Farmers aren't in the field today. Instead they are on the ONU campus learning about new ag products and technologies.

Over 500 farmers, consultants, industry reps and government officials are in Ada March 3 and 4 participating in a Conservation Tillage & Technology Conference (CTC), one of the largest agricultural programs in northwestern Ohio.

Over 60 speakers are present and about 40 vendors have product displays and representatives available.

The program offers many presentations on tillage and conservation practices, such as a whole day session on cover crops and soil health. However, there are other concurrent sessions on topics related to crop production besides conservation practices.

Corn production topics were discussed Tuesday during the Corn University program and soybean production topics will be covered on Wednesday during the Soybean School session. In addition, there will be concurrent presentations on precision seeding and placement, advanced scouting, big data, and nutrient management (solving the phosphorus and nitrogen problem).

Also, a biofuels and bioproducts train-the-trainer session took place on March 2. A fertilizer applicator certification training will be held the day after the conference.

Big and little are both important in today’s agriculture. The conference will have concurrent sessions that emphasize management of big data (from farm fields and equipment), and tiny amounts (of fertilizer that can cause huge problems when it leaves the farm).