... and Pollinators
Buffer Strips
Community Organizing
Conservation Tillage
Conservation Practices—Adoption
Crop Residue Management (CRM) Survey
Drainage Water Management
Cover Crops
Cover Crop Survey
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
Demonstration Projects
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
Grazing and Rangeland
Hypoxia
Know Your Watershed
Leadership
Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI)
No-Till
National Aquatic Resource Survey (NARS)
National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI)
Nutrient Management
Operational Tillage Assessment System (OpTIS)
Pasture
Ridge Till
Soil Health
Strip Till
Tours
Training
Water Quality
Watershed Groups Watershed Implementation and Innovation Network (WIIN)
Weed Management
Wetlands
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... to the world's understanding of crop residue management and cover crops in the Corn Belt."
Wide Range of Applications
Queries of OpTIS data at www.ctic.org can be customized by year, units, crops and geographic area. The data can be used in a wide range of applications, including:
Tracking progress in meeting goals set out by conservation programs like the Mississippi River Basin Initiative and state or regional efforts to reduce soil loss or nutrient flow into rivers and lakes
Targeting resources like technical services or incentive programs
Comparing the success of various conservation programs across large areas
Validating and tracking progress on ecosystem services for market-based environmental solutions
Substantiating sustainability programs throughout the farm and foo ... more. |
... and getting them deeply involved in every aspect of the project. CTIC brought organizational, educational and outreach expertise, using EPA 319 funding received from Illinois EPA. Illinois EPA and the US Geological Survey (USGS) provided data on water quality and other parameters to measure the impact of conservation practices on water quality in the creek.
Additional funding through the Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI)—a program of USDA NRCS and US EPA—assisted in implementation.
Outcomes and Information
Leaders of the Indian Creek Watershed Project personally contacted every one of the more than 100 farmers in the watershed to inform them about conservation options and benefits, as well as about incentives and programs that helped make key practices more attractive. The team also liste ... more. |
... showcase the latest products, techniques, equipment and tools for resource conservation.With funding from USDA, CTIC will employ tile outlet monitoring to measure water quality.
CTIC and Livingston SWCD partner with Argonne National Laboratories to study the growth and water quality effects of bio-energy crops in the Indian Creek watershed.
Through a USDA Mississippi River Basin Initiative grant, USDA-NRCS and Livingston County SWCD provide financial assistance to farmers implementing best resource management practices.
Every farmer in the watershed will be contacted to implement conservation practices/systems.
Illinois native Dr. Harold F. Reetz, Jr. leads design and oversight of demonstration and testing plots. These will measure the e ... more. |
... emphasis on more and better nutrient management promises advances in farm profitability, conservation technology, and water quality improvements. Agriculture'sability to marry economy and environment, planning and implementation, and research and technology transfer will define our success.
The United States Department of Agriculture recently accepted proposals for the Mississippi River Basin Initiative grants program, an effort to focus $320 million, over the next four years, for nutrient best management practices in priority watersheds of the Mississippi River Basin.
The International Fertilizer Industry Association, the International Plant Nutrition Institute and The Fertilizer Institute promote the 4 R stewardship concept: efficient nutrient management depends on applying nutrien ... more. |
... a three-year project to address the potential for water quality trading in the Wabash River Watershed, which begins in western Ohio, flows through Indiana and ends in Illinois, where it meets the Ohio River.
CTIC Project Director Christa Martin-Jones says the Wabash River Watershed was chosen because it is the largest northern tributary to the Ohio River, which is a major contributor to the Mississippi River.
“Recent TMDLs developed to address impairments in the Wabash River Watershed identify sources of nutrient loads, including agricultural nonpoint source runoff and a variety of permitted point source discharges, including municipal and industrial wastewater discharges, storm water discharges, combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows,” she says.
It appears ... more. |
... a three-year project to address the potential for water quality trading in the Wabash River Watershed, which begins in western Ohio, flows through Indiana and ends in Illinois, where it meets the Ohio River.
CTIC Project Director Christa Martin-Jones says the Wabash River Watershed was chosen because it is the largest northern tributary to the Ohio River, which is a major contributor to the Mississippi River.
“Recent TMDLs developed to address impairments in the Wabash River Watershed identify sources of nutrient loads, including agricultural nonpoint source runoff and a variety of permitted point source discharges, including municipal and industrial wastewater discharges, storm water discharges, combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows,” she says.
It appears ... more. |
Gulf of Mexico hypoxia issues pose a significant challenge in addressing the protection of the marine environment given the sheer magnitude of excess nutrient loading and the size of the contributing Mississippi River watershed. This nutrient loading is a result of cumulative nutrientdischarges across the largest river basin in North America, the Mississippi River Basin. The Wabash River watershed contributes a significant nutrient load, from portions ofIndiana, Illinois, and Ohio,to the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and eventually, the Gulf of Mexico. Recent Total Maximum Daily Lo ... more. |
Farmers throughout the Mississippi River basin are making the right choices for nutrient efficiency and water quality protection, and CTIC is telling their story.
Photo courtesy of USEPA
Upstream Heroes: CTIC Spreads Nutrient
Management Success Stories from along the
Mississippi River
ByAmy Raley
With current recession-generated challenges o ... more. |
... in the biofuels industry, highlights recent changes in the biofuels production process, biomass development and policies. The study focuses on four main cellulosic feedstocks, including: corn stover, miscanthus, switchgrass and wood.
The full report is available at http://www.mnproject.org/pdf/TMP_Transportation-Biofuels-Update_Aug09.pdf
USDA Announces $320 Million to Improve Mississippi River Basin Water Quality and Wildlife Habitat
In September, USDA announced the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI), which will provide $80 million in each of the next four fiscal years (for a total of $320 million) for voluntary projects in priority watersheds located in 12 key states. Managed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the MRBI will help produc ... more. |
... host to share their insight. “Increasing Producer Involvement in Watershed Projects: Lessons from Indian Creek,” will be held from 1:00 to 2:00 pm Central Standard Time.
The webinar is the first in a series by the Great Rivers & Upstream Heroes Watershed Implementation & Innovation Network (WIIN), a new forum for idea exchange about watershed projects in the Mississippi River Basin. WIIN is organized by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) and The Nature Conservancy Great Rivers Project, with funding from The Mosaic Company, the McKnight Foundation and Monsanto.
“There are so many creative projects going on all over the Mississippi River Basin, but it’s easy for watershed project managers to feel isolated or anxious to compare ... more. |
... to promote many aspects of conservation, including nutrient stewardship, habitat conservation and watershed restoration.
