. The site contains thousands of documents and links to information on conservation farming systems. Among the highlights are:

• a searchable database from the Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS), which uses satellite imagery to provide detailed data on tillage practices and cover crops at the county or watershed scale

• cover crop insight, including details of the economic and environmental benefits of cover crops, and the results of five annual farmer surveys on cover crop use

• tips on organizing watershed groups and multiple-stakeholder conservation efforts, including analysis of knowledge transfer and ideas for creating effective demonstration plots

• real-world perspective on conservation farming practices and systems that help farmers build profitability and protect the quality of the soil, water and air

CTIC’s interim executive director, Dave Gustafson, points out that creating a new website is central to the center’s mission.

“For more than 30 years, CTIC has gathered and shared the latest information on practices that can help farmers build their soils, reduce their costs and farm in ways that are more economically sustainable and environmentally beneficial,” Gustafson says. “Information is at the heart of our Inform, Connect, Champion credo. We’ve brought together the leading experts from farms, universities, government agencies, agribusiness and the nonprofit world, and created a one-stop shop for the insight that they have all brought to the table.”

Gustafson adds that the internet offers a perfect tool for CTIC’s information-sharing efforts.

“Back in the early 1990s, before the World Wide Web and browsers, we were trying to craft systems that would use dial-in messaging capabilities of the time to allow people to find the information they were looking for on no-till and crop residue management,” he notes. “At the time, it was cutting-edge, though now it seems so primitive. Today, we can use the web to deliver documents, videos, data — anything people could want to know about conservation systems. It’s the perfect time for us to create a new site and put people in touch with our treasure trove of information.”

The CTIC is a national public-private partnership that includes farmers, policymakers, regulators, academic researchers, agribusiness leaders, conservation group personnel, farm media and others. CTIC is supported in part by the U.S. EPA, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and other public entities.

Source: CTIC

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