Conservation Blogger

SWCS Razorback Chapter in Arkansas Cosponsors Cover Crops Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 13:47:00 +0000

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
News Release No.: 080513-01

LITTLE ROCK, AR August 5, 2013 - Interest in cover crops has begun to surge in Arkansas over the last five years. More and more farmers and ranchers are discovering that cover crops have the potential to provide multiple benefits in a cropping system. They prevent erosion, improve soil’s physical and biological properties, supply nutrients, suppress weeds, improve the availability of soil water, and break pest cycles along with various other benefits.

Those benefits were discussed at the Southern Agricultural Cover Crops Workshop recently held in Jonesboro, AR. The workshop was hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in response to the increasing demand from farmers and ranchers for information on cover crops. It was designed to help farmers successfully adopt cover crop management systems congruent to agriculture conditions in the south.

Sponsors of the workshop included NRCS; Arkansas Natural Resources Commission; Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts; University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension; Arkansas State University College of Agriculture and Technology; Arkansas Agriculture Department; Farm Credit; Arkansas Farm Bureau; Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education; Monsanto; and Soil and Water Conservation Society – Razorback Chapter.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of acres being managed with cover crops as a part of the cropping system,” said Mike Sullivan, Arkansas NRCS State Conservationist. “This workshop provided a forum for farmers and ranchers to exchange information, discuss opportunities for collaboration, and learn about new and successful practices related to cover crops.”

Case study presentations identified and discussed the strengths and pitfalls of real applications. Specific sessions included discussions on cover crop management, no‐till, soil management, water management, pest management, disease management and economics. The workshop presenters included farmers, crop consultants, and research scientists who have extensive experience in cover crop management. Among them were: David Lamm, NRCS National Soil Health and Sustainability Team Leader; Dr. Don Tyler, University of Tennessee Engineering and Soil Science; Steve Groff, of Cedar Meadow Farms in Lancaster County, PA; Dr. Ray Massey, University of Missouri Agricultural and Applied Economics; and Dave Brandt of Brandt Farms in Ohio.

“Hopefully, this workshop will be the catalyst to get more farmers involved in not only preserving but also restoring our soils,” said workshop speaker Mike Taylor of Long Lake Plantation in Helena.

Cover crops enhance soil quality and keep nutrients in the fields. Although cover crops can be effective under conventional tillage, they also improve soil quality and ease the transition to continuous no‐till.

“Southern farmers cannot simply rely on the tried and proven management techniques that the Midwest employs to manage cover crop mixes,” said John Lee, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service State Agronomist in Arkansas. “Conditions in the South are different, and we need to plan to manage crop mixes according to southern agricultural farming practices.”

There were 152 participants from 12 states who attended the two day workshop July 24th and 25th coming from as far away as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

“I commend NRCS’s leadership for organizing an excellent conference with a lot of great information,” said workshop speaker Dr. Mike Daniels, Extension Water Quality professor at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension. “It was very timely and reminded us that we all have a lot of work to do to advance cover crops in Arkansas as a key practice in the future. More and more cover crops will help with soil health, productivity, weed control and natural resource protection.”

“I thought the conference was excellent and offered farmers, researchers and educators a wide array of perspectives and opinions about cover crops and how they fit into a comprehensive soil health program,” said Keith Berns, a no till farmer with Green Cover Seeds in Bladen, NE . “The producers that I visited with were very interested and had a true desire to learn how to increase the health of their soil. That is what it is all about, regardless of whether you farm in Arkansas or Nebraska.”

Through conservation programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, NRCS is working to help farmers adapt cover crop practices to their farms. Cover crops improve soil organic matter, soil moisture availability, and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. Farmers can reap dividends on their cover crop investment for years because their benefits accumulate over an extended period of time.

For additional information about cover crops, when and how to plant and when to terminate or incorporate the plant into the soil, visit the NRCS website at www.nrcs.usda.gov or call your local NRCS field office listed in the telephone book under U. S. Department of Agriculture.

PowerPoint presentations from the workshop are available online at the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts Web site.

