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Harvey County No-Till Discussion Group

Jonie James

Summary

This discussion group was started in 2003. It was designed as a platform for those producers interested in converting to no-till farming to share their ideas, concerns, and a means for them to discuss current research on no-till farming.

Originally it was thought this group would only last 1 or 2 winter seasons, but instead it has grown in participation, and continues to meet once a month during the winter season.

It is designed to be a true "discussion" and not just another lecture. The group is seated in a rectangle with all participants facing each other, along with an invited guest to start the discussion.

Over time it has grown to include the traditional no-tillers, the opportunisic no-tillers, organic farmers, and those just interested in learning more about no-till.

This discussion group has led to some of the participants doing their own on farm research trials, and then bringing their results back to the group to share and discuss. Two producers even hosted a farm tour this summer on their cover crop research.

This format has worked well for this group, but I believe any group interested in focusing more on a topic could use this format and see positive results.

Details

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