For example, The Mosaic Company Foundation supports The Nature Conservancy’sGreat Rivers Partnershipthrough science-based work with farmers and partners to improve water quality in three key agricultural watersheds in the Upper Mississippi River Basin – Minnesota’s Root River, Iowa’s Boone River and Illinois’ Mackinaw River.Additionally, The Mosaic Company supports theFlorida Farm Bureau’s CARES program, which recognizes superior natural resource conservation by agricultural producers.Since its inception in 2001, more than 550 agriculturists statewide have received the CARES award. Th ... more. |
Speaker Presentations
Benefits and Obstacles in Water Quality Trading - George Kelly, Environmental Banc & Exchange
Ohio's Great Miami River Watershed - Dusty Hall, The Miami Conservancy District
Water Quality Credit Training Workshop - Jim Klang, Kieser & Associates
Aggregators: Examples and Opportunities - Jamie McCarthy, Kieser & Associates
Sauk River Watershed Ecosystem Services Project - Jim Klang, Kieser & Associates
Great Miami River Watershed Water Quality Credit Trading Program - Sarah Hippenst ... more. |
... next series of training events and eagerly awaiting news on our proposal for an Indiana Pilot of the new USDA Climate Smart Commodity Partnerships. We’ve also just wrapped up Phase 1 of our new Conservation Validation Network, which is also being piloted in Indiana. Later this year, we’ll be hosting a Stakeholder Workshop for our successful PLUS-UP program in the Western Lake Erie Basin, funded through the EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
And of course, we’re actively seeking candidates to fill this open role as full-time Executive Director. The opportunity was recently posted on Indeed and LinkedIn, both of which have already generated a number of applications. The search committee is already pouring over these and we hope to have news to report soon.
... more. |
...
is impractical; usually part of a terrace system.
How it works
An embankment is built across a depressional area of concentrated water runoff to act similar to a terrace. It traps sediment and water running off farmland above the structure, preventing it from reaching farmland below.
How it helps
Basins improve water quality by trapping sediment on uplands and preventing it from reaching water bodies.
Structures reduce gully erosion by controlling water flow within a drainage area. Grass cover may provide habitat for wildlife.
Planning ahead
Will basins be part of an existing terrace system?
Is the site too steep for the basin to work properly or be economically feasible?
Can adeq ... more. |
Farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin Can Earn Money in New CTIC Phosphorus Reduction Pilot Program
Farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin—including parts of Ohio, Michigan and Indiana—can earn money through a phosphorus load reduction pilot program. The “Phosphorus Load-Reduction Stimulation Program” (PLUS-UP) program, coordinated by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), will pay far ... more. |
... flow into the watershed and loss from area farms. Like many environmental credit programs, PLUS-UP was a win/win, a stimulus to help farmers adopt BMPs and a way for Bayer CropScience to achieve environmental objectives of its own.
In addition to stimulating phosphorus-holding practices on fields enrolled in PLUS-UP, our program also includes wider outreach in the Western Lake Erie Basin. On August 23, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (US EPA GLRI) and the generous hosting of The Andersons, we will hold a one-day nutrient stewardship training workshop in Maumee, Ohio.
At the workshop, attendees will learn lessons from the PLUS-UP program, dig into the 4Rs of Nutrient Stewardship, get an update on H2Ohio and ... more. |
In 2009, CTIC received federal funding to study the feasibility of a water quality credit trading program in the Wabash River basin.
Water quality credit trading may prove to be a useful, innovative, market-based approach to bolstering farm income while improving water quality. This voluntary tool connects industrial and municipal facilities with agricultural producers to economically achieve water
quality improvements.
This concept is beginning to take hold in areas across the country ... more. |
The Conservation In Action Tour keeps growing! On May 31, 2012, nearly 250 participants gathered in the Mississippi Delta to meet and learn from farmers who face unique challenges in water quality, herbicide resistance and wildlife management. The Tour, organized by CTIC and partner Delta F.A.R.M., highlighted innovative conservation practices that producers and partners implement to protect and preserve one of the largest contiguous ecosystems in North America. Producers, agribusiness partners, government off ... more. |
Take a tour of the new WIIN, an innovative website for watershed project managers in the Mississippi River Basin. The Great Rivers & Upstream Heroes Watershed Implementation & Innovation Network (WIIN) is an online resource for sharing detailed information about watershed projects throughout the Basin, including data and lessons learned.
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... voluntary producer organizations across North America that share similar missions and goals, encounter similar challenges and struggle with all too common problems. The CASA communication network strengthens not only individual efforts but also the shared goal of increasing conservation in agriculture.
Local stakeholder groups focus onimproving nutrient managementin Mississippi River Basin watersheds. CTIC led the formation of three collaborative groups, all including public and private members, to develop and oversee projects and programs in three regions: southern Minnesota, Missouri Bootheel and Upper Wabash River Watershed.
To help producersintegrate cover crops and adopt a continuous no-till system, CTIC connected producers with crop consultants for custom ... more. |
... water management an edge in the conservation game."
Installation costs of drainage management systems range from $20 to $200 per acre more than conventional drainage systems. To offset these costs, government cost-share programs are an important part of the picture. Programs including Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative can provide assistance for installation. And, in some states, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) funds may apply to drainage management structures in riparian buffers.
Schafer says that "Ideally, farmers could be compensated to forfeit a year’s crop in order to facilitate constr ... more. |
A recorded one-hour webinar on using CTIC data to analyze trends in conservation farming practices across the Corn Belt is available on CTIC's website. The video, recorded as a live webinar last October, includes a discussion of the use of Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS) data through the De-Nitrification/De-Composition (DNDC) model, as well as presentations by three users of the data:
... more. |
... Water Conservation District to showcase a "Community 4 Conservation." Highlights of the tour included:
An Aerial Seeding Demonstration
A Soil Pit Demonstration
Slake test
Equipment on display
The Tiling Demonstration
Click here to read more about CTIC's 2013 Tour.
Conservation In Action Tour 2012
On May 31, 2012, nearly 250 participants gathered in the Mississippi Delta region to meet and learn from farmers who face unique challenges in water quality, herbicide resistance and wildlife management.
The Tour, headed by CTIC and partner Delta F.A.R.M., highlighted innovative conservation practices that producers and partners implement to protect and preserve one of the largest contiguous ecosystems in North America. Producers, agribusiness partners, governm ... more. |
... agricultural conservation in action.
Tour host Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) showcased profitable, innovative Northwest Ohio farms while participants learned how the producers make conservation an integral part of their operations.
CTIC welcomed participants from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, South Dakota, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin. And more than 15 agribusinesses shared their knowledge, expertise and product information.
Rex Martin, CTIC board chair and Syngenta Crop Protection head of industry affairs, shares his thoughts. “This tour really shows the value of CTIC – bringing together a diverse group of people to ... more. |
... name. The CTIC web site can be reached at www.ctic.org and www.conservationinformation.org. Same web site…just a little easier to find us now. In addition, all CTIC staff can be reached at lastname@conservationinformation.org and lastname@ctic.org.
CTIC Project Spotlight
Working with a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CTIC and partners in three regions within the Mississippi River basin are joining efforts to improve nutrient use efficiency and increase nutrient management at the farm level. Learn more about this project -- Building Innovative Industry-Producer Partnerships to Reduce Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico – and get involved. Click here.
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... Indian Creek Watershed Project advisory board.
That dramatic level of involvement was the subject of the webinar that launched the Great Rivers/Upstream Heroes Watershed Implementation and Innovation Network (WIIN). Tune in early in 2013 for the official launch of the WIIN website, an online learning and brainstorming resource for watershed project managers throughout the Mississippi River Basin.
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... environmentally sustainable way to an increasingly populous world by creating a worldwide step-change in farm productivity. Through deploying world-class science, we aim to transform the way crops are grown and look beyond yield.
