The second installment of CASI's Conservation Agriculture documentary released

District conservationist Phil Hogan comments in the CASI video.

In the 8-minute video, viewers will be introduced to a new way of looking at plant residues. In California, many farmers manage crop residues to make them essentially "disappear," due to concerns about pathogens and in order to make clean planting beds.

"The crop residues used to be viewed as trash," says Phil Hogan, district conservationist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, in the video. "It's not trash, its a resource to be used which helps increase soil organic matter, which helps increase soil moisture."

The next segment in the documentary series, to be released Aug. 20, looks at conservation agriculture in tomato production systems, which cut production costs, reduce dust emissions and store more carbon in the soil.

Participants in the field day will see the latest 21^st Century center pivot and linear systems being adapted for California’s complex dairy waste disposal and silage production systems and the latest low-pressure precision emitters, which allow farmers to ‘spoon feed’ their crops.

View all the videos that have been released to date and the titles of upcoming installments here: http://ucanr.edu/documentary

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