No-Till Farmer
www.no-tillfarmer.com/blogs/1-covering-no-till/post/3512-stores-about-technology-and-innovation-in-agriculture

Stories About Technology And Innovation In Agriculturet's All About No-Till Learning

March 20, 2013

After spending many years, or even decades, building a successful no-till operation, have you ever wanted a chance to tell your story?

Well, here’s a golden opportunity.

Yesterday, during National Ag Day, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History unveiled a new Web site — http://americanenterprise.si.edu — where the public can upload stories about technologies and innovation that changed their work lives in agriculture. 

The museum will also launch a special archive to preserve America’s ag heritage and build a collection that reflects modern agricultural practices. The stories shared could be about precision farming, irrigation, biotechnology, hybrid seeds or other topics.

No-Till Saves Soil

The stories, photos and objects collected will also play a role in the “American Enterprise” exhibition at the museum. And when people begin to file past these exhibits in a couple of years, no-till is already guaranteed some exposure, thanks to Jim Rapp, who no-tills and strip-tills corn and soybeans near Princeton, Ill. 

Rapp is donating some road signs erected during the Bureau County Soil and Water Conservation District’s efforts to promote no-till during the late 1980s and 1990s. In bold letters, the signs state, “No-Till Saves Soil” and includes an image of a plow blade with a red slash through it. 

According to Rapp, the signs were related to the USDA’s “T by 2000” initiative to reduce soil loss from every acre to its T-value (tolerable loss) or less by the year 2000. 

In his submission to the museum’s new archive, Rapp explains that no-till, “reduces soil erosion, preserves soil moisture — as in the drought of 2012 — and reduces the cost of producing corn.” Rapp also spent some time discussing why he strip-tills some of his acres.

Many of you made the choice long ago to embrace no-till when it would have been easier to keep plowing and turn a blind eye as topsoil washed or blew away. It’s your obligation to let the public know about no-till’s successes.

 Click here to visit this website and see how you might be able to contribute.  

John dobberstein2

John Dobberstein

John Dobberstein is the Senior Editor of No-Till Farmer, Strip-Till Farmer, and Cover Crop Strategies. He previously covered agriculture for the Tulsa World and worked for daily newspapers in Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Joseph, Mich. This is John's second stint with Lessiter Media, the previous lasting almost 13 years.

Contact: jdobberstein@lessitermedia.com