Conservation is a key part of that step-change. Syngenta is a long-time supporter of CTIC and the Center's efforts to study and advocate conservation farming in the Mississippi River Basin, across the U.S. and worldwide. |
The New Leader line of crop nutrient applicators from Highway Equipment Company is an integral part of fertilizer handling - vital for improving water quality and farm sustainability in the Mississippi River Basin. "Right place" is one of the 4Rs of nutrient stewardship, and New Leader equipment is proud of its role in promoting and enabling that key tactic. |
Research & Technology Briefs
Unprecedented Cropland Study Confirms Conservation Practices Work On Farms in Upper Mississippi River Basin
Conservation practices installed and applied by agricultural producers on cropland are reducing sediment, nutrient and pesticide losses from farm fields, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. More...
Cool Farm Tool
A public release version of the Cool Farm Tool Greenhouse Gas Calculator, a new greenhouse gas calculator for farming,is now availab ... more. |
... and private partners, as well as readers of ag media and general/consumer media
.
Activities
CTIC ic connecting with partners to support and advance the Upstream Heroes Campaign. Terra Industries is a Guardian partner and The Nature Conservancy is an Advocate. Additional partners are being sought as well. CTIC has collected more than two dozen success story leads from throughout the Mississippi River Basin. These leads will be researched and eveloped into stories that will be placed in a variety of media outlets, including agriculture publications, consumer media, and CTIC and Member outreach tools. The Upstream Heroes website, http://www.conservationinformation.org/nutrientmanagement/ provides information about nutrient management and the hypoxic zone, offers a form for nominatin ... more. |
... PRACTICES ON CTIC'S CONSERVATION IN ACTION TOUR, AUG 20-21
The Conservation in Action Tour on August 20 and 21, organized by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), will give participants a chance to dig deep into a wide range of conservation farming practices, including constructed systems such as wood chip bioreactors, saturated buffers, sediment control basins and others.
The tour begins and ends in Des Moines. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig
will welcome the group at an opening social on the evening of August 20 hosted by John Deere at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in downtown Des Moines.
On-Farm Installation Site
... more. |
Welcome to the first newsletter of the PLUS-UP program, our pilot project for credit-funded dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) reduction in the Western Lake Erie Basin. PLUS-UP stands for Phosphorous Load-Reduction Stimulus Program, and the name sums up our approach: to raise and disburse stimulus funds that help farmers cover the cost and management of practices that reduce phosphorus loads that feed harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie.
Our goal with the PLUS-UP pilot project has been to develop an efficient, effective program. That's why we focus ... more. |
Welcome to the first newsletter of the PLUS-UP program, our pilot project for credit-funded dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) reduction in the Western Lake Erie Basin. PLUS-UP stands for Phosphorous Load-Reduction Stimulus Program, and the name sums up our approach: to raise and disburse stimulus funds that help farmers cover the cost and management of practices that reduce phosphorus loads that feed harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie.
Our goal with the PLUS-UP pilot project has been to develop an efficient, effective program. That's why we focus ... more. |
Farmers in Washington’s Whatcom County are engaged in a wide range of water quality improvement projects. TMDLs (total maximum daily loads) in local waterways cover fecal coliform, ammonia-nitrogen, biochemical oxygen demand, chlorine and temperature.
The presence of commercial shellfish beds not far from the mouth of the Nooksack River puts added pressure on farmers and shellfish harvesters to work together on water quality improvements.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS) program found that 45% of America’s river and stream miles are impaired by excess nutrients and 23%—including 8% of the West’s river and stream length—exceed thresholds for enter ... more. |
... researchers, market makers, and nonprofits, we will create the ability to quantify and reward farmers for their reductions in phosphorus loss. With all the issues related to water quality in the Western Lake Erie Basin, we hope to drive improvements through this market-based effort.”
Cover Crop Connections
The project will encourage farmers in the Maumee and Sandusky river basins to reduce P loads by 40 percent using subsurface application, cover crops, and buffer strips. Through educational materials, workshops, and one-on-one training, CTIC, The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) and the Soil Health Partnership (SHP) will provide technical support to farmers on sustainable nutrient management practices.
Using the Operational Tillage Information System (OpTI ... more. |
... DWQ she has worked to increase communication, collaboration, and trust between DWQ and Utah’s LHDs. Kate also continues to work with NASA on making Utah a sentinel state for emerging remote sensing technology in the use of observing HABs from satellites.
Video Length - 9:58
A Water Quality Standards Perspective on Swimming in An Urban Waterway – The Anacostia River
Ed Dunne
Speaker Bio
Ed is the Branch Chief of Water Quality Standards and Total Maximum Daily Loads in the Water Quality Division at the District of Columbia’s Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE). Prior to DOEE, Ed was a program officer with the Water Science and Technology Board at the National Academies of Sciences. There he led consensus-based studies on water resou ... more. |
Date
Location
Contact
February 21
Ogemaw County
Ogemaw Co MSU Extension Office
Rifle River Watershed
West Branch, MI
Paul Gross
989-772-0911x302
grossp@msu.edu
March 15
Allegan County
Trestle Stop Restaurant
Macatawa watershed
Hamilton, MI
Christina Currell
231-745-2732
curellc@msu.edu
... more. |
CTIC welcomed participants from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, South Dakota, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin. And more than 15 agribusinesses shared their knowledge, expertise and product information.
Rex Martin, CTIC board chair and Syngenta Crop Protection head of industry affairs, shares his thoughts. “This tour really shows the value of CTIC – bringing together a diverse group of people to ... more. |
CTIC welcomed participants from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, South Dakota, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin. And more than 15 agribusinesses shared their knowledge, expertise and product information.
Rex Martin, CTIC board chair and Syngenta Crop Protection head of industry affairs, shares his thoughts. “This tour really shows the value of CTIC – bringing together a diverse group of ... more. |
Bayer CropScience, The Mosaic Company, Syngenta and the Conservation Infrastructure Initiative co-led by the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance (IAWA) and Iowa’s Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) have signed on as a Diamond-level sponsors of the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) Conservation in Action Tour. The tour, which will be held August 20 and 21 in Des Moines, Iowa, is CTIC's 12th annual program of its type.
The tour will incl ... more. |
... Soybean Digestin the coming months, which includes their website. CTIC will also publish those stories on our website in the near future.
Supply Chain Sustainability in Iowa
Last fall, CTIC finished the first phase of a project funded by the Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardship. For the last three years, this project enhanced an ongoing supply chain sustainability initiative with technical and financial support that helped participating farmers plant nearly 40,000 acres of cover crops.
For our next step, CTIC is joining partners including The Nature Conservancy, Practical Farmers of Iowa, and Unilever to encourage greater adoption of conservation systems among farmers already enrolled in supply chain sustainability initiatives. This project will focus outrea ... more. |
Supply Chain Sustainability in Iowa
Last fall, CTIC finished the first phase of a project funded by the Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardship. For the last three years, this project enhanced an ongoing supply chain sustainability initiative with technical and financial support that helped participating farmers plant nearly 40,000 acres of cover crops.
For our next step, CTIC is joining partners including The Nature Conservancy, Practical Farmers of Iowa, and Unilever to encourage greater adoption of conservation systems among farmers already enrolled in supply chain sustainability initiatives. This project will focus outrea ... more. |
Great Lakes Cover Crop Initiative The Great Lakes Cover Crop Initiative (GLCCI) is a regional effort to establish 15 thousand acres of cover crops in the Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Huron watersheds in three years.
