The Nebraska No-Till Conferences will focus on using no-till and building soil health and will be held in Beatrice, Neb. on Monday, Feb. 23, and Holdrege on Tuesday, Feb. 24. 

Both conferences will focus on the five principles of soil health: 

1. Keep the soil covered.
2. Minimize soil disturbance.
3. Increase plant diversity.
4. Keep living roots in the soil year-round.
5. Integrate livestock grazing. 

The Feb. 23 conference will be in the 4-H Building on the Gage County Fairgrounds in Beatrice, beginning with registration and refreshments at 9:30 a.m., with the program starting at 10 a.m. Pre-registration is not required for this event. Speakers include Jay Fuhrer, soil health specialist for the North Dakota NRCS; Dan Forgey, manager of the 8,500-acre Cronin Farms near Gettysburg, S.D.; No-tiller Dan Gillespie of Norfolk; and UNL extension ag engineer Paul Jasa will be featured speakers. There will also be a no-tiller panel including Tyler Burkey of Dorchester; Dave Endorf of Daykin; Ben Steffen of Humboldt; and Russell Moss of Burr. Dan Gillepsie 

The Feb. 24 conference will be held at the Ag Center in Holdrege, and will start with refreshments and registration at 9 a.m., with the program beginning at 9:30 a.m. Attendees will need to pre-register for lunch by calling the Phelps County Extension Office at 308-995-4222. Forgey, Gillespie and Jasa will also speak at this conference as well as Mark Watson, the Panhandle No-Till Education coordinator who no-tills 3,500 acres with his brother on both irrigated and dryland fields. A panel of farmers will share their experiences at this event as well.