SWCS Razorback Chapter in Arkansas Cosponsors Cover Crops Conference

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
News Release No.: 080513-01

LITTLE ROCK, AR August 5, 2013 - Interest in cover crops has begun to surge in Arkansas over the last five years. More and more farmers and ranchers are discovering that cover crops have the potential to provide multiple benefits in a cropping system. They prevent erosion, improve soil’s physical and biological properties, supply nutrients, suppress weeds, improve the availability of soil water, and break pest cycles along with various other benefits.

Those benefits were discussed at the Southern Agricultural Cover Crops Workshop recently held in Jonesboro, AR. The workshop was hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in response to the increasing demand from farmers and ranchers for information on cover crops. It was designed to help farmers successfully adopt cover crop management systems congruent to agriculture conditions in the south.

Sponsors of the workshop included NRCS; Arkansas Natural Resources Commission; Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts; University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension; Arkansas State University College of Agriculture and Technology; Arkansas Agriculture Department; Farm Credit; Arkansas Farm Bureau; Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education; Monsanto; and Soil and Water Conservation Society – Razorback Chapter.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of acres being managed with cover crops as a part of the cropping system,” said Mike Sullivan, Arkansas NRCS State Conservationist. “This workshop provided a forum for farmers and ranchers to exchange information, discuss opportunities for collaboration, and learn about new and successful practices related to cover crops.”

Case study presentations identified and discussed the strengths and pitfalls of real applications. Specific sessions included discussions on cover crop management, no‐till, soil management, water management, pest management, disease management and economics. The workshop presenters included farmers, crop consultants, and research scientists who have extensive experience in cover crop management. Among them were: David Lamm, NRCS National Soil Health and Sustainability Team Leader; Dr. Don Tyler, University of Tennessee Engineering and Soil Science; Steve Groff, of Cedar Meadow Farms in Lancaster County, PA; Dr. Ray Massey, University of Missouri Agricultural and Applied Economics; and Dave Brandt of Brandt Farms in Ohio.

“Hopefully, this workshop will be the catalyst to get more farmers involved in not only preserving but also restoring our soils,” said workshop speaker Mike Taylor of Long Lake Plantation in Helena.

Cover crops enhance soil quality and keep nutrients in the fields. Although cover crops can be effective under conventional tillage, they also improve soil quality and ease the transition to continuous no‐till.

“Southern farmers cannot simply rely on the tried and proven management techniques that the Midwest employs to manage cover crop mixes,” said John Lee, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service State Agronomist in Arkansas. “Conditions in the South are different, and we need to plan to manage crop mixes according to southern agricultural farming practices.”

There were 152 participants from 12 states who attended the two day workshop July 24th and 25th coming from as far away as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

“I commend NRCS’s leadership for organizing an excellent conference with a lot of great information,” said workshop speaker Dr. Mike Daniels, Extension Water Quality professor at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension. “It was very timely and reminded us that we all have a lot of work to do to advance cover crops in Arkansas as a key practice in the future. More and more cover crops will help with soil health, productivity, weed control and natural resource protection.”

“I thought the conference was excellent and offered farmers, researchers and educators a wide array of perspectives and opinions about cover crops and how they fit into a comprehensive soil health program,” said Keith Berns, a no till farmer with Green Cover Seeds in Bladen, NE . “The producers that I visited with were very interested and had a true desire to learn how to increase the health of their soil. That is what it is all about, regardless of whether you farm in Arkansas or Nebraska.”

Through conservation programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, NRCS is working to help farmers adapt cover crop practices to their farms. Cover crops improve soil organic matter, soil moisture availability, and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. Farmers can reap dividends on their cover crop investment for years because their benefits accumulate over an extended period of time.

For additional information about cover crops, when and how to plant and when to terminate or incorporate the plant into the soil, visit the NRCS website at www.nrcs.usda.gov or call your local NRCS field office listed in the telephone book under U. S. Department of Agriculture.

PowerPoint presentations from the workshop are available online at the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts Web site. 

