Day 1, August 25:
Ray Ward farm
Western, NE
(800) 887-7645 rayward@wardlab.com
Ray Ward, owner of Ward Labs in Kearney, NE
will kick off our bus tour with a personal account of how no-till has impacted
his own land. The Ray Ward farm in Western, Nebraska is composed of 560 acres
of which Ray is landlord, not the farmer. Ray lived on this land starting in
1949 and grew up there. No-till was started in 1994, and the entire farm has
been grid-sampled. Several rotations are used on the sloping land such as
wheat > oats and turnips (cover crop after wheat) > corn > corn > beans. The
bottom ground utilizes corn > corn > beans. The lease is 50/50 for soybeans,
and the wheat is custom-farmed.
Ray will be accompanying us on the journey
again this year, which should make for many an interesting discussion of soil
properties and fertilization methods, as well as the geology of Nebraska,
South Dakota and Kansas soils.
Rogers Memorial Farm, Lincoln, NE
Paul Jasa, Extension Ag Engineer at the University of
Nebraska, is a vital source of information in the Midwest on No-till planting
equipment and system management. Paul will give us a excellent tour of
long-term No-till research at this site, with emphasis on changes in soil
physical properties. Crop rotations and various agronomic practices are also
studied. Some tillage plots are included for comparison. This will be a great
start for the tour, and Paul will accompany us on the tour and will be available
for discussions with attendees.
Click here for more
information on the Rogers Farm.....
Day 2, August 26:
Randy Rink
RR 1 Box 13
Pender, NE 68047
(402) 385-2427 rcrink@ptflash.net
Randy has been a producer/farmer since 1979.
He farms over 2,000 acres with his father and employs one hired hand. Randy
has been continuous no-till for about 6 years and feeds 2,000 head of hogs.
Randy received a B.S.M.E Mechanical Engineering degree from University of
Nebraska and is one of the founders of Pender’s local rural wireless internet
service. Randy’s farms were featured at the Whirlwind No-till Expo during the
summer of 2007 where he shared his farming practices, including the
incorporation of significant amounts of manure on his soils. Randy’s soils
are full of biological activity and will show you that he is truly “doing it
right”!
Chet Edinger
Mitchell, SD
605-770-5133 chet@mitchelltelcom.net
Our tour will feature Chet Edinger, a Mitchell,
South Dakota no-tillage producer who is new to the tour and is willing to
share his knowledge and farm information with our group. This will be a great
opportunity to learn how Edinger’s maximize production with the proper use and
timing of cover crops. Chet is highly recommended by Dwayne Beck so this stop
will be a welcome addition to the tour!
Day 3, August 27:
Dakota Lakes Research Farm, Dwayne L. Beck,
Research
Manager;
P.O. Box 2, Pierre, South Dakota (605) 224-6357
dwayne.beck@sdstate.edu
www.dakotalakes.com
Dwayne Beck will guide us through his plots of
corn, soybean, sunflower, field peas, lentils, garbanzos (chickpeas), canola,
winter wheat, and spring wheat. Sometimes milo, flax, alfalfa, millet, mung
beans, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas (or cowpeas) are also included, as well
as cover crops such as hairy vetch, sun hemp, Indianhead lentils, and canola.
These crops comprise numerous rotations being studied for water-use efficiency,
water storage, allelopathy, disease cycles, soil microbiology, nutrient cycling,
weed control, and profitability (and volatility of profitability). All plots are
continuous No-till, with an emphasis on ultra-low soil disturbance and the main
farm has been No-till for 15 years now. Plots include both dryland and
irrigated. Dwayne originally began studying No-till as a method of
improving infiltration under irrigation. Later Dwayne managed the Redfield, SD
experiment station, producing startling results from continuous No-till,
including higher infiltration rates and cropping intensity than previously
thought possible for dryland production in that area. Some of the infiltration
boost is attributable to night crawlers (not your average earthworm), which are
having a major impact on the nutrient & water cycling at Dakota Lakes.
We’ll also see Dwayne’s Concept Seeder, a continually evolving but fully
functional showpiece that incorporates some of the most imaginative yet
practical ideas to be found anywhere in the industry (the bridge hitch,
parallel-link single-disc openers, true hydraulic down-pressure for each opener,
a depth-limited spoked closing system, etc). Expect to see industry adopt some
of these ideas.
Day 4, August 28:
Ray Ward, Ward Laboratories
4007 Cherry Avenue, P.O.Box 788
Kearney, NE 68848
(800) 887-7645 rayward@wardlab.com
Tour a soil testing laboratory founded by Ray
Ward, who has worked extensively with the soils and crops of the Great Plains
and possesses enormous technical expertise in soil testing methods and soil
chemistry. Ray has a Ph.D. in soil fertility and has managed both the
Redfield, SD experiment station and the SDSU soils lab. Ray developed soil
testing facilities for both Oklahoma State Univ. and Servi-tech. In addition
to overseeing the lab, Ray also actively manages a no-till farm in southeast
Nebraska.
CASE New Holland Production Facility
3445 West Stolley Park Road
Grand Island NE 68802-4902
(308)384-1010
To put the finishing touches on our bus tour,
we will participated in this farm equipment factory tour. The smell of new
tires and fresh paint and the look of shiny new equipment may be just what you
need to perk you up before heading home!
Currently, Case IH produces its AFX combines in
this facility and plans to move production of its 2300 series here. All New
Holland model combines are also produced at this east-central Nebraska
factory.
The bus will return to Salina, KS at
approximately 4:00 p.m.
Arrival back to Manhattan will be at 5:30 p.m.
2008 "POINTS
NORTH" BUS TOUR
3 power-packed days featuring
Dwayne Beck and the 
