Area Conservation Tillage Meetings—A Successful Educational Program

Interest in conservation tillage began to increase in the early 1980s, and farmers wanted information on how to adopt and manage various tillage and planting systems. Area conservation tillage meetings were developed by the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension to provide the needed information on a regional basis. Local extension agents and Soil Conservation Service personnel helped extension specialists determine program content. The multidisciplinary meetings included farmer presentations and allowed space and time for commercial exhibits. About 8007o of respondents to meeting evaluations indicated they planned to change their tillage practices as a result of the information presented. SOIL erosion, sedimentation, and subsequent impacts on water quality are major problems associated with Nebraska crop production (NNRC, 1979). Eastern Nebraska, especially the northeastern portion, has a history of severe soil erosion due in part to a predominance of steep slopes and highly erodible soils. The average annual allowable soil loss (T value) is 11.2 t/ha for most Nebraska soils, yet some fields have annual soil erosion rates exceeding 225 t/ha. Loss of topsoil is critical; erosion can result in the removal of fertilizers and pesticides, thus contributing to water quality problems and reduced crop yields. Although farmers often are aware that erosion is a problem nationally, many do not recognize it as a problem in their own operations. Sheet and rill erosion, two of the most common forms of soil loss, may be largely invisible to farmers (Nowak, 1985). Further, while soil erosion has occurred, farmers generally have not experienced corresponding losses in productivity. In many cases, potential losses have been masked by increased inputs of fertilizer, improved hybrids, and irrigation. Structural and nonstructural conservation practices can be used to reduce soil losses to acceptable levels. Conservation tillage is one of the most effective and least costly methods of reducing soil erosion while conserving labor, fuel, and soil moisture. Depending on residue type, a variety of tillage and planting systems can be classified as conservation tillage. These can include no-till, E.C. Dickey, P.J. Jasa, and R.D. Grisso, L.W. Chase Hall, Univ. of Nebraska, Biological Systems Eng. Dep., Lincoln, NE 68583; D.P. Shelton, Univ. of Nebraska Northeast Res. and Ext. Center, Concord, NE 68728; and K. Glewen, Univ. of Nebraska Coop. Ext. in Saunders County, 112 East 7th, Wahoo, NE 68066. Published as Journal Series no. 90-9, CASNR, Univ. of Nebraska. Received 13 Nov. 1990. *Corresponding author. Published in J. Agron. Educ. 20:115-119 (1991). ridge-till, and even disking and chiseling if the number of residue-altering operations is limited to maintain at least a 300Jo residue cover on the soil surface after planting (CTIC, 1989). Even when farmers recognize the erosion problem, they may not realize that residue management practices can reduce soil losses. Further, they may not have the appropriate information about what constitutes conservation tillage. Although researchers, Cooperative Extension (CE) personnel, conservation workers, and producers have documented the advantages of conservation tillage systems, adoption in some row crop producing areas has been less than anticipated. Ideally, the frequency of application of conservation practices should increase as inherent erosion potential increases. However, this does not appear to be the case. According to the 1982 Natural Resources Inventory, for the nation as a whole, the percentage of land area treated with one or more conservation practices appears to decline with successively higher potential erosion (Committee on Conservation Needs and Opportunities, 1986). Interest in conservation tillage can also be attributed to the lack of available labor, high fuel prices, potential increases in farm profit, more effective soil applied and post-emerge herbicides, inexpensive equipment modifications, increased farmer awareness, and improved educational programs. However, tradition is one of the largest deterrents to the adoption of conservation tillage. Even though soil erosion is a major problem, farmer concerns about possible yield decreases, inadequate weed control, fertilizer requirements, and soil responses to fewer tillage operations have delayed widespread implementation of conservation tillage. Such attitudes are not changed easily. In response to the above-mentioned needs, the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension developed area conservation tillage meetings to educate clients about the adoption and management of conservation tillage systems. The meetings were part of an overall educational program that included sprayer, planter, and cultivator clinics; equipment demonstrations; tours of farmer plots and fields; rainfall simulator demonstrations to show the erosion control potential of different levels of residue cover; development of educational materials; and a balanced media approach involving press releases, magazine articles, radio programs, and television coverage. The overall goal of the area conservation tillage meetings was to educate farmers, landowners, and local agency personnel about how to successfully adopt and manage conservation tillage and planting systems. The purpose of this article is to report on the development, delivery, and successes of these meetings. J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 20, no. 2, 1991 115