Southern Agriculture Cover Crops Workshop

The Arkansas Razorback Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society will sponsor the Southern Agriculture Cover Crops Workshop, held July 24-25, 2013, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The goals of the two-day workshop are to assist farmers in successful adoption of cover crops in Southern agricultural systems and to provide a forum for producer discussion and collaboration. The workshop will feature talks on soil biology, soil health, pest management, cost effectiveness of cover crops, selection of cover crops, cover crops in no-till systems, and more. Speakers include producers, university researchers, and USDA NRCS conservationists. Register by July 1 for the early registration rate of $100/person. View the agenda online and download the registration form here.

2013 SWCS Annual Conference: Apply Now for the Student Moderator Program!

Following the success of the 2012 Student Moderator Program, we are again accepting applications for student moderators for the 2013 Annual Conference. Up to 18 awardees will spend one day working at the conference as student moderators and will assist the conference presenters and symposium organizers during the educational program. For their service, their conference registration fees and hotel room costs will be waived or covered.

Students will work one of the two education days of the meeting (Monday or Tuesday, July 22 or 23) and may attend any sessions they choose on the other. Additional information and an online application form can be found on the conference Web site.

About the conference:
The 68th International SWCS Annual Conference will be held in Reno, Nevada. Primary conference dates are July 21-24, 2013. Tours will be on July 24th. The headquarters hotel is the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino.

Soil Health Workshop Videos

The Colorado Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society is hosting a Technical Conference in Vail, Colorado, on November 12 and 13. The focus of the conference is soil health. Presentations will be streamed live and available for viewing after the conference. Access the presentations here.

SWCS 2013 Annual Conference: Call for Presentations

The Soil and Water Conservation Society is seeking oral and poster presentations and symposia proposals for the 2013 International Annual Conference in Reno, NV.

Each year SWCS identifies topics or a theme for special attention at the Annual Conference. The overarching theme for the conference this year is Resilient Landscapes: Planning for Flood, Drought & Fire. 

At the 2013 SWCS Annual Conference, we would like to explore conservation planning, policy, and practices that, by improving system resilience, help adapt to and mitigate the adverse effects of Flood, Drought, and Fire. This may include urban, suburban and rural natural resource environments and landscapes as well as working agricultural lands. We hope that your abstracts for oral presentations, posters, and symposia submissions will address the technical, educational, and informational needs of conservationists as we work together to address the challenges encountered in creating resilient landscapes.

In the face of pressures from a highly dynamic climate, changing markets, and evolving environmental conditions, agriculture must produce not only food, feed, and fiber but also fuel and a broader array of landscape or ecosystem services. Conservation professionals need to adapt to new resource demands and changes in our client base and needs. Conservation must deal with larger spatial-temporal scales of soil and water management and conservation, such as landscape and watershed scales, and planning for extreme events. Achieving these changes will require improved collaborations with different agencies and research institutions to plan and apply on the ground conservation. It may also require returning to our conservation roots to invigorate local coalitions to prioritize and plan conservation needs and programs.

The submission deadline is December 17, 2012. Download the full call for presentations here. 

2012 Annual Conference Student Opportunity

Team up with SWCS and attend the 2012 Annual Conference this summer!

This year SWCS will introduce a new Annual Conference Student Moderator Program. Up to 18 awardees will spend one day working at the SWCS International Annual Conference as Student Moderators and will assist the conference presenters and symposium organizers during the educational program. For their service, their conference registration fees and hotel room costs will be waived or covered.

Students will work one of the two education days of the meeting (Monday or Tuesday, July 23 or 24) and may attend any sessions they choose on the other. To apply, students should indicate the topic area in which they would like to moderate from the list of issues areas for the conference. These include: 

1. Adaptive Management of Conservation Efforts
2. Agricultural and Conservation Economics
3. Biodiversity Conservation and Management
4. Conservation in Urban Settings
5. Conservation Models, Tools and Technologies
6. Conservation Policy and Program Design
7. Outreach, Education and Community Engagement
8. Soil Resource Assessment and Management
9. Water Resource Assessment and Management

Full-time undergraduate or graduate students are eligible for the program. Click here to read more and to apply. 

Soil Quality Network 2012

If you've already exhausted the No-Till on the Plains soil health library from Monday's post, don't worry! Judging by the events posted on the SWCS Network calendar, February is the month of soil-friendly conferences and educational opportunities.

