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From soil carbon to precision ag, this event offers farmers and ranchers updates on a range of topics.

January 9, 2019

3 Min Read
drone flying over green wheat field
MOVING FORWARD: There’s more to looking ahead for your operation than drones, and the 2019 Farming Evolution event offers attendees plenty to learn about.valio84sl/Getty Images

How is your farm changing to keep up? What areas offer you the chance to expand your business, or enhance profitability in 2019 and beyond? If you’re looking for answers to these and other burning agricultural questions, one place to start is at the 2019 Farming Evolution event in Holyoke, Colo. This two-day event — Feb. 20 and 21 — brings together experts from a range of areas including soil carbon, precision ag, satellite imagery and herbicide resistance management.

If you register by Feb. 8, the costs are $30 for one day and $40 for both days. Late registration and at-the-door costs are $40 for one day and $50 for both days. Breaks, lunches and handout materials are included in the price.

And who will be on hand? Here’s a look at the speakers for the 2019 event:

• Christine Jones. Jones, a soil ecologist from Australia, will be the headline speaker. Over several decades, she has worked with farmers and ranchers using renewing practices. After a highly respected career in the public sector, she began to promote the benefits of soil carbon throughout the world.

Jones will spend a good deal of time explaining how we can build new topsoil and will transition to the amazing power of diversity. She’ll also talk about how pasture cropping can benefit the soil and producer. Pasture propping is seeding annual crops into former cropland seeded to grasses. This includes Conservation Reserve Program, soil bank or go-back lands. You can learn more about Jones at amazingcarbon.com.

• Raj Khosla. Khosla will speak about precision nutrient cycling and precision climate smart agriculture. He was named 2015 Precision Ag Educator of the Year by the Precision Ag Institute and will explore the connection between soil variability and precise crop inputs. Khosla will also discuss using remote sensing techniques to identify crop nitrogen stress in irrigated corn, and to detect weeds.

Tools and tech
Seeing is believing, and nothing makes an impression like a rainfall simulator. Seeing how water behaves on soils with different tillage and cropping histories is fascinating every time.

• Candy Thomas. Do you know how nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus cycle in the soil? Candy Thomas will share both how they cycle and why that matters to you. Thomas is the soil health specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service for Kansas and Nebraska.

• Eric Westra. Westra will present “Managing Herbicide-Resistant Weeds” and will discuss identifying and managing problem weeds. He is a research associate with Todd Gaines at Colorado State University.

• Scott Speck. Speck will share the decision-making opportunities satellite imagery provides. He is the digital ag lead for Western Plains in Gothenburg, Neb. Information on emergence, irrigation, soil variance, pests and diseases are all available from satellites.

• A panel of drone “pilots” will discuss “Drones: Toy or Tool?”

There will also be a producer panel on hand to share their no-till and soil health journeys.

There will be a mixer after the program on Wednesday to visit with speakers and exhibitors.

Registrations are accepted online, in person or by phone at the NRCS Office in Holyoke. To register online, go to the Farming Evolution 2019 registration site. Use the “payment method” drop-down menu to pay by credit card online, or to select “pay by check.” You may pay at the door for late registrations.

The agenda, lodging and dining information are also available at the website.

Source: Colorado State University, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

 

 

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