Long time conservationist Jim Gulliford — a top official with the Environmental Protection Agency from 2001 to 2008 — is the new executive director of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS).

“The strength of the SWCS has always been its thoughtful, science-based contribution to natural resource management policy,” Gulliford says. “The role of soil and water resource issues of energy, climate, water quality and the production of food and fiber has never been more important.”

Gulliford led Iowa’s soil conservation work from 1982 to 2001. He served as president of the National Association of State Conservation Agencies in 1989.

From 2001 to 2006, Gulliford was the EPA’s top administrator for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. From 2006 to 2009, Gulliford was the EPA’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.

In Other No-Till News

Ag Leader and AutoFarm announced a marketing and product development alliance. They recently released the Integra Display and ParaDyme steering system, which were individually developed but will be marketed by both companies.

Hero BX received a $1.6 million matching grant from the state of Pennsylvania to expand its biodiesel production from 45 million to 55 million gallons per year. The company is working to pioneer the use of camelina on 200,000 acres of former strip mines, which are ideal for the oilseed crop.

The European Union has approved Herculex RW stacked with Roundup Ready 2 (RR2) corn, co-developed by Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer. The EU also approved Monsanto’s YieldGard VT trait…