No Till Notes

There are several educational meetings scheduled for January and February, 2013 that producers in our area should plan to attend. I’ve been going to no till crop production meetings for over 20 years and I have always felt that attending as many of these meetings as possible has always been time well spent.

These educational meetings are a great way to meet and visit with other producers about their no till crop production practices. These meetings always include speakers that cover a variety of topics on soil health, economics, crop production, machinery, and marketing of crops. The one constant that I’ve found in my 20 years of no till crop production is no till crop production and agriculture in general is always changing. I think it is very important to stay informed and be flexible in changing our farming practices as our world of agriculture evolves.

Production of field peas and the marketing of field peas are the first meetings scheduled in January. We have a real opportunity in this region to make field peas a viable alternative crop for this area. The production and marketing of field peas in this region will produce a significant economic impact on our agricultural community. Field peas will take the place of summer fallow in this region and will add to the profitability of our farming operations which will have a real economic impact on our communities as well.

The field pea production and marketing meetings begin in Alliance on January 9 at the Alliance Public Library. The meeting is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and will last until noon. A second meeting will also be held on the 9th of January in Hay Springs beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the Hay Springs Community Building.

The following week there are field pea production and marketing meetings scheduled for January 16 at the Farm and Ranch Museum in Gering beginning at 1:00 p.m. The following day, on January 17, a field pea production and marketing meeting will be held in Albin, Wyoming, at the Albin Community Center beginning at 1:30 p.m.

There are also field pea meetings scheduled for Kimball and Sidney on January 23. The following day, on January 24, field pea meetings will be held in Big Springs and Imperial. Times and places for these meetings have not been scheduled. I’ll post the time and place for these meetings in as soon as I find out this information.

We have a real opportunity in this region to develop a marketplace for field peas. The development of this marketplace will have a significant economic impact on our agricultural community with the addition of field peas into our cropping rotations. I hope to see you at these meetings to discuss all aspects of field pea production and marketing.