This goal will be accomplished through extensive outreach through field days, workshops and other conservation events. In addition to the outreach events, GLCCI coordinators are working in each wa ... more. |
Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force
Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico--Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
USGS Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico Studies
National Ocean Service
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Watch
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CTIC's Upstream Heroes campaignfeatures success stories about farmers who have developed and adopted sound nutrient efficiency strategies - protecting their bottom lines as well as local and downstream water quality.
Positive stories can highlight agriculture's role in contributing to water quality solutions, such as thoseassociated with high nutrient loads in the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone.
National agriculture and general media sources will have access to stories about our Upstream Heroes.
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... story of food production and how conservation plays a key role in producing safe food.”
Mosaic financiallyy supports CTIC's Upstream heroes program, which features success stories of farmers who develop and adopt sound nutrient management strategies to reduce the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone and to reduce agriculture’s contribution to the high nutrient loads in the Mississippi River.
“By being involved in the Upstream Heroes project, we will become more closely aligned and will build relationships with other organizations like fellow sponsor, The Nature Conservancy,” he says. “It will allow us to find other like-minded organizations, with which we can connect and create win-win situations.”
Ron encourages other companies to bec ... more. |
... Conservation In Action Tour. On this one-day tour in western Illinois, we will visit farms where conservation agriculture systems are put in to action — to help protect resources and to build a profitable operation. Through conservation practices, including nutrient management plans developed by producers and their advisors, these farmers are minimizing agriculture's impact on the Mississippi River watershed. CTIC staff will be sending additional details about the tour over the next few months. So please save the date, sign up for the tour and visit these successful farms with us.
In addition to joining us on the tour, I hope you will accept my invitation to attend our next board meeting, which will be the day after the tour, July 30, 2009, in Moline, Ill.
On behalf of the ... more. |
... the group's formation two years ago to farmers and others in agricultural-related fields.
The MCCC is comprised of a diverse group of academia, production agriculture, non-governmental organizations, commodity interests, private sector and representatives from federal and state agencies collaborating to address soil, water, air and agricultural quality concerns in the Great Lakes and Mississippi river basins (including Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Manitoba, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota).
The group's belief is cover crops are a practical way to decrease soil erosion, increase nutrient recycling by crops and decrease soil and nutrient waste entering waterways.
Dr. Eileen J. Kladivko, professor of agronomy at Purdue University and MCCC Execu ... more. |
Phosphorus Load-Reduction Stimulus Program:
PLUS-UP
Background
The Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) is leading a new effort to pilot a phosphorus load reduction market in the Western Lake Erie Basin (Maumee, Sandusky, and Cedar-Portage watersheds, see map). Growers within the indicated watersheds are now being sought to participate in this pilot market. The “Phosphorus Load-Reduction Stimulation Program” (PLUS-UP) payments now being offered to growers are intended to help offset their costs for the use of in-field practices—cover crops and no-till—which yield quantifi ... more. |
Hello!
Don't forget to register for CTIC'sone-day discussion about innovative approaches to reducing phosphorus in the Western Lake Erie Basin.
The Conservation Technology Information Center, Heidelberg University and Bayer Carbon Program just concluded a one-year pilot of the PLUS-UP phosphorus credit program. On November 15, we will be reviewing the program—the credits, the modeling, reporting and results—and exploring how we could best scale up the concept.
We are inviting you because we th ... more. |
... System (OpTIS) to help model water quality. Register here for the webinar and question-and-answer session with the panel.
Speakers during the live, hour-long "OpTIS 3.0: Unlocking Water Quality Insights" program will include:
Dr. Asmita Murumkar, The Ohio State University, using OpTIS data on tillage and cover crops in their modeling work in Ohio's Upper Scioto River watershed and Maumee basin.
Soren Rundquist, Regrow Ag, with updates on cover crop trends from 2015 to 2021, derived from Regrow’s proprietary and recently improved OpTIS algorithm. OpTIS utilizes publicly available satellite imagery to track tillage practices and cover crop adoption around the globe.
Dr. Dave Gustafson, Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), using OpTIS dat ... more. |
... new addition to the 2023 Conservation in Action Tour is 2 different, optional tours on Monday, July 10, 2023. Attendees will have the chance to choose between the following:
Following professionals from Star of the West through 3 of their mills, discussing the conservation, farming, and consumer angles every step of the way.
An inside look at the Cass River Restoration Project. Located in the heart of Frankenmuth, at the Cass River Dam, Frankenmuth’s Fish Passage project reconnects the fish of the Saginaw Bay to more than 73 miles of historically significant spawning areas.
Online registration for the tour is quick and easy athttps://www.ctic.org/tourregistration. The $225 early registration fee includes all tour activitie ... more. |
... led by the Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment, which was awarded up to $35 million by USDA to conduct this new partnership pilot.
In the Field With EPA
CTIC waded right in on a pair of wetland projects funded under U.S. EPA's National Aquatic Resource Survey (NARS) program.
First, we visited Minnesota's Root River Watershed, where local conservation district staff, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and other stakeholders are engaged in an innovative One Watershed, One Plan program that coordinates watershed management and cleanup efforts. The Root River will be the focus of a story map that explores a wide range of watershed protection and monitoring measures and ties in data from NARS nationwide assess ... more. |
... field and alternated down the slope with strips of crops.
Field border – strips of vegetation planted at the edge of fields, that are can be used for turn areas or travel lanes for machinery.
Filter strips – strips of grass or other vegetation used to slow water runoff from a field. These intercept or trap sediment, nutrients, pesticides and other pollutants before they reach a river, lake or stream.
Grassed waterways – strips of grass on areas where water is concentrated as it runs off a field. Used primarily to prevent and control gully erosion, waterways also act as a filter, trapping sediment and other pollutants.
Living snow fence – Trees and/or shrubs designed to control drifting snow to protect buildings, roads and other property. They can be installe ... more. |
... Power Point Presentations:
Workshop Introduction
WQT Rules Specific to Ohio
Benefits and Obstacles in WQT
WQT Program Examples
Breakout Session for Agricultural Producers
Breakout Session Working with Ag Producers
Breakout Session for Wastewater Community
Breakout Session for Potential WQT CCA's
Breakout Session for Potential WQT Aggregators
Introduction to Ohio River Water Quality Issues
Trading Exercise for Ohio River
Other Information:
Getting Paid for Stewarship: An Agricultural Community Water Quality Trading Guide
Speaker Bios
Water Quality Trading Resources
Workshop Handout - Ohio EPA: Rules for Water Quality Trading
Workshop Handout - Water Quality Trading in Ohio
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Water Quality Credit Trading Workshop
July 8-9, 2009
Sherrodsville, Ohio
Speaker Presentations:
Ohio's Water Quality Trading Rules - Gary Stuhlfauth, Ohio EPA
Ohio's Great Miami River Watershed - Dusty Hall, The Miami Conservancy District
Great Miami River Watershed Water Quality Credit Trading Program - Sarah Hippensteel
Community-Based Water Quality Trading: The Alpine Water Quality Trading Plan - Dr. Richard Moore, The Ohio State University
Water Quality Credit Trading Workshop - Jim Klang, Kieser & Associates
WQT Workshop Role-playing Exercise - Jim ... more. |
What do farms, water quality and the Great Lakes have in common? They all are helped by cover crops. Through the Great Lakes Cover Crop Initiative, CTIC and partners planted 36,970 acres of cover crops, providing many benefits to farmers in the Great Lakes region. Hear from three farmers in the Great Lakes basin, a researcher on Lake Erie and a Michigan State University Extension educator as they present "The Cover Crop Story."
