No-Till Conference and Equipment Trade Show 2017

                                               1 (one) pesticide is available for this conference

  Monday, October 30^th, 2017

 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

  Carter and Stevens Farm, 500 West Street, Barre, MA 

9:00- 9:30       REGISTRATION AND MORNING REFRESHMENTS

9:30-9:35-       WELCOME AND DISTRICT ANNOUNCEMENTS                                     

                          Christine Clarke, NRCS MA

                          Joe Smith- Worcester County Conservation District

9:35-9:45         UPDATE ON THE WATER QUALITY INITIATIVES IN THE LONG ISLAND SOUND

                          Kate Gervais, MACD/WCCD Conservation Planner  

9:45- 10:10-     NO-TILL: WHY AND HOW DOES IT WORK? (Including Soil Health Demo)

                         Kate Parsons/Maggie Payne, NRCS

10:10- 10:40-   NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN NO-TILL - HOW IS IT DIFFERENT? 

                         Tom Morris, UConn 

10:40-10:50 – TAKE A BREAK!

10:50 - 11:20   PEST MANAGEMENT AND IPM PRACTICES IN NO TILL

                                     Katie Campbell-Nelson, UMass 

11:20-11:50     COVER CROP SELECTION AND TERMINATION IN NO TILL                 

                           Dave Wilson, Penn State

11:50-12:15     HEAR FROM OUR SPONSORS

                            Trevor Hardy, Brookdale Fruit Farm and irrigation Supply (tarps and no-till planter)

                            Cathie Shugg, Crop Production Services (fertilizers)

                            UMass Crop and Animal Research and Education Farm (Great Plains grain drill)

                            Paul Peckham, Seedway (cover crop and vegetable crop seeds)

                            Conservation District participants with equipment (roller crimper, interseeder?)

                            Peter Gerry and Lenny Jones of Pete's Tire Barna and Matt Towle of Michelin Tire (low compaction tires)

12:15–12:50     LUNCH AND TRADESHOW

12:50-1:00        NRCS ANNOUNCEMENTS ON FUNDING

                           Dan Lenthall

1:00- 1:30        NO-TILL PLANTER SET UP

                          John Hoffman, Johnny's Ag Service, CT.

1:30-1:35       CONCURRENT SESSION- DAIRY AND VEGETABLE PRODUCERS WILL SPLIT UP

DAIRY

1:35- 2:00     OAKRIDGE DAIRY'S TRANSITION TO NO-TILL                                 

                        John Hoffman, Oakridge Dairy Crop and Feed Manager, Ellington, CT. Transitioned 3600 acres of corn to no-till in 2014.

2:00-2:05      RESULTS OF ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT TRIALS IN 2017

                       Kate Parsons, NRCS. No-till vs. conventional corn silage on 4 dairy farms. 

2:05- 2:55     NO-TILL FARMER PANEL

                       Moderated by Kate Parsons and John Hoffman. Hear from farmers with one to over 12 years of no-till experience.  

VEGETABLE

1:35- 1:55    No-Till on 3 Acres

                      Julie Rawson, Many Hands Farm, Barre (15 min)

                      Dan Pratt, Astarte Farm, Hadley, MA (15 min)

2:00- 2:20     REDUCED TILLAGE IN ORGANIC WINTER SQUASH

.                       Tyson Neukirch, The Farm School                           

                        3 treatments: Roller crimper and deep zone tillage, tarp and deep zone tillage, and conventional till were compared this year on an organic field. (20 min)

2:25- 2:50       NO-TILL on 90 ACRES

                         Trevor Hardy, Brookdale Fruit Farm, Hollis NH (20 min)

ALL

2:55-3:00+  QUESTIONS/FEEDBACK/EVALUATIONS