Southern Agriculture Cover Crops Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:53:00 +0000

The Arkansas Razorback Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society will sponsor the Southern Agriculture Cover Crops Workshop, held July 24-25, 2013, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The goals of the two-day workshop are to assist farmers in successful adoption of cover crops in Southern agricultural systems and to provide a forum for producer discussion and collaboration. The workshop will feature talks on soil biology, soil health, pest management, cost effectiveness of cover crops, selection of cover crops, cover crops in no-till systems, and more. Speakers include producers, university researchers, and USDA NRCS conservationists. Register by July 1 for the early registration rate of $100/person. View the agenda online and download the registration form here.

2013 SWCS Annual Conference: Apply Now for the Student Moderator Program!

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:06:00 +0000

Following the success of the 2012 Student Moderator Program, we are again accepting applications for student moderators for the 2013 Annual Conference. Up to 18 awardees will spend one day working at the conference as student moderators and will assist the conference presenters and symposium organizers during the educational program. For their service, their conference registration fees and hotel room costs will be waived or covered.

Students will work one of the two education days of the meeting (Monday or Tuesday, July 22 or 23) and may attend any sessions they choose on the other. Additional information and an online application form can be found on the conference Web site.

About the conference:
The 68th International SWCS Annual Conference will be held in Reno, Nevada. Primary conference dates are July 21-24, 2013. Tours will be on July 24th. The headquarters hotel is the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino.

Voluntary Stewardship: Will More of the Same Produce Different Results?

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:58:00 +0000

By Tom Prout, SWCS Canadian Region Director

I write this article with the knowledge gained from more than 35 years of experience in watershed management in southern Ontario and with the anticipation that it may generate some response from conservation practitioners, farm organizations, and farm leaders.

For at least seven decades, many landowners have been implementing stewardship projects and applying a conservation ethic when making management decisions. These voluntary actions are beneficial and do contribute to the maintenance of water quality levels. However, considering our ongoing concerns with the health of our watersheds, perhaps it is time to reflect on the following questions:

Is voluntary stewardship taking too long and using too much money to actually achieve the water quality society desires?
Are changing farming practices and farming technologies outpacing the good that can be achieved by voluntary stewardship?
Are we using the correct Best Management Practices (BMPs) and stewardship practices in the right places?
Do we need new and improved BMP and stewardship practices?
What are the confounding factors that prevent us from making bigger improvements in the water quality of our lakes, rivers, and streams?
What will the next generation of BMPs and stewardship look like?

Canada and the United States are two of the world’s leading countries, but are our societies committed to changing our lifestyles to help improve the environment we all live in and appreciate?

For decades, farmers in southern Ontario have publicly said that they would spend more time and money on stewardship projects if they received a fair or higher price for their product. However, after two consecutive years of very high commodity prices and some record yields, I am observing the opposite reaction: less conservation tillage, higher fertilizer rates to achieve record yields, increased sales of moldboard plows, and the removal of windbreaks and forests to make larger fields. With record-high farmland prices and larger equipment, farmers seem to have less time for conservation. Perhaps it is time to let farmers manage their lands as they see fit and, instead of offering stewardship grants, set water quality standards for them to meet.

Municipalities must meet water quality standards for their sewage treatment facilities, and in some municipalities there are now water quality standards for storm water discharge that developers have to meet. Local businesses have to meet discharge standards from their processing facilities. Nonpoint source pollution is really just many forms of point source pollution combined. Farmland is being systematically drained at an ever increasing rate to increase productivity. Will these tile outlets provide a way to measure nonpoint sources of pollution? Can we realistically measure nonpoint sources at the field level and tie water quality to field scale operations?

If society wants to get serious about water quality in our lakes and streams, it may be time to set water quality standards for surface and subsurface drainage from farmland. We must determine whether society can continue to afford annual payments to encourage voluntary stewardship. In making these decisions and answering the questions listed above, we will discover what the next generation of BMPs will look like.

I am not suggesting that the decades of conservation work are all for naught, and I am not suggesting that farmers intentionally pollute. However, I do believe it is time to stop and reflect on our current approach to watershed management and ask ourselves one more question: will doing more of the same thing achieve the water quality standards we want to achieve, or will doing more of the same thing get us more of the same results? We—as in the big we, society—need to decide if we want maximum productivity from farms and some of the lowest food prices in the world at the expense of the air and water quality we need to survive.

Soil and Water Stewardship Week: Where Does Your Water Shed?

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:56:00 +0000

It's Soil and Water Stewardship Week, and this year's theme is "Where does your water shed?" Related events and activities will be taking place across the country from April 28th through May 5th, 2013. You can read more about the stewardship program on the National Association of Conservation Districts Web site, click the links below for news from a few states, and contact your local conservation district to learn how stewardship is put into practice in your area.

If you're like me, you're probably still wondering, "But where does my water shed?" The Watershed Information Network--put together by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Geological Survey, and the Conservation Technology Information Center (an SWCS corporate member)--is a great resource that provides general information about watersheds, maps to locate a specific watershed, and current water quality data from each location. Information about volunteer groups that work to monitor water quality and maintain watershed health is also available. Check it out and get involved!

Skeet Shooting in the Dark

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:17:00 +0000

By Pete Nowak, SWCS West North Central Director

Yes, the title of this piece describes a ludicrous situation. Imagine standing in the dark with a shotgun on your shoulder and the expectation that you are going to hit little clay disks that are flying about. Your probability of hitting any is very, very low, but that still would not prevent some people from firing away as if they knew what they were shooting at. Skeet shooting in the dark makes as much sense as do conservation programs without targeting and assessment. To what extent do we know where our shots should be aimed, and when we do pull the trigger, do they make an impact? Focusing on the number of shells we shoot or the design or make of the shotgun is of little benefit unless we also know that we are hitting the right target and making an impact.

Traditionally, we relied on national assessment programs (e.g., the Resource Conservation Act and the National Resources Inventory) to define the target and evaluate impacts across time, but those sources of guidance are no longer treated as salient to our conservation efforts. Do we need such efforts?

Any reading of the agricultural press conveys an image of substantial changes happening across our working lands. Simultaneously, the structure of our agricultural system continues to change, and few within the conservation arena know how to deal with these changes. There is significant intensification in production due to global markets that has been accelerated by demand for alternative fuels, and in too many cases, a conservation ethic has been supplanted by greed. There is also an emergence of small farms and locally grown foods. Like some small religious sects that preceded them, local foods have a cultural halo that has limited a hard look at how they are produced. In addition, there is increasing variability in weather events such that the term “disaster” has become commonplace, and while we spend billions in remedial efforts, pennies are dedicated to exploring how to enhance the resiliency of our agricultural systems. The rate of fragmentation of our agricultural lands is matched by a growing rate of tenancy, and yet we remain blinded to the conservation implications of this structural shift by effective use of Jeffersonian images in public relation campaigns. The science of genomics continues to provide fascinating opportunities, but also reminds us with herbicide-resistant weeds that any new technology is a double-edged sword.

It is in this turbulent setting where, more than ever, we need an assessment of these dynamics coupled with a persistent question of whether our conservation efforts are hitting the target with the desired impact. Unfortunately, we do not even have a Cassandra as political decisions regarding assessment and evaluation have turned out the lights on the conservation arena. We are skeet shooting in the dark.

I have always thought that the expression “think globally, act locally” sounded a little too touchy-feely for me, but now I am beginning to appreciate some of the wisdom behind this statement. If our leadership cannot or will not act relative to the aforementioned challenges, then it is our responsibility as conservationists to act locally. A conservationist will work around programs and use experience and local knowledge to reach out and address the conservation challenges in her area. Local conservation issues are addressed by finding creative and even unorthodox ways of solving problems even if it means not being recorded in the performance systems of program managers (Nowak 2009). However, all these actions by conservationists remain insufficient unless one more element is added.

In the challenging setting I have just described, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of listening, learning, and interacting with fellow conservationists. There is no better teacher than the one found in the school of hard knocks, and most of the conservationists I know have been there. How do we deal with the trends and issues outlined earlier? Interacting with other conservationists is sure to generate some clues if not the answers on how this can be done. Creating opportunities for conservationists to talk about conservation with fellow conservationists creates, in essence, a spotlight on the target. Professional associations such as SWCS offer the opportunity to learn from other conservationists. To paraphrase John Donne, no conservationist is an island onto himself or herself as we have so much to share with each other. Turning the lights back on in the conservation arena depends on you acting locally with insights and motivation coming from global participation with fellow conservationists. Be active in your SWCS as so much depends on it!

Reference: Nowak, Pete. 2009. The subversive conservationist. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 64(4):113A-115A, doi:10.2489/jswc.64.4.113A.

This article first appeared in the March 2013 Conservogram newsletter.

Northern Plains Chapter: Technical Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:55:00 +0000

On March 27 and 28, 2013, the Northern Plains Chapter of the SWCS will hold its annual technical meeting in Casper, Wyoming. The meeting will include presentations on soil health and biology, crop diversity, cover crops, and no-till management. There is no registration fee, but attendees are requested to register by March 20. The registration form and the conference agenda are available online here.

Wisconsin SWCS Conference: Impact on Conservation with Increasing Commodity Pressures

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:01:00 +0000

The Wisconsin Chapter of the International Soil and Water Conservation Society will be conducting their annual conference on February 21, 2013. This conference will begin at 8:30 AM in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center located at 1001 Amber Avenue. Early registration is due by February 14th and can be completed online at www.wi-swcs.org. Registration is also accepted the day of the conference, but preferably due by February 14th to estimate the number of meals.

This year’s conference will look at the trends in commodity economics affecting land use decisions, USDA Farm Bill impact on natural resources, recent changes to Wisconsin wetland laws, and innovative new ways to mitigate and control agriculture impacts to surface waters. Presenters will be from the United States Departments of Agriculture, United States Geologic Survey, Wisconsin DNR, UW-Extension, National Wildlife Federation, Madison Metro Sewerage District, and DVO Inc. Lunch will be provided with registration.

The Wisconsin Soil and Water Conservation Society is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization devoted to bringing people and science-based ideas together to promote and improve the natural resources of the state.

If you would like more information about the conference or have a question regarding registration, please contact Ryan Gerlich at gerlichr@hotmail.com or Gene Hausner via email at hausnergp@frontier.com.

Giving the Gift of Water

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:30:00 +0000

The Soil and Water Conservation Society recently topped this list of water conservation organizations to donate to this holiday season. (Thanks, Seametrics!) By making a donation, you will help SWCS

Maintain our Washington, DC, presence that has provided excellent representation for you on the current Farm Bill and other conservation policy issues
Reestablish a position in Ottawa to interface between Canadian government officials and our membership across Canada
Produce position papers on important conservation science and policy issues and encourage their consideration in policy and program implementation

Making a contribution is simple. You can

Donate online at www.swcs.org;
Write a check and mail it to the SWCS at 945 SW Ankeny Road, Ankeny, IA 50023; or
Call our office at 1-800-THE-SOIL.

Thanks for supporting us and natural resource conservation efforts this year!

The Beginnings of a Paradigm Shift

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:51:00 +0000

By Dan Towery, SWCS President

There is a growing buzz about soil health, and I believe that this subject is going to be a game changer. I wasn’t taught about soil health in college (in fact, I was taught that one cannot increase the organic matter on cropland). However, things have changed since then. Back then, no-till was in its very early years of adoption, and if cover crops were planted, they were used as a green manure crop. When I was working as a soil conservationist with the Soil Conservation Service, if a grower planted no-till it was a major accomplishment. At that time, however, it was done as a one-year conservation practice. Continuous no-till was only being used by a small number of growers, and even fewer researchers were using continuous no-till. Rotational tillage (no-till one year and then full-width tillage for other years) was the norm. It was almost twenty years before I realized that it took continuous no-till to see improvements in soil properties. Most (but not all) researchers and those who provide technical assistance now realize that rotational tillage results in almost no change in soil properties.

The adoption of continuous no-till and a more diversified crop rotation (at least in the Great Plains) began the shift in thinking regarding soil health or soil quality. Over time, there was an increase in organic matter in the top most soil layer; infiltration, aggregate stability, available moisture holding capacity, pore space, and bulk density improved. The soil was functioning better, and growers were seeing a yield increase in dry summers. Growers then started planting cover crops to add some or even more diversity to the crop rotation, and the changes in soil properties came much faster and were even more pronounced. Scavenging or fixing nitrogen dramatically changed the nitrogen cycle. Also, the use of cover crop “cocktails” (mixes) started growing.

Due to these production advantages, soil health has become the buzz. It may not be prominent in your county or area yet, but it will be. Instead of just looking at the physical and chemical soil properties (as I was taught in college), the interrelationship with the biological properties is now emerging as a critical component of the soil functioning process. But it takes time to change the biology in the soil. It is complex and is affected by temperature and moisture (remember it is a living system). Just as we can’t see germs and viruses, we can’t always observe the actual bacteria, fungi, or other soil critters, but they are there. Researchers will sort out the scientific aspects regarding soil biology over time. Meanwhile, more and more farmers and farmer advisors are seeing the results of an improved soil. They are seeing consistently higher yields in some years because they are making their soil more resilient. And a healthy soil is a critical step in order to improve water quality and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service recently launched a soil health campaign that can be viewed online here. The Indiana Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society held a soil health workshop on November 16th, and two cover crops conferences will take place in Iowa and Illinois this winter. Take a look at these and other events and become involved in learning what soil health is all about.

This article first appeared in the November 2012 Conservogram newsletter.

Dale Threatt-Taylor interviewed on PBS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:57:00 +0000

Watch Wednesday, November 14, 2012 on PBS. See more from NC Now.

District Director for the Wake Soil & Water Conservation District in Raleigh, NC, (and SWCS Member) Dale Threatt-Taylor is interviewed on the relationship between Ken Burns' new documentary The Dust Bowl and soil and water conservation today.

Soil Health Workshop Videos

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:40:00 +0000

The Colorado Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society is hosting a Technical Conference in Vail, Colorado, on November 12 and 13. The focus of the conference is soil health. Presentations will be streamed live and available for viewing after the conference. Access the presentations here.

Conservation Technology Information Center: 30-Year Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:27:00 +0000

The Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), an SWCS corporate member organization, celebrated its 30th anniversary on October 25, 2012, at Monsanto's facility in Creve Coeur, Missouri. The event included panel discussions exploring the past, present, and future of agricultural conservation, as well as recognition of individuals who have contributed to the organization's mission. Read the full event summary here.

SWCS 2013 Annual Conference: Call for Presentations

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:03:00 +0000

The Soil and Water Conservation Society is seeking oral and poster presentations and symposia proposals for the 2013 International Annual Conference in Reno, NV.

Each year SWCS identifies topics or a theme for special attention at the Annual Conference. The overarching theme for the conference this year is Resilient Landscapes: Planning for Flood, Drought & Fire.

At the 2013 SWCS Annual Conference, we would like to explore conservation planning, policy, and practices that, by improving system resilience, help adapt to and mitigate the adverse effects of Flood, Drought, and Fire. This may include urban, suburban and rural natural resource environments and landscapes as well as working agricultural lands. We hope that your abstracts for oral presentations, posters, and symposia submissions will address the technical, educational, and informational needs of conservationists as we work together to address the challenges encountered in creating resilient landscapes.

In the face of pressures from a highly dynamic climate, changing markets, and evolving environmental conditions, agriculture must produce not only food, feed, and fiber but also fuel and a broader array of landscape or ecosystem services. Conservation professionals need to adapt to new resource demands and changes in our client base and needs. Conservation must deal with larger spatial-temporal scales of soil and water management and conservation, such as landscape and watershed scales, and planning for extreme events. Achieving these changes will require improved collaborations with different agencies and research institutions to plan and apply on the ground conservation. It may also require returning to our conservation roots to invigorate local coalitions to prioritize and plan conservation needs and programs.

The submission deadline is December 17, 2012. Download the full call for presentations here.

SWCS Chapter Leader Training Webinars

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:25:00 +0000

The SWCS Chapter Leader Training Webinars have begun! Yesterday's webinar provided an overview of the series. The next webinar will be held on Thursday, November 8, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. eastern standard time. Register for the free workshop here.

This training series has been developed by the SWCS Leadership Development Committee to assist anyone interested in a chapter leadership role in the Society. Presenters will include members of the committee, SWCS headquarters staff, and other experienced chapter leaders. You can read more about the webinar series and test your connection for the upcoming meeting here.

SWCS Winter Cover Crops Meetings

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:23:00 +0000

The Soil and Water Conservation Society is hosting two cover crops conferences this winter! The first will be held December 13-14, 2012, in Altoona, Iowa. The second will be January 29-30, 2013, in Decatur, Illinois.

These meetings will build on the success of last year's SWCS Cover Crops conference held in Decatur, Illinois, which was attended by 290 people. The meetings will provide a forum for farmers to exchange information, discuss opportunities for collaboration, and learn about the new and successful practices related to cover crops. Case study presentations will identify and discuss strengths and pitfalls of real applications.

Speakers will include farmers, crop consultants, and university researchers who have extensive experience in cover crop management. Exhibit halls at the meetings will host dozens of equipment companies, service providers and seed dealers to help answer your questions about how to incorporate cover crops into your system. If you're interested in being an exhibitor or sponsor at one or both meetings, more information is online here, or contact Meredith Foley at meredith.foley@swcs.org.

Registration for these meetings is just $49 each. View the agenda and register for the Altoona, Iowa, Cover Crops Conference here. View the agenda and register for the Illinois Cover Crops Conference here.

6th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture: Call for Presentations

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:48:00 +0000

Call for Oral and Poster Presentations

6^th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

22-26 June 2014

Soil Health and Wallet Wealth is the overall theme for the 6th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture because the path to sustainable long-term agricultural production starts with healthy soil. Agricultural production systems are not sustainable unless they are profitable, and Conservation Agriculture is the key to building and maintaining healthy soils and profitable farming systems. Three subthemes for this Congress will focus on aspects of Conservation Agriculture designed to enhance our knowledge base and share experiences among attendees.

1. Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification (production, profit, and sustainability)
As the world population grows, the demand for food, fuel and fiber will grow. Conservation agriculture will allow producers to intensify their cropping systems to increase production without increasing the area devoted to agriculture with emphasis on 1) improving soil quality; 2) increasing efficient use of inputs (labor, nutrients, water); and 3) increasing cropping system diversity.

2. Conservation Agriculture and Climate Change (variation, adaptation, and mitigation)
Conservation Agriculture systems allow producers to take a proactive approach to dealing with climate change. A well-designed Conservation Agriculture system will not only reduce emissions but will provide producers with more options to deal with changes in rainfall patterns or growing season temperatures. Presentations will emphasize 1) the role of conservation agriculture in mitigation of climate change impacts, and 2) design and implementation of resilient and conservation agriculture systems that are “climate smart.”

3. Conservation Agriculture and Innovative Adoption (education and learning systems)
There is no better teacher of a technique than someone who has successfully mastered that technique. This subtheme area will focus on learning about conservation agriculture systems from those who have studied them as well as those who are successfully applying them. Presentations for this session will emphasize 1) communication strategies (farmer, industry, policy, and scientist); 2) adoption and innovation/learning systems (extension, farmer's experimentation); and 3) participatory resource management/adaptive management.

Proposals for oral and poster presentations are to be submitted to (www.ctic.org/wcca/abstracts) following the guidelines for submission by September 1, 2013. All submissions will be reviewed and the corresponding author notified after review by the program committee by October 15, 2013. The program for the 6th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture will be available by January 15, 2014.

Questions on the papers for the 6th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture can be directed to: Jerry L. Hatfield (Program Chair) at jerry.hatfield@ars.usda.gov

CRP Readiness Initiative

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:33:00 +0000

Dear Friends in Conservation,

This is just a reminder that the CRP Readiness Initiative is open for fall registration. Join over 340 of your colleagues across the country who have already participated in our comprehensive training program. The path to becoming an NRCS certified CRP Technical Service Provider (TSP) has never been easier with new online training options and access to local mentors. Participants complete an online Core Training, develop a CRP plan with a mentor and have access to a suite of online, in-person and hybrid supplemental courses.

If you, your staff, or interested colleagues were unable to attend one of the trainings we hosted earlier this year, now is your chance to sign-up and add to your conservation planning skill set.

Participants who complete the FREE online Core Training are eligible for the mentorship and supplemental courses at no additional charge. Supplemental courses are available for a fee to all other participants.

Please visit our new website facesofcrp.info for an overview of the entire program including training availability, benefits and continuing education units (CEUs). Also, take a few minutes to get to know some of your peers who have already participated in the program by clicking on the Our Stories and TSP Blog sections of the website. If you are on Facebook, please help us get to 100 Likes by the end of the month so we can spread the word on conservation and the benefits of becoming a TSP.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to helping you take the next step in your conservation planning career.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Power

Project Co-Director

Kevin Erb

Project Co-Director

Karen Bassler

Project Manager

Project Contacts

Rebecca Power, Project Co-Director

rebecca.power@ces.uwex.edu

Kevin Erb, Project Co-Director

kevin.erb@ces.uwex.edu

Karen Bassler, Project Manager

karen.bassler@ces.uwex.edu

This material is based upon work supported by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agency number 68-3A75-11-268, CDFA number 10.902. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. University of Wisconsin, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Wisconsin counties cooperating. An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title IX and American with Disabilities (ADA) requirements.

US Dairy Sustainability Awards: Upcoming Nominations Deadline

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 13:54:00 +0000

The Innovation Center for US Dairy is currently accepting nominations for this year’s US Dairy Sustainability Awards. The awards will recognize operations that have made commitments to environmental, economic, and social sustainability in the dairy industry. Nominations will be accepted through November 15, 2012, for the following awards:

Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability
Outstanding Dairy Processing and Manufacturing Sustainability
Outstanding Achievement in Renewable Energy
Outstanding Achievement in Energy Efficiency

Visit the awards page and view the video below to learn more about the award selection criteria, the expert panel of judges, and past winners.

Nabbing Nitrates Video Series

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:36:00 +0000

The Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) and the Iowa Chapter of SWCS are among 14 cosponsors of a new video series that shows how conservation practices remove nitrates from water. Missouri & Mississippi Divide Resource Conservation & Development Inc. (M&M Divide), based in west central Iowa, produced the four new water conservation videos in a series titled Nabbing Nitrates—Before Water Leaves the Farm.

In both English and Spanish, the series includes animation that shows what happens in wetlands and below the ground in four conservation practices that remove nitrates from surface and groundwater: “Water Conservation Drainage,” “Riparian Forest Buffers,” “Working Wetlands,” and “Bioreactors.” The series was produced with a Conservation Innovation Grant awarded by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRSC).

The objective of the series is to educate landowners and producers of practices that can assist in solving the nutrient water quality issues in the Iowa Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI) target watersheds.

Copies of the videos have been distributed to USDA NRCS, Farm Service Agency, and Iowa State University Extension offices in 25 counties that are part of the Iowa MRBI target watersheds. Those watersheds (and counties) are

North Raccoon River Watershed: Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Sac, Calhoun, Carroll, Greene, Dallas, and Polk counties;
Boone River Watershed: Kossuth, Hancock, Humboldt, Wright, and Hamilton counties;
Upper Cedar River Watershed: Worth, Mitchell, Floyd, Chickasaw, and Bremer counties; and
Maquoketa River Watershed: Fayette, Buchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Jones, Jackson, and Clinton counties.

Soil and Water Conservation Districts and USDA NRCS offices in the six Iowa counties served by M&M Divide also received copies of the videos, which can be checked out for viewing. They are Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Green, Guthrie, and Sac counties.

The videos are also available for viewing online on the M&M Divide’s projects page at www.mmdividercd.org.

Along with SWCS and the Iowa Chapter of SWCS, other partner sponsors who helped fund the series with cash and in-kind donations include Des Moines Water Works, Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa Environmental Council, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa Department of Agriculture-Soil Conservation Division, Agri Drain Corporation, Raccoon River Watershed Association, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Carroll County Extension Council, Carroll County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Iowa Conservation Education Coalition.

Contact SWCS if you are interested in checking out our copy of the video series: 515-289-1227.

Considering Ecology, Economics, and Ethics: 2012 Conference Videos

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 16:37:00 +0000

Videos and photos from the 2012 SWCS International Annual Conference are now available for viewing on the Web site. Both the Monday and Tuesday plenary sessions are provided for online viewing.