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... temperatures; and
a series of presentations at the Paul Davis farm. These will include how agriculture will play a significant role in removing water quality impairments in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and what Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Load regulations could mean to agriculture and the region.
The day will end with a steak dinner on the banks of the Pamunkey River, a major tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. Plan to join us on Aug. 2 for a social event the evening before the one-day tour. Lodging and travel details will be available soon on the CTIC Web site, www.ctic.org. To become a valued sponsor of this event, contact CTIC at 765-494-9555.
New CTIC publication to detail environmental benefits of agricultural biotechnology
Agricult ... more. |
Bayer CropScience, The Mosaic Company, Syngenta and the Conservation Infrastructure Initiative co-led by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) and the Iowa Association of Water Agencies (IAWA) have signed on as a Diamond-level sponsors of the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) Conservation in Action Tour. The tour, which will be held August 20 and 21 in Des Moines, Iowa, is CTIC's 12th annual program of its type.
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Bayer CropScience, The Mosaic Company, Syngenta and the Conservation Infrastructure Initiative co-led by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) and the Iowa Association of Water Agencies (IAWA) have signed on as a Diamond-level sponsors of the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) Conservation in Action Tour. The tour, which will be held August 20 and 21 in Des Moines, Iowa, is CTIC's 12th annual program of its type.
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... a successful pilot year in 2017, Bee Integrated is on track to enroll additional farmer-beekeeper pairs this spring. The project’s first year yielded valuable insight into what it takes to integrate individual best practices into a practical system for working farms and beekeeping operations. Contact Mike Smith at smith@ctic.org for more information.
National Water Quality Initiative:
CTIC is currently working with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on a project in support of the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI). This project is identifying successful watershed management activities that engage landowners, farmers, and the broader public to protect water quality. Insights developed through this project will inform future NRCS efforts to suppor ... more. |
... by habitat this project established on participating farms. The DNA identification method used is new and developed partially through this project’s support. These pollen ID results are on track to be delivered later this spring and are expected to provide the greatest indicator of our success providing cost-effective on-farm pollinator habitat.
National Water Quality Initiative:
CTIC is currently working with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on a project in support of the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI). This project is identifying successful watershed management activities that engage landowners, farmers, and the broader public to protect water quality. Insights developed through this project will inform future NRCS efforts to suppor ... more. |
... by habitat this project established on participating farms. The DNA identification method used is new and developed partially through this project's support. These pollen ID results are on track to be delivered later this spring and are expexted to provide the greatest indicator of our success providing cost-effective on-farm pollinator habitat.
National Water Quality Initiative:
CTIC is currently working with USDA's Natural Recources Conservation Service (NRCS) on a project in support of the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI). This project is identifying successful watershed management activities that engage landowners, farmers, and the broader public to protect water quality. Insights developed through this project will inform future NRCS efforts to suppor ... more. |
This project, funded by EPA's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, will demonstrate the effectiveness of cover crops and conservation tillage systems to decrease agricultural nonpoint source pollution and inform producers about the economic benefits of the systems. CTIC and partners will assist agricultural producers in the Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Huron watersheds with implementation of cover crops and conservation tillage systems on 15,000 acres by ... more. |
CTIC'S 2012 Conservation in Action Tour in the Mississippi Delta was a huge success. Make sure to check out pictures, videos and interviews from the event which hosted nearly 250 participants from across the nation.
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... visited the CTIC office in early March to interview Karen Scanlon, CTIC executive director. The story aired Wednesday, March 21.
Karen and Upstream Hero Larry Bonnell, interviewed on his farm in Michigan, discussed conservation successes, cover crops and water quality in the broadcast.
The AgDay report also promoted CTIC's Conservation In Action Tour 2012 in the Mississippi Delta this year.
To view the broadcast, click here, or for a written summary click here.
CTIC thanks AgDay and Tyne Morgan for great promotion of conservation and the Conservation In Action Tour.
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... information about conservation agriculture
Endorse adoption of "the ideal" conservation agriculture systems
Facilitate removal of barriers and support member organizations
Influence policy on a broad level
Current CASA Members
Conservation Tillage Workgroup (California)
Delta Conservation Demonstration Center (Mississippi)
Georgia Conservation Tillage Alliance
Innovative Cropping Systems (Virginia)
Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers Association
Mexican Conservation Tillage Association
No-Till on the Plains
Ohio No-Till Council
Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association
Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance
Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association
Soil Conservation Council o ... more. |
Conservation Technology Information Center's Conservation in Action Tour
Join us on an unforgettable tour of South Dakota!
May 6-7, 2025
Sioux Falls
Start your 2025 growing season off right by exploring conservation agriculture in the Great Plains! The 18th Annual Conservation in Action Tour is showcasing South Dakota. It’s a unique planting season tour that will focus on soil health, biodiversity ... more. |
... and environmentally sustainable. Current projectsinclude:
•The Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS), which uses satellite imagery and a specialalgorithmto documentthe adoption of soil-building farming practices;
•Spearheading stimulus projects that encourage phosphorus managementto protect surface waters in the Western Lake Erie Basin;
•Conducting educational programs on conservation practices;
•Hostingtechnical conferences with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
•and more.
An ideal candidate will combine leadership skills, technical acumen and a passion for helping farmers succeed with practices that help them become more economically and environmentally sustainable ... more. |
... and environmentally sustainable. Current projectsinclude:
•The Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS), which uses satellite imagery and a specialalgorithmto documentthe adoption of soil-building farming practices;
•Spearheading stimulus projects that encourage phosphorus managementto protect surface waters in the Western Lake Erie Basin;
•Conducting educational programs on conservation practices;
•Hostingtechnical conferences with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
•and more.
An ideal candidate will combine leadership skills, technical acumen and a passion for helping farmers succeed with practices that help them become more economically and environmentally sustainable ... more. |
The Phosphorus Load-Reduction Stimulus (PLUS-UP) Program is paying 10 growers this summer for reducing dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) loads in the Western Lake Erie Basin on 104 fields covering more than 5,300 acres. Payments average $9.12 per acre.
The program, which emphasizes the role of no-till and cover crops in reducing the off-farm movement of DRP into surface waters, is detailed in this interactive story map.
CTIC and The Andersons will host a 4Rs Nutrient Stewardship meeting in Maumee, Ohio, on August 23. A PLUS-UP stakeholder work ... more. |
Developing a new ecosystem services market is a complex challenge, one that took well over a year to achieve through a seemingly endless series of Zoom calls. So far, Covid has prevented us from holding a kick-off meeting or workshop, but we have been able to launch our first market for dissolved reactive phosphorus in the Western Lake Erie Basin.
Here are the highlights, by the numbers:
10 growers in the Maumee, Sandusky, and Cedar-Portage watersheds signed up
5,000 acres enrolled in PLUS-UP
Bayer Carbon Program underwrites DRP credits
Participating farmers are sharing field data from the 2021 cropping season and the winter of 2021-2022 with the National Center for Water Quality Research at Heide ... more. |
... new relationships through it all. Currently, we are working with many of our members to lay the foundation for new partnerships that will lead us through 2021 and into our 40th anniversary year in 2022.
