Seminar

In October, three Innovative Cropping Systems cooperative partners visited Columbus, Ohio, to participate in a two-day workshop on conservation tillage. The purpose of the event, which was sponsored by Monsanto, was to explore options that will result in the expanded implementation of conservation tillage systems. Monsanto manufactures products such as Roundup and Roundup Ready seeds that are instrumental in continuous no-till. Attending ICS partners included Dr. Mark Alley, Paul Davis and Brian Noyes. Academic and agro-business representatives from a variety of institutions including Cornell, Pennsylvania State, and the Conservation Technology Information Center were in attendance.
The first day of the seminar was dedicated to status reports from research and regional efforts. Dr. Alley presented data from the Camden Farm study in Caroline County and the rainfall simulator research funded by the ICS project. This presentation and the overall meeting confirmed that the ICS project and Virginia farmers are leading the nation in no-till and soil quality technologies. The remainder of the session focused on how corporations and agriculture can partner to promote conservation tillage.	*“This whole program [was] designed to get us to think out of the box. Dr. Alley, you and the project partners are way, way out of the box.”* -Keith Buckingham, Retail Sales Manager for Monsanto
Monsanto has promised to visit the ICS partners in the near future to discuss details for incentives that will benefit local farmers and our natural resources. Once again Colonial SWCD thanks the superior services provided by ICS partners such as Paul Davis and Dr. Mark Alley.