Ray Archuleta

Ray Archuleta, one of the premier conservation agronomists and soil health experts, will headline the 2016 National Strip-Tillage Conference Aug. 3-4 in Bloomington-Normal, Ill.

With more than 25 years of field experience with the USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Archuleta is regarded worldwide for his hands-on approach to analyzing and comparing soil health in a variety of tillage systems.

Archuleta’s belief that promoting healthy soils requires following the lead of nature has solidified his reputation as a leading advocate for conservation-tillage systems and earned him the nickname, ‘Ray the Soils Guy.’

“Healthy soil doesn’t want to be disturbed, and it wants to be covered perpetually,” he says. “And remember: The soil and plant are one — they are not separate.”

During his premier lecture series general session sponsored by Midwest Bio-Tech on Wednesday, Aug. 3, Archuleta will discuss how to use diversity in cropping systems for improving soil function and help strip-tillers learn the logistics of soil health.

He will also be holding a special, post-conference workshop on Thursday, Aug. 4, which will provide interactive, in-field analysis and demonstrations of soil health principles and how to mimic nature.

This workshop is limited to 40 attendees and costs just $50 to attend. It is available only to paid registered attendees of the 2016 National Strip-Tillage Conference.

The host Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Normal, Ill., will offer an ideal learning environment for attendees to absorb dozens upon dozens of actionable strip-till practices from fellow farmers, consultants, university specialists and other agricultural experts through general sessions, strip-till classrooms, roundtable discussions, hallway networking and a special members-only workshop.

Preliminary plans for the event include 7 general session speakers, 12 classrooms covering a range of strip-till topics, including cover cropping, precision farming practices and equipment modifications, and 20 roundtable discussions.

Stay tuned for more conference updates by visiting www.StripTillConference.com and we’ll see you in central Illinois!