Meanwhile, we and our partners are making inroads to develop a market-based mechanism to compensate farmers for reducing phosphorus levels in the waterways of the Western Lake Erie Basin.
With other partners, we are getting ready to release an expanded data set from our Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS). In addition to expanding the geography and adding another year of data, we are fine-tuning it to make OpTIS data a mainstay of evaluating changes in tillage and cover crop practices across a growing expanse of the Corn Belt.
We are constantl ... more. |
... to drought is needed at farm and community levels. In some parts of the region, groundwater depletion poses a risk to natural springs, putting critical habitat at risk. The State of Oklahoma does not have a well defined system of water markets. Proposals for sale and inter-basin transfer of large quantities of water are highly controversial. Oklahoma City has substantial water rights from local rivers or groundwater, leaving limited options for many rural communities.
Water Resources Ideal
The “ideal” for regional water resource management would be cleaner water bodies, stable stream channels (e.g., fencing and control access to grazing, re-establishment of riparian vegetation, buffers along streams), improved infiltration in fields and pastures, better mechanisms t ... more. |
... area includes the animal confinement area – open or housed lots, feedlots, stall or freestall barns, barnyards and other areas in which animals are maintained and vegetation is not maintained—and the manure storage area, which includes lagoons, ponds, pits, storage sheds and other places where manure, litter or the process water that contacts those materials is collected. Settling basins also fall into the same rule (compost piles count, too). Raw materials storage areas—whether in silos, bunkers or piles of bedding materials – are also considered part of the production area.
Still some nuance
Despite the number of definitions in the regulations, there’s quite a bit of nuance in the rule as it stands, notes Rick Wilson of the Ohio Environmental Protecti ... more. |
... monitor or tile outlets through outreach and feedback event
Determine the impacts of spring application and fall application of nitrogen on nutrient use efficiency on field site
Three monitoring stations collect tile water at a Livingston County, IL farm field.
These objectives help reach the ultimate goal of improving yields and/or reducing N loading into the Vermilion River Watershed as a result of implementing a better N management system.
Project results will include water quality monitoring data associated with NUE in-field calculations as well as demonstrations of the usability of tile outlet monitoring by producers, the cost effectiveness of these monitoring solutions for measuring nutrient loss and the impact of associated outreach efforts to in ... more. |
... solutions for a variety of food and agricultural supply chain stakeholders. These data document the level of adoption of soil health practices for Illinois, Indiana and Iowa from 2005 to 2018. By the end of July, the same data will be available for the entire Corn Belt—an area extending from eastern Ohio to eastern Kansas and Nebraska, and from the Missouri Bootheel to the Red River Valley of North Dakota.
OpTIS, developed by Applied GeoSolutions (AGS), analyzes remotely sensed images of the landscape, automatically identifying and quantifying the proportion of cropland that is managed with various types of conservation tillage practices and winter cover crops each year. AGS, the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) ... more. |
The early discount deadline has been extended to July 14! Join CTIC for its annual Conservation In Action Tour 2011. This year’s Tour will focus on agriculture’s influence on the environmental and economic health of Maumee River and Bay, as well as Lake Erie.
WHEN: August 9, 2011
WHERE: Northwest Ohio
WHAT: The Tour will highlight producers implementing innovative conservation practices and solutions to water quality issues.
"Early Bird" registration for the Conservation In Action Tour 2011 is now open!
Click here to register.
... more. |
... Chesapeake Bay watershed and what the Clean Water Act and the Total Maximum Daily Load regulations could mean to agriculture and the region, and
•The Nutrient Use Efficiency Expo of tools, technology and equipment that make nutrient use more efficient, more profitable and more effective.
The day will end with a steak dinner on the banks of the Pamunkey River, a major tributary to the Chesapeake Bay.
“Innovative farmers making conservation work, important discussions with public and private partners about Chesapeake Bay concerns and introductions to the technology and tools that help producers protect water quality – our Tour has it all. Join us on Aug. 3 to be a part of it,” said Karen Scanlon, CTIC’s executive director. ... more. |
Meeting Notes
December 4, 2009
November 6, 2009
October 2, 2009
September 4, 2009
August 6, 2009
June 8, 2009
Action Plans
Upper Wabash River Nutrient Management Coalition Action Plan
Other
Nonpoint Source Monitoring Conference Notes—September 2009 (PDF, 1.45 MB)
Swine Manure Testing Project
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... for more acres.”
Watering cups cut water waste by 50 percent, reducing the volume of manure and increasing its nutrient concentration.
Photo courtesy of Steve Werblow
Award-Winning Conservation
In addition to garnering attention from state and national officials, Meadowlane Farm earned the 2006 River Friendly Farmer Award from the Indiana Association of Conservation Districts and the 2007 Pork Industry Environmental Steward Award from the National Pork Board.
Chris Pearson, Mike Beard and Dave Beard have developed hose-fed manure injectors for high-efficiency, environmentally sustainable manure application within about 1.5 miles of their Indiana hog operation. ... more. |
... for local residents.
While the generators spin out 1 megawatt (MW) of electricity per day—enough to supply about half of what IEUA consumes—the environment wins in other ways, too. Odors and pathogens are controlled, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter are reduced by 99 percent and more than five tons of salts and nitrates are kept out of the Santa Ana River watershed. Meanwhile, solids separated from the processed manure—135 tons per day—are sold as organic fertilizer.
It’s a shining example of the capabilities of a community system, but it’s hardly a get-rich-quick scheme. “As a public utility, we’re just trying to cover our costs,” says Rich Atwater, IEUA’s CEO and general manager. “The r ... more. |
5-minute video about how The Nature Conservancy and partners work with farmers to improve water quality in the Pecatonica River. |
... with the research team—and each other—over the next five years to share their insight on research findings, explore policy implications, and envision what the agricultural landscape of the Midwest should look like in the future.
The Diverse Corn Belt project is funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture through an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grant. Members of the research team represent land grant institutions, federal agencies, and non-profit organizations. CTIC is helping with communications for the project.
Interested farmers and other stakeholders can learn more about the Diverse Corn Belt project at diversecornbelt.org, and volunteer to participate at https://bit.ly/GoDCB.
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... with the research team—and each other—over the next five years to share their insight on research findings, explore policy implications, and envision what the agricultural landscape of the Midwest should look like in the future.
The Diverse Corn Belt project is funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture through an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grant. Members of the research team represent land grant institutions, federal agencies, and non-profit organizations. CTIC is helping with communications for the project.
Interested farmers and other stakeholders can learn more about the Diverse Corn Belt project at diversecornbelt.org, and volunteer to participate at https://bit.ly/GoDCB.
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December 2021 Conservation in Action News
A LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
2022 marks CTIC’s 40th anniversary. That’s right, 40 years.
Looking back on our previous 40 years through conversations with members and long-time supporters, CTIC has long been at the center of prominent discussions around the most important conservation topics. Over the years, we have worked on many important conserv ... more. |
CTIC has completed their workwith USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on a project in support of NWQI. This project identifiedsuccessful watershed management activities that engaged landowners, farmers, and the broader public to protect water quality. Insights developed through this project will inform future NRCS efforts to support local watershed initiatives with technical and financial resources.
