The Conservation Technology Information Center met near Sioux Falls to discuss conservation farming and its future.
The panel, which met in Baltic, South Dakota, discussed a number of national practices and issues.
Among many topics, one of note was the future of strip tillage, a conservation practice where producers till narrow strips of soil where the crops are planted, but leave the areas between crop rows untilled.
Some farmers believe strip tilling is a happy medium between till and no till, that allows producers to sleep better at night. Ag experts say it reduces soil disturbances and leads to improved soil structure, reduced erosion and better nutrient management.
Brian Hefty is a Baltic farmer on a 3500-acre crop farm. He said in South Dakota the issue comes in when one or two person farms have so much crop in the fall, trying to strip till the land becomes a problem.
"It means a lot more trucking, and it just takes longer for the harvest. Even though they have great, big equipment, you have to truck that stuff away. For a lot of farms they’re strapped on time in the fall. Now, last fall it was easy because we had a long fall it was pretty dry. But if it gets to be a short fall, if snow comes early, if it’s really wet, then that gets to be one of the challenges and then people go back to how they’ve done it," Hefty said. "These machines aren’t super cheap, but we love them because we now can in just one pass we can make that strip. We can put our fertility down, and then we go follow that in the spring to plant. So, I think it’s fantastic and we talk about it all the time. Hopefully it’s going to grow.”
Panelists said aside from funding issues, some of the largest challenges farmers face are education and management regarding conservation practices.
Gov. Larry Rhoden attended the conference and said his time as a West River rancher shaped his view on the government’s role in conservation farming.
“The government should make it easy to make wise conservationism decisions for yourselves. But we should not use the heavy hand of government to act in any certain way," Rhoden said. "We didn’t need bureaucrats in DC or in Pierre to tell me how to run my ranch. We just needed a government that gives ag producers the opportunity to make wise conservation decisions for themselves.”
Rhoden claimed the state is “living proof that conservation doesn’t have to hurt the economy.”
