August 5, 2014 to August 8, 2014
Location
Departs in Salina, KS
Cost
Double Occupancy: $675
Single Occupancy: $825
Prices include motor coach travel, all lodging, and select meals. You are responsible for some meals and snacks.
Description
Never toured with us? Haven’t toured with us for a while? Already been up north…we’re going South!. Maybe you went last year...it doesn’t matter!
You need to register today to make sure you have a seat on the bus with us! This will be another unique opportunity for you to spend time with your peers, to talk with experts in no-till and cover crops, and to see first-hand what farmers in other states are doing - innovative, cutting-edge, or old hat - you will be able to see and interact with folks who are in the mix - no-till, cover crops, livestock, and the rest. Come join us on this agriculture adventure.
Registration
Due by July 31, 2014
For single-day registration (very limited) please call Lana Barkman, 785-210-4525.
A Little About Our Hosts
Ryan Speer
Jacobs Farms
Ryan has been with Jacob Farms for 12 years, first as a farm manager and later as an operator/ co-owner. Before this endeavor he was a CCA agronomist for the Scott Cooperative in Scott City, Kansas. Ryan is married to his with Jennifer and has two 11-year-old sons, Alton and Evan. The farm has been under no-till for over ten years and has been using intensive planting rotations, variable rate applications, and cover crops for over five years. No-till on the Plains is pleased to have Ryan on the Board of Directors. Ryan has been featured in many farm publications, has won several awards for his conservation practices, and is a popular event speaker.
Randy Lanie
At an early age Dad taught his three sons how to work: milking cows from fall through spring, harvesting wheat, and working ground in summer. After graduating from OSU with a Finance degree in 1970 I spent the fall in Army boot camp: Went back to OSU to work on a Masters Degree in Accounting. During that semester I learned of a beginning farmer loan program to purchase land; formed a farm partnership with a brother and dad, and raised only wheat and ran calves on wheat pasture. In 1980 SCS (now called NRCS) offered a 40 acre, 3 year no-till cost share program I participated in. After buying out both partners by the mid 80s. I survived the Great Farm Depression by harvesting grass seed for the CRP program and growing alfalfa hay for Texas dairies. By the late 90s I determined my operation had to change to be profitable and grow: lack of quality labor, machinery cost, and low profit margin growing only wheat was limiting our operation. After two neighbors and I attended the No-Till on The Plains conference in Salina, Kansas, we decided to farm 100 % no-till. After graduating from OSU with an Ag. business degree in 2012 my son Trent is now farming with us. We have grown numerous different crops and presently are growing wheat, corn, cotton, milo, soybeans, and double crop milo and soybeans. We have experienced many mistakes and our learning curve is still high. A big issue for us now is controlling herbicide resistant weeds.
Marty Williams
Marty graduated from Oklahoma State University in the spring of 2004 with a BS in Plant and Soil Sciences with an emphasis in Agronomy. At that time he knew that he wanted to farm full time, yet he was faced with the challenges of acquiring equipment and enough land to support a family. Marty’s entire family was conventional tillage, cattle operations. He knew that no-till was the only way to grow an operation that would be sustainable in the long-run. He and his wife Crystal and daughter Ava now farm 3,000 acres of Noble County, Oklahoma land -- of which all is in no-till or is being prepared for no-till. Rotations includes dryland corn, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, canola, and various cover crops. Marty strives to correct soil problems on each farm as the rental agreement will allow. He believes that none of his techniques are ever good enough, and that he can always find more efficient ways to produce a crop. Marty also enjoys building a seed dealership as well as teaching others what he has learned on his farm.
Matt Alig
Matt's operation is in Kingfisher County and consists of about 1000 acres of cropland and 650 acres of grass. He has been using no-till since 1997. He likes to be diversified with livestock and crops but he thinks grazing the crops is much more dependable than trying to make and harvest grain given the extreme weather variability and freeze and hail risk. Matt grazes stocker cattle and also runs sheep. His winter pastures crops consist of triticale, rye, wheat or oats that he typically plants as mixtures. He has also used barley, turnip, rape, radish, rutabaga and winter peas. In the summer he plants milo, haygrazer, sunn hemp and cowpeas for cover, soil health and N fixation. If he has excess cover he grazes it. If he has excess grazing he hays it or puts up silage to use to extend his grass pastures. Matt was a part of OALP class VI.
Jimmy Kinder
Jimmy Kinder is a 4th generation full time farmer/rancher from Cotton County Oklahoma about 120 miles southwest of Oklahoma City where soils range from loam to clay and average rainfall should be 30 inches, but has been lower since 2010. His family owns and manages about 5000 acres of cropland and 2000 acres of grass. For the last 34 years, their primary business enterprises have consisted of stocker cattle, wheat, canola, grain sorghum, and sesame. An early adopter of a never-till crop and forage production system in southwest Oklahoma, their success in grazing wheat and harvesting crops has encouraged many producers to change to a no-till production system. Both OSU and The Noble Foundation regularly have research plots and field days at Kinder Farms. Jimmy speaks at numerous producer meetings educating operators about no-till and its numerous economic and environmental benefits. Jimmy is a non-resident fellow at the Noble Foundation. He is a state director for Oklahoma Farm Bureau and a board member of the Oklahoma Dept. of Environmental Quality. He is also a recipient of the OSU Master Agronomist Award in 2009.
Alan Mindemann
Alan is a producer of specialty forage and cover crop seed. A 4th generation farmer, he is married to Tina and has two sons and three daughters. Alan farms in several counties around Caddo County and has leased ground on Fort Sill. He has been in no-till for 18 years farming port silt loam, pond creek fine sandy loam and tillman silty clay loam soils. His annual rainfall is 32 inches and he has over 200 frost-free days annually. His crop rotation includes wheat, corn, milo, non- gmo soybeans, cowpeas, sesame, millets and mung beans. Alan attributes his increased yields and water use efficiency to his conversion to no-till. His greatest challenge is building soil health for the long-term on short-term leases
