A consortium of local agriculture and conservation agencies is sponsoring a regional conference on the practical applications of no- and minimum-till practices on January 23 from 9:00 to 3:30 p.m., at Giannilli’s II on Route 30 in Greensburg.

It takes more than 500 years for nature to create just one inch of topsoil.

So instead of plowing it up and hastening the erosion of this foundational material of farming, more and more farmers are preparing their fields for planting in a new way -- by doing only a minimal amount of tilling or, often, no tilling at all.

Not only does this innovative, ‘low-impact’ approach do a good job of keeping the soil in place, it actually helps to create more soil because it allows some of the previous season’s crop – the stalks and roots and residue – to remain in the field. Additional benefits of the method include improved tilth and productivity of the soil, less time spent plowing, bigger crop yields, and reduced fuel costs.

Penn’s Corner Resource Conservation & Development, Penn State Cooperative Extension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Westmoreland and Indiana County Conservation Districts have teamed up to bring in experts to talk on some of the most common challenges farmers face – spreading manure, and controlling weeds and insects – and how each of these is addressed when no-till methods are used.

Scheduled speakers and their topics include: Dr. Ron Hammond, field crop entomology extension specialist at Ohio State University, “Slugs and Other Insect Control Concerns in No-till Field Crops”; and Jim Hoorman, extension educator with Ohio State University Extension, “Nutrient Recycling with Cover Crops and No-till.”

The daylong event also will feature a panel discussion in which area farmers who use no-till methods share their own personal experience. Panel members are: Stan Fabin, who is co-owner of Fabin Brother Farms, a 1,500-acre cash grain and beef farm near Homer City, Indiana County, where he has been using no-till for eight years; John Piwowar, a Fayette County dairy farmer who has been no-till farming for close to a decade on his 370-acre property in Uniontown; and Bill Selembo, a no-till farmer who owns a 220-acre dairy farm in Salem Township, Westmoreland County.

In the afternoon, the conference features a series of breakout sessions: Dr. Ron Hammond will focus on “Insect Issues in No-till Crops,” Jim Hoorman will address “Cover Crops and Manure,” and Dwight Lingenfelter, weed specialist with the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Penn State University, will lead the discussion on “Weed Control in No-till Systems.”

The conference also will feature a vendor show and door prizes.

The deadline to register is January 16. The $25 registration fee includes materials, morning refreshments, and lunch.

For more information, contact Bobbi Bailey, at Penn’s Corner Resource Conservation & Development, 724-834-9063, ext. 116 or send email to: bobbi.bailey@pa.usda.gov .

12/28/2007