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Articles written by Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator


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  • No till notes: Changing plans

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Jun 19, 2014

    By Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator With all the abundant moisture around the Panhandle this spring we’ve received some severe weather that has caused a change in plans. Many producers have lost some of their fall and spring planted crops to violent hail storms that are often a part of our precipitation pattern. These producers are faced with the prospect of replanting or changing their cropping plans and going to a short season summer crop. These alternative crops include edible beans, proso millet, forage crops, or sunflowers. While i...

  • No till Notes: 'Field Pea Planting'

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Mar 20, 2014

    Last week I covered important considerations in getting your field pea crop off to a good start. I discussed using certified seed, planting population and how to calibrate according to the size of the seed to get the desired 350,000-375,000 final plant stand, and planting the seed at a depth of 2 to 2.5 inches deep. There are also a couple of other important considerations to getting your field pea crop off to a good start. It is very important to do everything you can to get a good, healthy stand of field peas. A good stand will increase the...

  • No till notes: '10 Tips, part 4'

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Mar 13, 2014

    I’ve been discussing 10 tips for successful no-till crop production and thus far I have covered choosing a good crop rotation, winter wheat as the most important crop for supplying a consistent amount of residues to make the rest of the crop rotation function, and utilizing a stripper head to manage this amount of residues. I’ve also discussed the value of adding field peas to the crop rotation. Field peas are the ideal legume to add to the rotation in the spring prior to seeding winter wheat in the fall. I have also seen firsthand on our far... Full story

  • No till notes cont. 'Spring is coming!'

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Mar 13, 2014

    I want to start off by thanking everyone who made this year’s Panhandle No till Partnership’s winter conference a success. I especially want to thank the members of the PNTP for all their efforts in putting together this conference and congratulate them for a job well done. I also want to thank the 135 individuals who attended the conference to further educate themselves on all aspects of no till crop production. More than 100 producers attended the two-day conference to gain more knowledge on improving their soil health, conserving our water r... Full story

  • No-till Notes: 10 Tips

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Feb 13, 2014

    By Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator I mentioned I was speaking at the No-till on the Plains annual winter conference. I am speaking to producers at the conference as part of a 40 tips in 50 minutes presentation with Paul Jasa, UNL no-till cropping systems specialist and manager of the Roger’s Memorial Research farm near Lincoln, Neb., and no-till producers Randy Rink and Keith Thompson. Our presentation will consist of short tips on no-till crop production. I thought I would share with you the 10 no-till tips I will talk about at this m... Full story

  • No Till Notes: 'Plan to attend 2014 No-till conference'

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Feb 6, 2014

    The Panhandle No-till Partnership is hosting a no till winter conference on Feb. 26 and 27, 2014. The conference will be at the Gering Civic Center beginning at 8 a.m. each day with registration and speakers starting at 8:45 a.m. This two day conference will feature some of the most knowledgeable and respected no-till crop production researchers and producers in our area. I always look forward to this conference where the topics and discussions are geared toward no till crop production in our area. Registration for the conference by Feb. 18 is... Full story

  • 'Friends and Mentors'

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Jan 30, 2014

    I’m on my way to Salina, Kan. to speak at and attend the annual No-till on the Plains winter conference. I always look forward to visiting with old friends and mentors at this conference. I’ve been going to this conference every year for the past 10 years and I always look forward to another learning experience. I’m part of this year’s program and I’ll work with three other producers around this region giving 40 tips on no-till crop production techniques in a 50-minute program. Hopefully our talk will be well received by the audience and will...

  • Learn at Crop & Soil Health Educational Meetings

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Jan 23, 2014

    As the New Year begins so do new opportunities for educational meetings during the next couple of months for agricultural producers in our area. I always make it a point to attend as many of these meetings as I can to further my education in agriculture and no-till crop production. I would encourage everyone involved in production agriculture to attend these meetings. Agriculture is constantly changing and these meetings are a great place to learn about new technologies, marketing opportunities, crop production, and the opportunity to visit... Full story

  • No Till Notes: 'Opportunity'

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Jan 16, 2014

    As most of you are probably aware, I’m pretty excited about the opportunities yellow field peas provide for producers here in western Nebraska and around our region. We have been growing yellow field peas successfully on our farm for several years now and I’m convinced the field peas will prove to be a profitable crop for producers in this area. The best opportunities for field peas are in our dry land cropping systems and limited irrigation crop rotations. There are many agronomic benefits to including a legume in our cropping rotations. Add... Full story

  • No Till Notes: 'Only -16'

    Mark Watson Panhandle No-till Educator|Dec 19, 2013

    The good news is that the temperature only dropped to 16 below zero last night and the weathermen are predicting a slow warm-up for this week. It’s been quite some time since we have endured a prolonged cold spell like this one. By the time you read this I hope the temperatures are at least back to what will feel like a balmy normal winter temperature for our area. We did receive about a foot of snow here in the Alliance area. Fortunately the wind hasn’t moved the snow around too much and hopefully the snow will settle down and crust before the...