Greensboro, North Carolina
February 11, 2009
Syngenta Crop
Protection and No-Till Farmer magazine honored the
four winners of the 2008 No-Till Innovator Awards at an awards
ceremony held Jan. 16 at the 17th annual National No-Tillage
Conference in Indianapolis.
“Syngenta is a no-till industry leader and we are proud to be
part of such a valuable awards program for the 13th straight
year,” said David Piñon, communications manager for Syngenta
Crop Protection. “We believe that no-till farming not only
benefits the grower, but also is an excellent way to preserve
soil quality, protect soil from erosion and conserve water.
“This year’s winners are true trailblazers in conservation
tillage, sharing their knowledge and experience with other
no-till growers, community members and industry leaders. The
efforts of these winners have, without a doubt, increased
understanding, appreciation and participation in no-till
farming,” Piñon said.
Each winner was chosen based on his commitment to the
advancement of no-till farming, regardless of the crop grown or
the equipment or products used. The 2008 No-Till Innovators are:
Rich Follmer, Progressive Farm Products Inc. – Business and
Service
Engineer Rich Follmer is president of Progressive Farm Products
Inc., a successful strip-till and fertilizer application
equipment manufacturer in Hudson, Ill. Nicknamed “The father of
strip-till,” Follmer founded the company in 1981 and helps
design equipment that is used on thousands of acres of
strip-till corn and soybeans.
In addition to farming on his own, Follmer works with farmers
wanting to try strip-till and those looking to improve their
current operation. He advises growers about proper fertilizer
management by promoting strip-till as a means to save on
fertilizer costs.
Follmer has played an integral role in the numerous summer
grower meetings Progressive Farm Products Inc., hosts each year.
He often serves as the lead speaker as they demonstrate new
strip-till equipment and techniques. In addition, Follmer and
other company representatives travel to numerous trade shows and
no-till conferences throughout the year, holding equipment
demonstrations and promoting new strip-till techniques.
Progressive Farm Products Inc., has also collaborated with the
University of Illinois, creating test plots that demonstrate the
benefits of strip-till vs. conventional tillage.
Allen Berry, Allin Farms – Crop Production
Nauvoo, Ill., grower Allen Berry and his son began no-tilling in
the late 1980s as a new method to conserve soil. Today, Berry
farms 1,400 acres of his own corn, soybeans and hay and custom
farms another 1,000 acres on two neighbor’s farms.
One of Berry’s many accomplishments includes building a
sidedressing rig that was featured in the May 2007 issue of
Successful Farming. According to Berry, sidedressing rigs are
more efficient and help conserve nitrogen. In addition to
building equipment, he regularly conducts field trials to test
new herbicides and seed varieties. Berry presents his findings
during an annual field day he hosts.
Throughout his career, Berry has participated in many speaking
engagements and regularly presents information at research farm
field days in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Each year, Berry
attends several industry trade shows to present his trial
results. In 2005, he was a featured presenter at the National
No-Tillage Conference and spoke again at the 2009 conference.
Embarras River Management Association – Organization
Created in 1993 by a small group of growers, the Embarras River
Management Association (ERMA) has now grown to nearly 300
members in Illinois. The first step in soil and water savings
has to be implementing no-till farming practices, according to
Butch Fisher, ERMA board member and resource conservationist for
the Douglas County Soil & Water Conservation District.
ERMA designed and built six Rainfall Simulator Units (RSUs) to
demonstrate the benefits of no-till crop residue and vegetative
filter strips in reducing soil erosion and nutrient runoff.
These portable units, funded by the Environmental Protection
Agency, are used as conservation educational tools at field
days, tours, schools, fairs and other events.
A member since 1995, Fisher pressed from his first involvement
to include no-till farming practices in the overall conservation
plan. In 1998, Fisher obtained a grant for two no-till drills
from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to help
growers in four area counties experiment and get started with
no-till. Fisher also was instrumental in bringing new no-till
technology, the Cross-Slot planter, from New Zealand to
east-central Illinois. The evaluation of this new technology
drew nationwide attention.
Dr. Randy Raper, USDA-ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory,
Conservation Systems Research – Research and Education
During his 25-year tenure as an agricultural engineer with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture & Agricultural Research Service
National Soil Dynamics Laboratory, Dr. Randy Raper has played a
leading role in boosting conservation tillage adoption in
Alabama from 15 percent in the early 1980s to nearly 60 percent
today.
Dr. Raper aims to help producers recognize the potential damage
to the soil profile every time they take equipment into the
field. He urges producers to be conscious about their impacts
and use the lightest machinery possible to prevent soil
compaction. His research helped demonstrate that reducing
inflation pressure in tires results in less soil compaction. The
tire industry quickly responded to his findings by creating
bulletins to educate growers about this practice.
Dr. Raper also is a big believer in effective, convenient
information distribution. His lab actively posts easy-to-read
research findings on their Web site, and he has traveled
extensively to share his research about soil compaction
management throughout the country and around the world. Dr.
Raper has been published in several academic journals and
numerous trade magazines, including Farm Journal, Progressive
Farmer, Soybean Digest, Southeast Farm Press, Southern Farmer
and No-Till Farmer.
No-till farming is an environmentally sound and economical
method of crop management that is rapidly spreading throughout
the world. According to the World Resources Institute,
approximately 18 percent of U.S. cropland is no-till.
The 13th Annual No-Till Innovators were selected by a committee
of leaders who represent different aspects of the no-till
industry, including Frank Lessiter, editor, No-Till Farmer
magazine; David Piñon, senior communications manager, Syngenta
Crop Protection; Keith Wendte, Wendte Farms and CNH,
Willowbrook, Ill.; and Jeff Martin, grower, Mt. Pulaski, Ill.
Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more
than 24,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our
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us, please go to www.syngenta.com.
Important: Always read and follow label instructions before
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trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. |
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