Dr. Ingham

Dr. Elaine Ingham is an energetic, easy-to-understand speaker who explains what life in the soil is all about. Behind this "user-friendly" approach lies a wealth of knowledge gained from years of intensive research into the organisms which make up the soil food web. Elaine not only understands the soil food web, she has knowledge on how to ensure a healthy food web to promote plant growth and reduce reliance on inorganic chemicals.

While truly an academic, Elaine is also passionate about sharing her knowledge and research findings with those at the grass roots level of working with soils. That includes not just farmers who grow crops, but also those who graze cattle, sheep and other livestock, fruit and vegetable growers, greens keepers, parks and gardens workers, nursery operators - in fact anyone who grows things, even if it's just plain old lawn grass.

Elaine offers a way forward for sustainable farming. A way of improving the soils we work with now and a way to keep soils in this healthier state without damaging any other eco-system.

Attendance at Elaine's courses is always very high with a broad cross section of people taking advantage of her knowledge sharing. It is exciting that a speaker with such a depth of knowledge and dynamic presentation style, who is respected the world over as a leader in research of the soil food web is sharing this information with us.

Biography

Dr. Ingham is President and Director of Research at Soil Foodweb Inc., a small business that grew out of her Oregon State University research program.

Her research is on:

What organisms are present in the soil and on the foliage of your plants, which organisms benefit which types of plants, which organisms harm plants, how can these organisms be managed to grow plants with the least expensive inputs into the system while maintaining soil fertility.

Elaine started her academic career at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN graduating in 1974 with a double major, cum laude, in Biology and Chemistry. Elaine earned her Master of Science in Microbiology in 1977 at Texas A & M University and her doctorate degree from Colorado State University in 1981. Elaine's doctorate is in Microbiology with an emphasis on soil. Elaine was offered Post-doctoral Fellowship, along with her husband Russ (who also has a doctorate from Colorado State University in Zoology, emphasizing nematology), at the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University. In 1985, Elaine accepted a Research Associate Fellowship at the University of Georgia.

In 1986, Elaine moved to Oregon State University, and joined the faculty in both Forest Science and Botany and Plant Pathology. For several years, Elaine's 'home' department was Botany and Plant Pathology. In 1991, because the number of samples from outside Elaine's immediate program being sent to her for analysis were becoming a large component of what she was doing, Elaine opened a service through the University called the Soil Microbial Biomass Service. The Service offered researchers and commercial clients the ability to have soil samples analyzed for soil foodweb organisms. During this time, Elaine became known as an energetic and easy-to-understand speaker who explained what life in the soil was all about, and she started speaking to groups throughout the United States about the Soil Foodweb.

By 1995, the number of samples coming into the Soil Microbial Biomass Service was close to 8,000 samples a year, and the amount of lab space required to process this number of samples was greater than originally planned. The head of Elaine's department asked that the commercial portion of the Biomass Service be taken off-campus. Thus, in the fall of 1996, Soil Foodweb Inc. became a commercial enterprise.

With the move into a private lab, Elaine's focus turned more to grower-related issues, focusing on the expense of intensive chemical use as well as the damage these chemicals inflict on beneficial organisms in the soil and on foliage.

The research and practical understanding and application of soil organisms continue at Soil Foodweb Inc., while much of the academic side of her work remains at the University. In December 2000 a new Soil Foodweb lab was opened in Australia, at Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia so that grower's down-under could have overnight access to the assays they need to improve plant production without the use of high levels of inorganic chemicals. The Lab Director at the Australia lab is Merline Olson, Certified Soil Foodweb Advisor.

Since 1996, Dr. Ingham and her staff have developed three new methods. These methods more rapidly assess soil and foliage-related organisms, and are a major breakthrough for easily assessing how soil and foliar biology changes with different management practices. Her work with biological products such as Alaska Humus, and Alsaka Magic, with Tom Piatkowski of Highlands Soil and Water, and Stan Thornton of Great Grow are leading the way for understanding which bio-stimulant products work best, and how much material is needed to achieve desired improvements in soil organism functions.

Work with Tommie VanZyl of ZZ2 in South Africa, Jody Scheckter of Laverstoke Park in England, Table Grapes Australia, to mention a few, is developing the methods to quickly and practically achieve biological health in soil. In large commercial agricultural systems. 

