CASI Hosts Esteemed Guests at Five Points NRI Project Site!

Roberto Botelho, Angus Wright, and Tom Willey (left to right) visit the NRI Project field in Five Points, CA, February 22, 2018

Three distinguished guests visited the long-standing CASI NRI Project in Five Points on February 22 and saw first-hand how the no-till and cover cropped soils have dramatically changed since the study was started in 1999.  Dr. Angus Wright, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Studies at California State University, Sacramento, Tom Willey, retired organic farmer at T & D Willey Farms in Madera, CA, and Roberto Botelho, conservation agriculture researcher in Sao Paolo state in Brazil, met with CASI's Jeff Mitchell at the site on a splendidly sunny day in the San Joaquin Valley.  The visitors examined the cover crop mixtures that have been growing during the winter and also dug shovels-full of soil to examine how it has visibly changed under the long-term no-till and cover crop management that has been implemented at the site.  Dr. Wright is a noted researcher and author several books on agriculture including Nature's Matrix and the Death of Ramon Gonzales:  The Modern Agricultural Dilemma.   He gave a guest lecture in Mitchell's PLS111 Agronomy course last fall in Davis and also a seminar the night before at Fresno City College to a large crowd.  We were honored to have these wonderful guests visit our NRI Project site in Five Points.

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