National No-till Conference

You may have gathered that I spent the end of last week attending the National No-till Conference in Springfield.  We don't have a lot of customers who are no-tillers, but I have heard good things about the conference from various sources, so I thought maybe it was about time I attend. It has never before been as close as Springfield although I missed it when it was in St. Louis.  I may have mentioned in the past, that I value different viewpoints and I value the opportunity to hear nationally known speakers share their knowledge.  The conference had both.

This is a conference that farmers should attend once in a while even if they are not no-tillers.  Much of the information passed along related to growing things in general and not just to no-till.  Who knows, you may even be convinced to try something different.  One of the most enjoyable parts of the convention was the opportunity to participate in small discussion groups.  The small groups had moderators, but there was no script.  It was like continuing the discussion in the hallways.  There were numerous concurrent sessions and I found myself wanting to attend more than one almost every time.  I think that is a sign of a well run conference.  Another sign of a well run conference was that all sessions ran on time.  Moderators timed presentations well and presenters respected the moderators when they were told that they were done.

Unless something big comes up, I will be passing along some of the specific information received along with my comments on the information.  I hope my notes and memory are both good.  When you go to something like this, you always ask yourself if you got your money's worth.  I would give an emphatic yes.   Some farmers said that they got enough information about planter and sprayer adjustments alone to make the conference worth the time and money.