Working on compost tea with many people around the world has brought a greater understanding of how to properly manage thermally produced compost, vermicompost, and compost tea to guarantee disease-suppressive, soil-building, nutrient-retaining composts and compost teas.

Dr. Ingham maintains a website where the results of work done at Soil Foodweb Inc and in her University research program are posted. Her publication, The Compost Tea Brewing Manual, is updated periodically to include the latest results in compost tea work. She writes occasional columns for a variety of magazines and papers. Dr. Ingham has worked extensively on genetically engineered organism issues with a non-governmental organization called the Edmonds Institute, directed by Beth Burrows. Elaine is a strong advocate of sound ecological testing of all genetically engineered organisms before they are released into the environment. In her spare time, Elaine publishes scientific papers, writes book chapters, gives talks at meetings and symposia around the world and has a family. Her current projects range from working in citrus groves in Florida, to cotton and avocado in Australia, turf and golf courses in many places, roadside restoration in California and just about every other plant system in between.

Dr C John Baker

Dr C John Baker, ONZM (PhD, MAgrSc, FIAgrE, CE) spent 30 years researching no-tillage at Massey University, New Zealand, before resigning in 1995 with two fellow staff to become CEO of Baker No-Tillage Ltd, which controls and markets the technology worldwide. He has published over 150 scientific papers and conference papers, and written or co-written 6 books on no-tillage including No-Tillage Seeding in Conservation Agriculture (CABI, Oxford, 2006), which was commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit by the NZ Government in 2006 for “Services to Agriculture” and has been guest speaker at international no-tillage conferences in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, South Africa, England and Korea and has been interviewed countless times on radio and television in several countries. His own small farm has been under continuous no-tillage for 30 years.  He led the team that developed the CROSS SLOT® no-tillage technologies and system, which currently operate in 10 countries. He is President of the New Zealand No-Tillage Association (Inc).

Presentation Information:

Darrel Carlisle

Darrel Carlisle farms on a family farm 12 mile south of Brandon MB. Darrel has farmed for the past 20 years with his younger brother Darcy & father Michael. Darrel farms 5500 acres of cereals and oil seeds. Darrel has worked with many new ideas on the family farm.

example;

- many different micro and foliar packages

- reducing nutrients up front but yet pushing the yield goals well above area averages.

- worked with and ran variable rate nutrient equipment like the Green Seeker.

- used likes of Humates, molasses and enzymes on there farm

- use of yield and mapping equipment. Photo immerge and gps soil grid mapping

Darrel has worked along with Gary Lewis on the Bio-Agtive emission systems for the

Past 3 years, Darrel has built and worked with the handling equipment and the testing in and out of the field.

Darrel and Chad Berry started a Bio-Agtive company called Clean Ag Air Inc. which now builds and supply units to fit many different types of farm equipment. We also help with support for new farmers that come on board to the Bio-Agtive system.

 Presentation info;

The Bio-Agtive way to enhance your soils and plants life, well reducing green house gases.

We will show how we are using our tractors exhaust as a soil and plant nutrient.

We will show data from farms that have worked under the Bio-Agtive system for the past

Two crops. We will show what inputs have been reduced and what it has done to our soils and to our farms bottom line.

We will show the types of handling equipment we have designed and used on over 200,000 acres in 2007’

Gary Lewis will give an up date on were we are heading with our co2xchange program and what this could mean to our farm clients working under this system.

 Doctor Bailey will show the test data he worked on under our system in 2007 and will explain the importance of carbon and co2 to our soil and plants life. He will show why putting your engines exhaust into the ground is good for your farm and the environment.

David Archer

David Archer is an agricultural economist at USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, ND. He has over 8 years research experience with ARS, both in Mandan and in Morris, MN, conducting research on the economics of agricultural systems evaluating the economic feasibility of alternative systems, and identifying barriers to adoption of more sustainable practices. Before joining ARS, Dave was an USDA-NRCS agricultural economist in Bismarck, North Dakota and in Spokane and Colfax, Washington. He received a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University in 1995 and a B.S. in Mathematics from Rocky Mountain College in 1988. His specific research interests include risk management, weed management economics, simulation modeling, decision aid development, and decision making to achieve both economic and natural resource goals.

