Conservation Tillage Book and CD-ROM available from MWPS

Wis. - Any farmer currently using or thinking about adopting a conservation tillage system has two excellent resources available from Midwest Plan Service (MWPS). The book Conservation Tillage Systems and Management (second edition) has been expanded to 270 pages and provides information for corn, soybean, wheat, and cotton farmers. The new Conservation Tillage CD-ROM includes the entire book, plus four smaller books, video clips, and PowerPoint presentations in an easy-to-use format.

The benefits of conservation tillage include soil erosion management, water conservation, improved soil tilth, lower input costs, and labor efficiency says Dave Kammel, UW-Extension biological systems engineering specialist.

According to Kammel, these resources from MWPS are an excellent value for those interested in learning more about conservation tillage. The second edition of Conservation Tillage Systems and Management: Crop Residue Management with No-till, Ridge-till, Mulch-till, and Strip-till, MWPS-45, provides detailed discussions about virtually all aspects of the subject.

Among the book's 29 chapters are sections devoted to crop response to tillage systems, costs and returns, wind and water erosion, crop residue and irrigation water management, and water quality. Also included are chapters about nutrient management; weed, insect, rodent, and disease management; and precision agriculture. Other chapters discuss residue management at harvest, estimating residue cover, soil compaction, controlled traffic, and converting CRP to crop production.

The book also has chapters that explain tillage system selection and describe no-till planting equipment, ridge-till planting equipment, no-till drills, row-crop cultivators, and pesticide application equipment. Approximately 120 line drawings and color photographs along with 72 tables enhance the text and provide visual examples of the book's main points. The book has two appendixes: one depicting representative tillage implements, the other presenting rainfall and temperature data maps.

Conservation Tillage Systems and Management was prepared under the direction of the MWPS Crop Production Committee, chaired by Randall Reeder, Extension Ag. Engineer, Ohio State University. More than 60 university and industry specialists including agricultural and biological engineers, extension specialists, conservationists, entomologists, plant pathologists, weed and soil scientists, and agronomists contributed to the publication.

Reeder says the new Conservation Tillage CD-ROM, which was produced in cooperation with the Conservation Tillage Information Center (CTIC) and John Deere, has many high-tech features that make it an ideal companion for the print version of the book. "It is amazing how much we were able to pack onto one CD," Reeder said. "We added two new chapters on precision agriculture. We also added four smaller books about soil quality, economics of environmental practices, plant biotechnology, and the history of no-till. The CD includes fourteen PowerPoint presentations. Six include the voice of the presenter; three others have notes. There are several short video clips, typically 10 to 45 seconds. Many of these are of John Deere equipment. Also included are six historic movie clips of the Dust Bowl and one on water erosion. This is a valuable resource for farmers, consultants and educators."

Conservation Tillage Systems and Management, MWPS-45, is available for $25.00 per copy. The CD-ROM alone is also $25. If a person orders both, the total price is $35, a 30% discount. Shipping and handling is $5.50 for single copies shipped in the U.S. If ordering multiple copies, please contact MWPS for shipping rates and possible quantity discounts. Order on line at the catalog section of the MWPS website, www.mwpshq.org, by phone at 800-562-3618, by fax at 515-294-9589, by email at mwps@iastate,edu, or by mail from MWPS, 122 Davidson Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3080. Visa and MasterCard are accepted, and checks should be made payable to MWPS. For more information about MWPS and all its publications or to order a free publications catalog, visit the MWPS web site, or contact MWPS by phone.

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