The Manitoba North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers Association has changed its name to Northern Prairies Ag Innovation Alliance. The new name better reflects the organization's goals and geographic scope, says Greg Busch, a Columbus, N.D., farmer and the group's immediate past president.
"Our focus remains on improving soil health and promoting production practices that help do that," he tells Agweek.
The name change, made at the group's recent annual meeting in Minot, N.D., had been under consideration for some time, he says.
The organization, which has about 600 members, began in 1982 to promote limited tillage, or disturbing the soil as little as possible during planting. Though relatively unusual when it began, the practice is now widely accepted in the Upper Midwest and Prairie Provinces, especially in areas with light soil and relatively modest rainfall.
The region's ongoing wet cycle has prompted some producers, especially ones with heavy soil that doesn't drain well, to turn away from limited tillage. Busch says producers need to make the decisions they believe are best suited to their individual operations.
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In any case, the value of limited and zero till continues to be recognized by area farmers, he says.
Interest in soil health continues to grow in area agriculture, he notes.
More information on the Northern Prairies Ag Innovation Alliance is available here .
Read the previous Agweek cover story on soil health here .
Read the previous Agweek cover story on no-till farming and its acceptance in area agriculture here .