Presentation Info: Zero-Till Crop Sequence Economics

D.W. Archer, D.L. Tanaka, J.M. Krupinsky, S.D. Merrill, M.A. Liebig, and J.D. Hanson.

No-till production systems allow more intensified and diversified production in the northern Great Plains; however, this has increased the need for information on improving economic returns through crop sequence selection. Field research was conducted near Mandan ND to determine the influences of previous crops and crop residues on seed production of buckwheat, canola, chickpea, corn, dry pea, grain sorghum, lentil, proso millet, sunflower, and spring wheat in a no-till system. Precipitation was lower than average during the study, and under these dry conditions, crop sequence had a substantial effect on net returns. Lentil was the most sensitive to crop sequence with net returns varying by as much as $57/acre depending on previous crop. Net returns were least sensitive to crop sequence for canola, spring wheat and dry pea. Average net returns across all crops were highest following dry pea and lowest following grain sorghum. Dry pea had a positive effect on net returns for every subsequent crop allowing greater flexibility in choosing subsequent crops in response to changing prices. Results show the importance of accounting for crop sequence effects in addition to short-term returns when making cropping decisions.

Doug DeVore

Doug was raised on the family farm.  He  began his own farming operation in 1974.   The zero tillage practice was introduced to his operation in 1996.  He has been pleased with the positive results he has experienced over the years with zero till.

Presentation Info:  Corn is a high performance crop compared to the other crops that he grows.  This presentation will be focusing on the farmers variety selection, seed placement, and weed control. 

Dr. Loraine D. Bailey, P.Ag, CCA; FCSA; FAIC; FAIC:

Loraine is a Senior Coach with AgriTrend Agronomy and owner of his consulting company “Eco-Agronomy”. He was a research scientist for 35 years with Agriculture and Agri-Food, retiring in 2000.

Education:

B.S.A. (Hon.) - Soil Science - University of Manitoba 1965

M.Sc. - Soil Chemistry & Plant Nutrition  - University of Manitoba 1967         

Ph.D. - Soil-Plant Relationship  - University of Guelph   1971

Unique expertise, talents, vision:

Over 40 years of experience in agronomic research and research management, including – crop nutrition and crop and soil management, fertilizer use technology (N, P, K, S, and micronutrients as well as the management of heavy metals in soils), nutrition and management of cereals, oilseeds (canola, sunflower, flax), corn, pulses, forage crops – legumes and grasses and pasture management. He researched the environmental assessment of soils for agricultural use and for disposal of agricultural wastes.  He was a key player in establishing the Prairie Provinces Certified Crop Adviser Program and served as its first Chair for 3 years.

He is credited with developing and participating in the development of technology for improved yield and quality of forage legumes particularly alfalfa; placement of phosphate fertilizer to improve use efficiency with crops such as flax, canola and beans; technology to improve N use efficiency using agronomics and products such as N-Serve and Agrotain; potassium nutrition of annual and perennial crops; sulphur nutrition of canola, perennial legumes and pulse crops; rhizobium inoculation of legumes – peas, beans and soybeans; manure management on pastures; and management of soil and crops to mitigate problems with heavy metal – cadmium, other metal ions such as zinc, molybdenum, copper, etc.

Invited by the Chinese Department of Agriculture and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science to  visit China to review and comment on agronomic research; later served as a CESO volunteer in Xingian province (Taklimakan Desert) contributing expertise on the management of saline & saline-alkaline soils.

Invited by CODELCO, Chile, to carry out an evaluation agricultural water quality and environmental development of the Caren Dam in Chile - suggesting and developing agronomic procedures for the best use of the dam water for irrigation of fruit trees, annual crops and pastures.  The pasture recommendations were developed to eliminate the risk of copper and/or molybdenum toxicity in animals.

He has authored and co-authored over 100 Scientific & Technical Publications and over 180 extension publications.  He has made invited and volunteer presentations at over 200 national and international meetings and conferences, including North America, Australia, Europe, China, India, Scandinavian Countries and South America. Authored and co-authored several chapters in books; served as editor of the Canadian Journal of Plant Science and Editor in Chief of the five scientific Journals published by the Agricultural Institute of Canada. He has reviewed and continues to review scientific and technical articles for publication in N. American and International agronomic journals.

