11/24/06 Inquiring minds want no-till info

High fuel costs have more grain growers looking into direct seeding which eliminates several passes over a field. Conservation Tillage Extension Specialist with Washington State University and the University of Idaho Hans Kok says inquiring minds want to know. KOK - "There are definitely a lot more farmers asking for information about direct seeding. And I find from the direct seed farmers in this area that their neighbors are them asking more questions than before. Just to give you an indication of fuel savings, a lot of farmers if they will divide their fuel bill by the acres they are on, just their on-farm diesel bill for instance, they will find that they use probably around eight gallons to the acre to get a crop in, especially if we have a number of tillages involved there. If you talk to a lot direct seed farmers that number is more in the 3 to 5 gallon per acre range. So a very big savings in fuel." Kok says with some regret that some people will start using more burning instead of tillage because that is cheaper. He encourages those interested in direct seeding to attend the Direct Seed Conference being held in Kennewick, Washington, January 11th and 12th. That's put on by the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott