CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — An estimated 438 farmers attended the inaugural National Strip-Tillage Conference July 30-31 at the Cedar Rapids Marriott Hotel, according to event officials.
"We couldn’t have asked for a better response for the start of a new event, and we’re extremely grateful to all the strip-tillers who attended and the speakers who shared their experiences," said Jack Zemlicka, editor of Strip-Till Strategies e-newsletter and technology editor at Lessiter Publications in Brookfield, Wis., the organizers and developers of the two-day event.
Strip-tillers were offered 32 hours of learning opportunities over the course of two days through general sessions, 12 strip-till classrooms, 30 face-to-face strip-till roundtables and networking during breaks and meals.
"We really couldn’t be happier with the turnout and the final results," said Darrell Bruggink, publisher and executive editor at Lessiter Publications, which publishes No-Till Farmer newsletter, the Conservation Tillage Guide magazine, Strip-Till Strategies (a twice-a-month e-newsletter) and the StripTillFarmer.com website.
"Strip-tillage is really a minority or niche practice when you compare it to no-tillage, minimum tillage or even conventional tillage, so to have that many folks in attendance for the inaugural event really shows a thirst for education and better strip-till know-how amongst farmers," added Bruggink, who was also the conference’s program organizer.
Some of the speakers in attendance included world-renowned soil biologist Jill Clapperton, Purdue University strip-till expert Tony Vyn, precision tools expert Steve Cubbage of Record Harvest and numerous other university experts, consultants and strip-tillers.
"We had an excellent mix of researchers, consultants and farmers on hand to present, and we had strong support from the manufacturing segment as well," Bruggink said.
"There is a strong, growing core of strip-tillers today who need a venue where they can bounce ideas off each other and learn from the experiences of people knowledgeable on the practice of strip-till so they can improve their on-farm practices," he added.
In addition, participants also received 20.5 CEU credits through the Certified Crop Advisor program and pesticide re-certification credits from 20 states, with credits available in the following categories: nutrient management (5); soil and water management (6); and crop management (9.5).
Co-sponsored by Strip-Till Farmer and 10 industry-leading title sponsors, including Dawn Equipment Co., Environmental Tillage Systems, FHR, Ingersoll, Kuhn Krause, Montag Mfg., Orthman Mfg., Raven Industries, Thurston Mfg. (Blu-Jet) and Yetter Mfg. Co., the inaugural conference also offered seven general sessions.
In his workshop at the conference, Mark Hanna, Iowa State University Extension agricultural engineer, discussed equipment set-up options for seedbed preparation and residue management that strip-tillers would need to consider.
"Most strip-till implements consist of row cleaners and a coulter in front; an injection knife for fertilizer (one manufacturer injects behind coulters instead); closing discs (which may be spherical, flat, notched edge, etc., but with an adjustable angle); and an optional rolling basket harrow behind the closing discs, used mainly during spring operations (not fall)," he said.
Hanna said some farmers have fabricated their own strip-till toolbar from an anhydrous ammonia or other type of fertilizer injection knife toolbar, with fertilizer placement usually 5 to 6 inches deep, about 3 to 4 inches below subsequent seed placement.
"Tillage by the knife need not be deeper than fertilizer placement unless a compaction zone exists below this area," he said. "Adjustments include closing disc angle (which affects berm height), fertilizer injection depth, and depth of the front row cleaners and/or coulter operation."
Steve Cubbage, owner and precision specialist with Record Harvest in Nevada, Mo., discussed how technology had influenced strip-till to date, as well as the emerging precision technologies strip-tillers need to consider implementing.
"It was really precision technologies like RTK (real-time kinematic) GPS that brought strip-till adoption into the mainstream," he said. "Before, it was just hard to strip-till and then try to come back in the spring and plant on those strips.
"[It’s] very hard to do manually," he added. "RTK guidance made strip-till simple and practical."
Cubbage told workshop attendees that technology would continue to impact strip-till "and the way we farm; however, it may be somewhat more indirect."
"Drones are the current ‘hot item’ in the precision technology space," he said. "Many growers are starting to ask the question if now is the right time for this technology. They need to understand what they are after. It’s the imagery: What’s going on in your field during the growing season?
"Agronomy and technology are converging," he added. "If technology today doesn’t lead to actionable agronomy, then it probably isn’t going to make the cut."
Cubbage said one of the biggest things he sees coming is technology like wireless data transfer and its possibilities when it reaches the "cloud."
"The collection of a lot of ‘little’ data is what is going to drive this ‘Big Data’ in ag revolution," he said. "So, moving data wirelessly between the people who make your farm ‘grow’ will have a profound impact on production in the future.
"In addition, technologies will simply integrate into our lives," he said. "Things like Google Glass will make it easier to gather information from the field and get answers back in real time.