Today, farmers and educators gathered in Holyoke, Colorado for a no-till and cover crops workshop. This weekend, February 18 and 19, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association is holding their annual conference, Sowing the Seeds of Our Food Sovereignty. And later this month is the International Erosion Control Association's Annual Conference.

Of course the SWCS wanted in on an event too, so we're co-sponsoring the Soil Quality Network 2012 in Portland on February 23-24. The Soil Quality Network 2012 conference will help agriculture consultants and planners develop strategies and actions to support farmers interested in improving soil quality. The agenda includes general sessions, farm tours, and breakout sessions, which feature hands-on demonstrations by researchers, technical specialists, and educators. Whether you're growing wheat or blueberries, the Soil Quality Network will provide information on assessing and monitoring soils in order to maintain the agricultural land base.

Who will be there?  NRCS and SWCD conservation planners; extension staff; crop consultants; field representatives; soil scientists; soil quality specialists; federal, state, and county agency agricultural staff; farmers and ranchers; as well as third party certifiers and inspectors are just some of the people who should plan to attend.

2011 Annual Conference Call for Presentations Released

The Call for Presentations and Symposia has been released for the 66th SWCS International Annual Conference (July 17-20, 2011 in Washington, DC).
The theme of the conference is "Conservation Science and Policy: Global Perspectives and Applications" and the deadline for submissions is 12/17/2010. For more information or to download the Call for Presentations, go to http://www.swcs.org/11ac

NWF & SWCS Carbon Workshop Conclusions

Carbon Workshop Proceedings and Presentations Available

Carbon sequestration through agriculture could provide farmers and forest owners with a new revenue stream worth billions of dollars, concluded presenters, panelists and attendees at a National Wildlife Federation and the Soil and Water Conservation Society workshop held in July. Read more conclusions in the workshop proceedings, abstracts, and presentations. Click here... 

2008 SWCS Annual Conference Publications

The 2008 Annual Conference in Tucson, Arizona, starts in two days. If you can't make it, you can still download and read the two conference publications (the final program and the conference abstract book). Go to: www.swcs.org/08ac

Direct links:
Conference Program
Conference Abstract Book

Declaration on Soils from the BOKU Vienna Workshop

The Austrian Academy of Sciences and BOKU – the University of Bodenkultur (Soil Conservation) sponsored the 2007 Kerner von Marilaun Workshop in Vienna, Austria, entitled, “The Challenge of Sustaining Soils: Lessons from Historical Experience for a Sustainable Future.”

The workshop produced a declaration on soils that states, “We are in the midst of a dramatic acceleration of agricultural change as the world strives to meet the food and energy needs of a growing population within the framework of resource limitations and the desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In its scope and size the challenge is comparable to the transformation of agriculture which took place as part of the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century and its extension by the introduction of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides during the twentieth century.”

The declaration goes on to state, “Human impacts on soils are complex and site specific; resulting in pressures on biodiversity, water availability and quality, and the atmosphere. Our rapidly increasing needs for food and energy place growing and conflicting demands on soil. Development issues, food security, nature conservation, our dependence on fossil fuels, social inequality, and armed conflict, all have a bearing on soils.”

The full declaration is available here: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kioes/declaration_final.pdf

Upcoming SWCS Chapter Activities

GEORGIA: June 4 – 6
The annual meeting of the Georgia Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society is being planned jointly with the Georgia Section of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). The meeting will be in Athens from 4-6 June 2008 under the theme “Meeting Together to Provide Solutions”. The meeting will comprise lecture sessions with optional poster sessions if there is an
overflow of lecture submissions. For more information contact: Gary Hawkins at Tel: 229-386-3914 or by Email: ghawkins@uga.edu OR Jim Kastner
Tel: 706-583-0155 or jkastner@engr.uga.edu

NEBRASKA: June 5-7, 2008
The Nebraska and Northeast Nebraska Chapters of the Soil & Water Conservation Society will be holding their annual state meeting in Holdrege, June 5-7, 2008. The meeting will focus on issues affecting central Nebraska, including water quantity, water conservation, and invasive species.

