Producers won’t want to miss the Agriculture’s Innovative Minds (AIM) Symposium presented by No-till on the Plains. This year’s event focuses on the latest information from leading soil health scientists and management practices being used by regenerative growers.

To start the speaker lineup, Dr. Christine Jones will present her findings regarding plant nutrient utilization, nutrient availability and the carbon-nitrogen balance in the soil. Of particular interest to attendees is Jones’ research concerning the fate of inorganic forms of nitrogen in the soil.

Next, Canadian grower Derek Axten will share his experiences using innovative cropping techniques including companion cropping, inter-cropping, multi-species cropping and alternative crops.

Derek farms in southern Saskatchewan, where he has a diverse mixes of crops including, durum wheat, oats and rye as his predominant cereals, as well as, a mustard and red lentil intercrop, forage peas and mustard intercrop, flax and chickpea intercrop, and large green lentils, faba beans and fenugreek as composition crops.

Dr. Jill Clapperton will follow Derek to present stories from producers she has worked with over the years, the innovative techniques she has helped them implement and the improvements in soil health they have experienced. Clapperton will also share the experience she is gaining with alternate crops utilized in her own testing and work projects.

For livestock producers, Daniel King of Jako Farms in Hutchinson, Kan., will explain his simultaneous cattle, chicken and sheep grazing system. A panel of growers will join King to talk about how they utilize perennial grazing as part of their crop rotations and the impacts they observe in soil health and crop production.

The AIM Symposium is set for Feb.1 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Wichita, Kan., following the 22nd annual No-till on the Plains Winter Conference. More information about the AIM Symposium and registration is available at http://notill.org/events/aim-symposium.