As a first step, CTIC convenedwatershed leaders from across the country at five forums to learn from their experience—successful or otherwise—with diverse watershed management and communication strategies. Their first forum took place in North Carolina followed by forums in Vermont, Oklahoma, Illinois and Washington.
In addition to ... more. |
... of soil through scientific research and advancement. The Institute works with its many stakeholders to identify gaps in research and adoption; develop strategies, networks and funding to address those gaps; and ensure beneficial impact of those investments to agriculture, the environment and society.
About the Soil Health Partnership
The Soil Health Partnership is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the ... more. |
... of soil through scientific research and advancement. The Institute works with its many stakeholders to identify gaps in research and adoption; develop strategies, networks and funding to address those gaps; and ensure beneficial impact of those investments to agriculture, the environment and society.
About the Soil Health Partnership
The Soil Health Partnership is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the ... more. |
Know Your Watershed is a coordinated national effort to encourage the formation of local, voluntary watershed partnerships and help assure that these partnerships successfully attain their goals. The initiative is sponsored by more than 70 diverse National Partners representing private and public corporations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. Each National Partner agrees to provide financial and/or in-kind support. The national effort is coordinated by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), a non-profit data and technology information transfer center.
Getti ... more. |
... The $175 registration fee includes transportation, stops and all meals.
For more information on the Conservation in Action Tour, visit CTIC's website or call CTIC at (765) 494-9555.
The CTIC Conservation in Action Tour is sponsored in part by our Diamond-level sponsors—Bayer CropScience, The Mosaic Company, Syngenta and The Conservation Infrastructure Initiative co-led by the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance (IAWA) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS)—and our Platinum sponsors, The Fertilizer Institute and Corteva Agriscience.
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... The $175 registration fee includes transportation, stops and all meals.
For more information on the Conservation in Action Tour, visit CTIC's website or call CTIC at (765) 494-9555.
The CTIC Conservation in Action Tour is sponsored in part by our Diamond-level sponsors—Bayer CropScience, The Mosaic Company, Syngenta and The Conservation Infrastructure Initiative co-led by the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance (IAWA) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS)—and our Platinum sponsors, The Fertilizer Institute and Corteva Agriscience.
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... Embassy Suites Downtown in Des Moines at the special rate of $129 per night for August 20 and 21. The lodging web page includes a link for online booking of rooms at the discount rate.
Sponsors of the 2019 Conservation in Action Tour include:
Social Event Sponsor:John Deere
Diamond sponsors: The Mosaic Company, Bayer CropScience, Syngenta and the Conservation Infrastructure Initiative co-led by IAWA and IDALS
Platinum Sponsor: The Fertilizer Institute
Gold Sponsor: Nutrien
Silver Sponsors: Certified Crop Advisors, Field to Market, JR Simplot and The Nature Conservancy
Bronze sponsor: NACD
Copper Sponsor: Sand County Foundation
Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Visit the CTIC website's tour sponsorship page, or contact Crystal Hatfield ... more. |
... commitment to conservation and animal health
Manure management using a two-stage, concrete-lined lagoon system and applying manure based on optimum agronomic need and timing
Media Coverage:
Northfield News article: Conservation practices lead to state water quality certification for Legvold farm
Agrinews: Conservation in Action tour held in Minnesota
Environmental Initiative: Conservation and Environmental Protection on Minnesota's Farms
See the Action:
Check out the 2015 tour photo gallery to explore what the tour had to offer.
News Releases:
Registration Ends August 6
Don't Miss Out
Tour Lineup Finalized
Tour Explores Southeast Minnesota Partnerships
Early-Bird Tour Registration Available Until July 10th
Mosaic Com ... more. |
... of conservation, providing detailed information on successful implementation of practices, and sharing perspective on the needs and real-world challenges facing farmers trying to protect soil, water and air quality as well as their economic sustainability.
Watershed Success Forums
Working with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI), CTIC is identifying successful watershed management activities that engage landowners, farmers, and the broader public to protect water quality. Five forums in five states are yielding a guide for NRCS, partners and stakeholders on organizing local watershed groups and creating successful watershed products. The guide, being prepared by Dr. Linda Prokopy of Purdue University in collaborat ... more. |
Ag Consultant Training in Systems that Protect Water Quality National Aquatic Resources Workshop National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI)Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS) Cover Crop Surveys
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Environmental Change Initiative, June 2016
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... Support Cover Crops
Corn and Soybean Digest, August 2018
Time Is Money
Corn and Soybean Digest, July 2018
Nitrogen Cycling and Cover Crops
Corn and Soybean Digest, June 2018
All In On Cover Crop
Corn and Soybean Digest, April 2018
Study Links Best Management Practices To Cleaner Watershed
Environmental Change Initiative, June 2016
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... by NRCS in delivering watershed projects and to enhance the agency's ability to communicate the issues and success of watershed projects. This project is identifying successful watershed management activities that engage landowners, farmers, and the broader public to protect water quality. Insights developed through this project will inform future NRCS efforts to support local watershed initiatives with technical and financial resources.
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Ag Consultant Training in Systems that Protect Water Quality National Aquatic Resources Workshop National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS) Cover Crop Surveys
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Ag Consultant Training in Systems that Protect Water Quality National Aquatic Resources Workshop National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS) Cover Crop Surveys
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Ag Consultant Training in Systems that Protect Water Quality National Aquatic Resources Workshop National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI)Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS) Cover Crop Surveys
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Ag Consultant Training in Systems that Protect Water Quality National Aquatic Resources Workshop National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS) Cover Crop Surveys
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CTIC and its partners lead initiatives at the local, regional and national level to address agriculture’s pressing conservation needs. Each initiative includes public and private sector partners, shares information about new technology and tools and promotes agricultural systems that are both economically viable and environmentally beneficial.
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A highly qualified crop consultant (watershed coordinator) has been identified in each watershed to provide one on one technical support to the producers who participate in this program. These people will meet with producers and help them make important decisions to ensure a successful transition to using a cover crop and conservation tillage system.
Lake Mic ... more. |
... stressful for the transitioning farmer.
Funded by
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant
Project Period
2008 – 2011
Project Partners
Midwest Cover Crops Council, Purdue University, Michigan State University, Ohio No-Till Council, The Ohio State University Extension, Indiana Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative
Project Participants
Four Indiana producers and four Ohio producers are transitioning a portion of their fields to continuous no-till, while incorporating cover crops into their rotation. Crop consultants provide technical and social support during the transition. Consultants meet regularly with their partner-farmers, assisting with equipment adjustments, timing, seed selection and ot ... more. |
... www.nutrientstewardship.com, to showcase supportive resources and educational tools for the 4R nut
rient stewardship concept which promotes the use of the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, right time and in the right place. CTIC has joined the Institute’s effort by becoming what is known as a 4R supporter.Learn more about the 4Rs and CTIC’s involvement with the initiative by visiting www.nutrientstewardship.com.
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Know Your Watershed is a coordinated national effort to encourage the formation of local, voluntary watershed partnerships and help assure that these partnerships successfully attain their goals. The initiative is sponsored by more than 70 diverse National Partners representing private and public corporations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. Each National Partner agrees to provide financial and/or in-kind support. The national effort is coordinated by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), a non-profit data and technology information transfer center.
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CTIC recently received a Grant from EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative that will fund the promotion of cover crops and conservation tillage in the Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan Watersheds. Agricultural producers will be provided with technical, educational and social support which will work together to create strong cover crop and conservation tillage systems that can be sustained after the project ends.
