Conservation agriculture news
New CASI video available
New CASI video available on "Twenty years of no-tilled double-cropped cotton and wheat in Goodyear, AZ" at https://youtu.be/04XJR1tzuGI
For over twenty years, Ron, Robert, and Earl Rayner of Goodyear, AZ have been perfecting a very interesting and successful system of no-tilled double-cropped cotton and wheat at A Tumbling T Ranches in Goodyear, AZ. Their motivations and techniques for this highly innovative system, as well as the many very interesting things that they've learned over the years about how best to implement the practices that they employ are now chronicled in a 41-minute video that is available at the You Tube link above.
The video captures quite a lot of very good innovation and also sheds light on many very important aspects of conservation agriculture including risk management, the overall value of reduced disturbance residue-preserving practices, along with things that the Rayners have learned over the years related to water use efficiency, soil function, and farm sustainability.
Special thanks to Ron Rayner for taking the time to share the many years of dedicated effort in this video.
A shorter, revised version of the video will be available later this year following the 2017 cotton harvest.
UC Merced soil physics researchers visit NRI Project in Five Points
Ghezzehei hails originally from Eritrea where he tells us, “We don't have traditional last name; thus, my son's last name is my dad's first name just like my last name is my grandfather's first name.” Essey is a sixth-grader at a Merced elementary school.
Following their visit to the NRI Project field, Teamrat, Essey, Samuel and Jing joined NRI Project representative, Jeff Mitchell, for a traditional CASI hospitality lunch at El Ranchero Café in Five Points where the group had a chance to talk with local Westside farmers and learn more about the water shortage issues they face.
Links to two short introductory videos on the California Farm Demonstration Network
Links to two short introductory videos on the California Farm Demonstration Network are now available at the CASI website http://casi.ucanr.edu/.
The first one is about 8 minutes long and presents a number of the farmers and features of the Network. The second one is a shorter, 3 minute, introduction to the Network.
The California Farm Demonstration Network is an partnership between the California Farm Bureau Federation, the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the University of California, Davis, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts to expand the adoption of improved performance, conservation agriculture farm production practices and systems in California. It relies on a series of local hubs showcasing various farm demonstrations of a wide range of conservation agriculture, climate-smart, and healthy soils systems are being evaluated.
Full video link:
Trailer Link:
CASI Hosts California Ag Solutions at longstanding NRI Project field June 27, 2017
Eight members of California Ag Solutions of Madera, CA were hosted at the longstanding NRI Project field in Five Points on Tuesday, June 27th by Jeff Mitchell.
The group was keen to see how the garbanzo planting that they had helped with had turned out and also how the 2017 no-till sorghum is performing. Monte Bottens, Matt and Silas Rossow, and Cary Crum of CAS took part along with three other members of the Madera headquarters crew. The tour visit allowed everyone to view the rather dramatic and surprising growth of the no-till sorghum which seemed to be taller and more vigorous than this year's standard tillage systems.
In addition, the group also visited this year's trial of no-till cotton that was established in standing rye cover crop using row unit-mounted DAWN ZRX's. These implements roll standing cover crops and allow seeding all in the same operation.
Now is a very good time to visit the NRI Project field as there is much to see related to the performance of the no-till crops this season.
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CASI Meets with UC ANR Leadership – June 20, 2017!
CASI's Betsy Karle, UCCE Glenn County, Marsha Campbell, UCCE Stanislaus County, and Jeff Mitchell, UC Davis Plant Sciences, met with UC ANR Associate Vice President, Wendy Powers, and Statewide Programs Director, Mark Bell in the ANR state offices in Davis, CA on June 20 to update them on the history, evolution, and accomplishments of our CASI Workgroup and the California Farm Demonstration Network, and to also invite them to become part of the Network's Steering Committee. We are quite happy to report that on behalf of ANR, Wendy will become part of the Steering Committee and that when she is unable to participate in its meetings, that Mark will take her place. This is very good news and will be an important addition not only to the Committee, but also to the eventual work of the statewide farm demonstration network. Both Wendy and Mark have different sorts of experiences in their earlier careers that ought to be very useful to the Network and to the Steering Committee as it gears up to begin actual implementation of the activities that are now being developed.
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