In Monday's keynote lecture, conservation biologist, historian, and writer Curt Meine spoke about the ways that learning from the past can help us make ecological, economical, and ethical conservation choices for the future. Both the video and text of his lecture are available online.

The follow-up Tuesday morning panel discussed the projected economic ramifications of the pending Farm Bill on conservation programs; the effects on farms, communities, and farmers; and potential to reach the goal of balancing food, fiber, feed, and fuel with limited supplies of funds and growing supplies of people. The panel was moderated by Dan Zinkand. The Tuesday panel video is here.

Tuesday morning panelists included

Laurie Drinkwater, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Ray Layton, Research Fellow for Environmental Safety within the Global Regulatory Scientific Affairs group at DuPont-Pioneer.
Curt Meine, Ph.D., Senior Fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation and with the Center for Humans and Nature.
Wanhong Yang, PhD., Economics Professor in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

At the author or presenter's discretion, many of the 250+ presentations, slides, and posters from the conference are available online at http://www.swcs.org/12ac.

Webcast- NIFA-CEAP Watershed Syntheses: Lessons Learned

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:07:00 +0000

Free Watershed Academy Webcast entitled "USDA’s NIFA-CEAP Watershed Synthesis: Lessons Learned” on May 15, 2012 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm Eastern.
Hear about some important lessons learned from USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP).
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in partnership with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) established university-led watershed-scale research and extension projects in support of the USDA Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP). CEAP addresses USDA's need to quantify the effects and benefits of agricultural conservation practices.
This webcast will highlight a study led by North Carolina State University to analyze and synthesize key lessons learned from 13 of these watershed-scale projects on cropland and pastureland. The goal of CEAP Watersheds is to better understand how the suite, timing, and spatial distribution of conservation practices influence their effect on local water quality outcomes. The NIFA study also evaluated social and economic factors that influence implementation and maintenance of practices, as well as education critical to transferring knowledge to farmers, ranchers, community leaders, and other stakeholders to improve practice effectiveness.

This webcast will also highlight linkages between USDA’s CEAP project and US EPA’s Section 319 Nonpoint Source Program. Most of the 13 watersheds studied in the analysis also have 319 projects.

To register for this webcast, please visit www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts.

National Soil and Water Stewardship Week

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:03:00 +0000

This week, soil and water stewardship efforts will be celebrated by conservation districts across the United States.

Governors in Iowa and Oklahoma have declared April 29 through May 6, 2012, as stewardship week in their respective states. These state-specific efforts will be held in conjunction with the National Association of Conservation Districts' 2012 "Soil to Spoon" stewardship awareness week.

Click here to to find out more about Iowa Soil and Water Conservation Week. Read about other Soil and Water Stewardship events at the National Association of Conservation Districts Web site, and check out your local conservation district Web site to find out what's going on in your watershed!

2012 Annual Conference Student Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Annie) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:35:00 +0000

Team up with SWCS and attend the 2012 Annual Conference this summer!

This year SWCS will introduce a new Annual Conference Student Moderator Program. Up to 18 awardees will spend one day working at the SWCS International Annual Conference as Student Moderators and will assist the conference presenters and symposium organizers during the educational program. For their service, their conference registration fees and hotel room costs will be waived or covered.

Students will work one of the two education days of the meeting (Monday or Tuesday, July 23 or 24) and may attend any sessions they choose on the other. To apply, students should indicate the topic area in which they would like to moderate from the list of issues areas for the conference. These include:

1. Adaptive Management of Conservation Efforts
2. Agricultural and Conservation Economics
3. Biodiversity Conservation and Management
4. Conservation in Urban Settings
5. Conservation Models, Tools and Technologies
6. Conservation Policy and Program Design
7. Outreach, Education and Community Engagement
8. Soil Resource Assessment and Management
9. Water Resource Assessment and Management

Full-time undergraduate or graduate students are eligible for the program. Click here to read more and to apply.

2012 Annual Conference News

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 03:03:00 +0000

Registration is open, hotel reservations can be made and the Preliminary Program is available for the 2012 SWCS International Annual Conference.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible this summer in Fort Worth.

Please help us spread the word and invite your colleagues to join you.