In early 2017, members of the Kearny County Conservation District began organizing the Bottom Line Conference. It was agreed that one of the main focuses of the annual conference would be aimed at giving High Plains producers actionable advice and expertise for improving soil health.

In addition, our goal is to provide every farmer and rancher who attends the conference the latest tools and information they need to improve their profitability regardless of climate change challenges in the future.

The High Plains area has an annual rainfall of about 20”, and some years it falls under 12”. We also have high rates of evapotranspiration. While some producers have irrigation, the aquifer is depleting and many wells are under producing and some have gone completely dry.

For that reason, we have searched for speakers that work in similar environments and cover a broad range of topics, including: cropland, rangeland, and financial management. Honestly, we expect many attendants to be skeptical of regenerative agriculture practices. The variance of rainfall conditions make certain practices, like cover crops, risky. With this in mind, we have booked experts to cover this topic and the many other unique challenges producers may experience in the drier High Plains climate.

Every conference schedule is packed with speakers, producers, educators and sponsors who enjoy sharing their real-world experience and successful case studies in many, many areas. Some of these may include:

Techniques for limited soil disturbance to enhance soil health and increase cash crop outputs.
Farm and ranch financial planning strategies for improving year-over-year financial health.
Grazing management plans for improved soil biology and livestock productivity outputs.
Crop rotation management ideas to increase yields while reducing weeds, disease and insecticide costs.
How to scale cover crops into your operation to discover the best fit.
How to manage cover crops to improve water efficiency for later cash crops.
Beneficial insect and pollinator attraction/retention programs to reduce insecticide inputs.
Strategies for securing alternative sources of income during low commodity cash crop pricing.
Techniques to armor your operation against periods of drought to sustain desirable outputs.
The latest irrigation technology to lower costs and improve outputs annually.
How to minimize erosion, reduce compaction, improve moisture infiltration and build sustainable soil biology for profitable year-over-year harvests.

Schedule

Speakers