Agricultural producers and pheasant enthusiasts alike invited to attend Precision Ag Workshop at 2018 National Pheasant Fest in Sioux Falls
By Tom Carpenter
ROI and ringnecks
can coexist.
As matter of fact, they can do more than just that. They can thrive side-by-side. That’s what a workshop slated for 2018 National Pheasant Fest in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, aims to promote.
The
2018 Precision Ag Workshop on February 16 from 10:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m. is bringing together a blue-ribbon panel of midwestern agricultural producers and precision agriculture experts, with the goal of introducing producers and others to the practice.
“Precision ag is a new approach and strategy,” says Ryan Heiniger, Pheasants Forever’s Director of Agriculture & Conservation Innovations. “With the workshop we want to build awareness and ownership – get producers interested in the practice, considering if it might make a fit with their business, and taking some action.”
In a nutshell, precision ag is a simple idea supported by a world of modern technology. Precision ag
Focuses on ROI (Return On Investment) acre by acre. Some acres are profitable to farm (and some of those acres moreso than others), while other acres are not. Precision ag technology identifies those zones in a field or area to concentrate on to maximize ROI … as well as those zones that hurt ROI, and that may in fact be more suitable for wildlife habitat.
It’s worth noting that wildlife habitat can in turn produce revenue of its own, especially in a destination hunting state such as South Dakota, where hunters are often willing to pay for access to ground that holds huntable populations of wild pheasants.
Pheasant hunters and wildlife enthusiasts will find the workshop informative and educational too.
“There is overlap to non-producers,” says Heiniger. “Producers, of course, are our main focus. We want them to come and learn about precision ag, because it can help both their profitability and wildlife too. But the workshop is also for the pheasant enthusiast or chapter leader who wants to learn more about precision ag. It’s all about coming, learning and sharing ideas.”
“We have a great panel that I couldn’t be happier with,” says Heiniger. “There are great sponsors supporting the workshop, and we have the perfect partner in South Dakota State University, the leader in precision agriculture research and technology.”
“Precision ag technology can help us find common ground between making agriculture more profitable for a producer, and creating more room for wildlife on the landscape too,” says Heiniger. “Our theme is Buck$ and Birds – that making dollars and growing wildlife, including pheasants, need not be mutually exclusive.”
That’s common ground everybody can embrace.
WORKSHOP DETAILS
The 2018 Precision Ag Workshop is being held in conjunction with
2018 National Pheasant Fest being held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
What:
2018 Precision Ag Workshop
When: Friday, February 16th from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls
Cost: Event registration is $35 and includes a one-year Pheasants Forever membership, lunch, entry for a Henry Golden Boy Farmer Edition Rifle, and daily admission to the 2018 National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic show floor.
Speakers: The event will include a panel of Midwest producers and Precision professionals, SDSU President Barry Dunn, and Howard Vincent, PF/QF President and CEO.