Honours and Awards:

He has received several honours and awards from his societies, colleagues and international agencies for his research and extension work.  He was honoured with Fellowships from the Canadian Society of Agronomy, Agricultural Institute of Canada, and the American Society of Agronomy. The International Potash and Phosphate Institute honoured him with the Robert E. Wagner Award, cited for “leadership and accomplishments towards efficient, competitive agriculture based on sound science and in harmony with environmental and human values. He received the Great Plains Soil Fertility Leadership Award for “Timely and innovative soil fertility research contributing to the increased profitability for Great Plains Agriculture”. He received the joint WESTCO, AGRICOR and Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Agronomy Merit Award “For distinguished and outstanding services to the farmers of Western Canada”. He also received the Canadian Fertilizer Institute Merit Award for “distinguished and outstanding service to the agricultural industry”. He is a past president of the Manitoba Society of Soil Science and the Canadian Society of Agronomy. He has also served on the executive of several international agricultural societies agencies.

John Nowatzki

John Nowatzki coordinates the NDSU Extension programming related to agricultural machinery, precision agriculture, and conservation tillage. He is also involved in extension work in biofuels and wireless technology for agriculture. His experience includes over 13 years of extension education programming at NDSU in areas including geospatial technology applications to precision agriculture, groundwater quality and community development. Prior to his work at NDSU he was a vocational agriculture teacher in Grand Forks County, Langdon and Fargo high schools. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Education from the North Dakota State University. Since 2006, Nowatzki has provided NDSU extension education in agricultural power and machinery, conservation tillage and precision agriculture. He is a Member of the American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers and the NDSU Biomass/Bioproducts Forum that fosters collaborative research and extension work related to biomass/bioproducts.

Presentation Info:  Spatially Managed Farms in North Dakota

Eight producers are cooperating in this program that evaluates the profitability of variable rate fertilizer application in the Dickinson and Carrington areas of North Dakota. Cooperating producers have kept GPS yield monitored data for the crops grown produced on one field since 2004. Several factors, including previous years’ yield data, soil fertility tests, topography, soil type and satellite imagery, are used by the various cooperators to develop nitrogen fertilizer management zones. The cooperators will share their experiences and observations relating to variable rate fertilizer application and profitability in crop production.

Pat Carr

Pat Carr is an agronomist and adjunct professor of sustainable agriculture at the North Dakota State University, Dickinson Research Extension Center.  Dr. Carr has over 20 years of research experience on dryland cropping systems in the Great Plains (Montana and North Dakota). Until recently, his research focused on reduced- and no-till cropping systems and integrated crop-livestock systems that are managed conventionally (i.e., using fertilizers and pesticides). Dr. Carr now directs the only organic farming research project in the Agricultural Experiment Station at North Dakota State University. Dr. Carr has a B.S. degree in biology from St. Meinrad College in Indiana, a M.S. in natural resources from Ball State University also in Indiana, a M.S. in technology and human affairs from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Ph.D. in Crop and Soil Science from Montana State University.

Paul Overby

Paul and his wife Diane operate a small-grains farm located in Rolette, Pierce and Towner Counties in north central North Dakota.  Paul was an "older-than-average" beginning farmer in 1993 when he and his wife moved back to ND to assume operation of the family farm, leaving a successful career in political work and non-profit fundraising.  Paul's active interest in variable rate field management began in 2004.  Field zone mapping began that fall and by 2006 over 800 acres of the farm, comprising several crops and field sizes, were zoned and being applied with variable rates of N in the form of NH3. 

Paul has been working with the "Dakota Center for Technology Optimized Agriculture" Center of Excellence at Lake Region State College since its inception in 2005.  He and his wife have formed "Verdi-Plus: Value-Added Management Solutions" providing Farm Works products and VRA zone mapping services.  Verdi-Plus is also a partner in the newest round of funding for the DCTOA.  In addition, he is a part-time farm marketing instructor at LRSC.  He has a BS in Ag Education from NDSU.

Presentation Info: Learning how to manage fields in "zones" creates some interesting challenges.  First and foremost is the commitment to devote time to learn and manage this new system.   Applying nitrogen uniformly to a field creates a certain system within a field. Identifying zones creates sub-systems within the field and nitrogen management strategies have to be developed for each of them.  This presentation will share some of the approaches used for, and the lessons learned from, developing the zones, managing them, and validating the results from them in my farm operation for the past two years.