The first afternoon, presentations on invasive species will be held at the Nebraska Prairie Museum. Following dinner, a presentation on a nearby WWII POW camp will be made by museum staff, with plenty of time to view the museum exhibits. The second day will be at the Upper Room Restaurant, and will consist of water conservation topics, followed by a tour of invasive plant and water conservation projects. The annual SWCS banquet will be held that evening, followed by a chapter business meeting on Saturday. The registration deadline is May 22. The full agenda and registration form can be found at http://incolor.inetnebr.com/dougg/swcs/.

If you'd like to add an activity to this list, please post it in the comments section.
Additionally, there is an events calender at http://swcsnetwork.ning.com/

In Touch with a World of Soil Museums

Excitement is building about the upcoming Smithsonian “Dig It! The Secrets of Soil” exhibit, which opens at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, on July 19, 2008.

Attendees of the Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Conference in Tucson, Arizona, July 26-30, 2008, will get an early inside scoop on the exhibit with special presentations by Ellen Bergfeld and Paul Kamps from the Soil Science Society of America and Barbara Stauffer, Jennifer Bine, and Pat Megonigal from the Smithsonian Institution. Highlights will include a virtual tour of the exhibit. Go to http://www.swcs.org/ for more information.

Soil museums exist in many parts of the world—for example, the Soil Science Institute, Nanjing, China; the Guangdong Institute of Eco-Environment and Soil Sciences, Guangdong, China; the National Institute of Soils and Fertilizers, Hanoi, Vietnam; and the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehra Dun , India. In addition, the Land Development Department (LDD) Soil Museum in Bangkok, Thailand, has recently been completed. (List courtesy of Samran Sombatpanit, World Association of Soil and Water Conservation.)

Students visiting the World Soil Museum. Photo courtesy of A. Hartemink/ISRIC.

Perhaps the best-known soil museum is the World Soil Museum in Wageningen, the Netherlands. The World Soil Museum is hosted by ISRIC – World Soil Information and headed by soil scientist Alfred Hartemink. Go to http://www.isric.org/UK/About+Soils/World+Soil+Museum/ to learn more.

Meeting, IUFRO, Use of Vegetation to Improve Slope Stability

Though close to our annual conference, proceedings will likely be available. 14-18 July 2008 Ground Bio- and Eco-engineering. The Use of Vegetation to Improve Slope Stability Beijing, China IUFRO 8.03.00, Contact: Gernot Fiebiger; zt(at)fiebiger.eu http://bibamap.cirad.fr/cmsmadesimple/index.php

2008 SWCS Annual Conference

The preliminary program with complete descriptions of conference plenary sessions, the list of oral and poster presentations and symposia, tours, workshops, and special events is online at www.swcs.org/08ac

Conference highlights:
~ Dig It! The Secrets of Soil - a keynote presentation featuring a "Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Soils Exhibit Opening and the Traveling Tour" from the Smithsonian Institution and the Soil Science Society of America.

~ Illegal Immigration and the Conservation Consequences - a forum focused on the conservation issues in the border area of Mexico and the United States. The forum will feature speakers from the ranching, law enforcement, wildlife and government agency perspectives.

Educational content for the conference includes presentations in the following issue areas:
o Soil Resources and Management
- Soil Resource Assessment
- Soil Resource Management and Conservation
o Water Resources and Management
o Conservation in Urban Settings
o Adaptive Management of Conservation Efforts
o Conservation Education
o Conservation Tools and Technologies, and
o Conservation and Environmental Policy and Program Design.

Technical Workshops, Educational Tours & Networking Opportunities
There are eight tours, five workshops and dozens of opportunities – from the Networking/Social Night at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum to the Regional Networking Roundtable Lunches and the Exhibitor/Poster Reception on Sunday night – to learn and make connections with attendees, exhibitors and speakers in a variety settings and sessions.

Be sure to register by June 16th because prices will increase as we get closer to the conference.

Contact the JW Marriott Starr Pass at 1-888-527-8989 to make hotel reservations or make your reservations online through the SWCS website. Be sure to reference the Soil and Water Conservation Society conference to receive the group rate.