Education
CTIC will work with partners to ... more. |
Nutrient Management Plan Resources
Minnesota’s Nonpoint Source Management Program Plan 2008, Chapter 9
MPCA Phosphorus Strategy
MDA Field Scale Water Quality Demonstrations (Hwy 90 & Red Top Demo site
Nutrient Management Initiative
Southern MN Nutrient Management Resources
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... williams@ctic.org
Tel: 765-376-4504
Funded by
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant
Project Period
2008 – 2011
Project Partners
Midwest Cover Crops Council, Purdue University, Michigan State University, Ohio No-Till Council, The Ohio State University Extension, Indiana Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative
Project Summary
In 2008, CTIC launched a three-year project, “Using Cover Crops to Facilitate the Transition to Continuous No-Till,” to provide technical and social support to producers in Indiana and Ohio wanting to expand their use of cover crops and continuous no-till, two proven conservation practices. With consultant services, workshops and opportunities to learn from ... more. |
... fertilizer management. The new challenge? Meeting each of these goals, and more.
Moved by a growing spirit of environmental stewardship, or in some cases, new government requirements, producers seek to limit nutrients in the environment through improved fertilizer efficiency. New products, such as inhibitors and controlled-release nitrogen, supply tools to follow the 4R stewardship initiative discussed in the December 2009 issue of Partners. (Click here for article.)
A popular topic today is excess nutrients in the environment. From the Gulf of Mexico to the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest, policymakers look to agriculture to improve water quality and help reduce nutrients in ground and surface water.
Many conventional nitrogen application methods ap ... more. |
... group’s Environmental Indicators Report, which evaluated national-scale metrics over the past 20 years, indicates production agriculture has made improvements in sustainable production.
And, the Fieldprint Calculator helps growers confidentially assess the efficiency of their operations and analyze the sustainability of their practices.
“We are trying to take the initiative to define sustainability from an industry perspective, in relation to sustainable agriculture,” Mann says.
Increasing efficiency and precision in the application of inputs is one way agricultural producers can approach sustainability. With the right tools and technology, producers are reducing fuel use and emissions, keeping nutrients and chemicals on the field and reducing runoff to n ... more. |
... created using similar indices, but with a coordinated effort and standardized units. This language can then develop landscape intelligence as it pertains to management of watersheds and biofuel sheds, and it could provide the foundation for a sustainability index, such as what is now proposed by Walmart.
According to Walmart’s Web site, the company developed a sustainability index initiative in order to meet customers’ requests for more efficient, longer-lasting, higher-performance products. The company’s goal is to create a more transparent supply chain, driving product innovation and providing customers with information to assess products’ sustainability, the site says.
Because the value of ecosystem services is generated by resource management outcomes, ... more. |
News Source: Focus on Nutrient Management (PDF, 764 KB)
38 Nutrient Management Initiative Sites Established in 2009
Soil Fertility Research Program Approved by Legislature
Mining Soil Fertility Can Be Costly!
How do I Determine My Nitrogen Rate?
Nutrient Management and USDA-NRCS Conservation Programs
Fall Nitrogen Best Management Practices and Soil Temperature Network Pilot Proj
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CTIC champions, promotes and provides information on technologies and sustainable agricultural systems that conserve and enhance soil, water, air and wildlife resources, and are productive and profitable.
Lead Projects
CTIC is a leader and collaborator in projects that address conservation agriculture's most important topics. Funded by public investments, foundation grants, agribusiness and private donations, our pro ... more. |
As food companies and consumers demand more detailed accounting of the environmental footprint of their raw materials, stakeholders throughout the agri-food supply chain are working diligently to quantify and benchmark sustainability. CTIC is a partner in several initiatives to bring together participants from various points in the supply chain to develop metrics and processes that provide useful insight and fit into real-world, on-farm management systems.
Phosphorus Water Quality Trading Program in Western Lake Erie
CTIC, in partnership with Ecosystem Services Marketplace Consortium (ESMC), Heidelberg University in Ohio, and others, has been awarded a Great L ... more. |
... journalists, agriculture groups, conservation groups and many others to track trends in conservation tillage adoption. It is because we have this trend of data that we know no-till in 2004 was used on 45.5 million acres more than in 1990, a 269 percent increase. Some of the valuable ways Survey results are used include:
assess successes of Farm Bill programs, state and local-level initiatives
document what farmers save in fuel usage at the county, state and national levels
track the progress of, and measure trends in, conservation tillage adoption
prioritize areas for program focus, such as Conservation Stewardship Program
provide assessment data as a core component of local watershed management plans.
Activities
CTIC is working to develop new software that ... more. |
... Farmers of Iowa and The Nature Conservancy, CTIC is leading development of a program that will train and incentivize retail agronomists to become advocates for conservation systems build around cover cropping. Rollout of the program is anticipated in the winter of 2019 and the project’s target area has been selected to leverage ongoing privately-funded supply chain sustainability initiatives.
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... a model of an effective public/private partnership. A Board of Directors, which oversees activities, includes producers and representatives from seed, fertilizer, equipment, life science, media, conservation organizations and agriculture organizations. The board is advised by representatives of universities and state and federal agencies. A staff, based in West Lafayette, Indiana, implements the initiatives and activities if CTIC.
Vision
CTIC is recognized in the U.S. as a trusted source for information about current and emerging issues in conservation and sustainable agriculture and plans to extend this recognition internationally. CTIC benefits from and serves a strong network comprised of leaders in agriculture and conservation. Through this network, CTIC promotes and disseminates comprehe ... more. |
... By
US Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf of Mexico Program
Project Period
July 1, 2006- December 31, 2010
Project Partners
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Gulf of Mexico Program, and public and private partners in Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio
The project's website, http://www.upstreamheroes.org, includes information on all three initiatives, as well as CTIC's Upstream Heroes campaign, sponsored by The Nature Conservancy and Terra Industries.
Project Participants
Local, state, and federal conservation and agriculturalagencies, farm organizations, agribusiness, agricultural producers, certified crop consultants
Activites
CTIC and a broad coalition of ag interests in the Missouri Bootheel ... more. |
... explores environmental benefits of conservation tillage, facilitated significantly by biotechnology crops.
A Review of BMPs for Managing Crop Nutrients and Conservation Tillage to Improve Water Quality reviews research on nutrient best management practices (BMPs) for nitrogen and phosphorus, with emphasis on integrating BMPs with conservation tillage.
CTIC leads initiatives to promote and encourage adoption of conservation systems. Click here to learn more about CTIC Initiatives.
CTIC recommends the following sources for more information about agricultural conservation systems:
CONSERVATION TILLAGE
On-Farm Comparison of Conservation Tillage Systems for Corn Following Soybeans assists producers and their advisors in selecting a conservation t ... more. |
Using Cover Crops to Facilitate the Transition to Continuous No-Till
Project Description
Farmer Profiles
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Initiatives, publications, and opportunities for multi-state collaboration in animal waste management.
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Provide Information
Find conservation resources including websites, documents, research results, and our current projects. CTIC members can access our list of experts. Join Today (link to Become a Member)
* Topics A-Z
* CTIC Initiatives (link to Lead Initiatives)
* Guides and Research Documents (link to Online Store/Free Publications)
* Experts (Members Only)
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