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Pacific Northwest Conservation
Tillage Handbook Series No. 15a
Chapter 10 - New Technology Access, Adaptation and Economics, December
2001
PNW Direct Seed List Server
Continues to Expand
Author: Roger
Veseth, WSU/UI Extension Conservation Tillage Specialist, Moscow, ID
The Growing PNW
Internet / E-Mail Connection --- The Internet and E-mail are rapidly
becoming a major communications and technology access tools for PNW growers
and Ag support personnel. Most county offices of cooperative extension,
conservation districts, NRCS, Ag service industries, and an increasing
number of growers in the Pacific Northwest have Internet / E-mail access.
A 2001 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service study showed that
an average of 58% of PNW growers have Internet / E-mail access, up dramatically
from 18% in 1997 and 40% in 1999. Idaho leads the nation with 62%. Along
with the growth in Internet and E-mail use, Northwest growers are increasingly
moving towards direct seeding and more intensive cropping systems to improve
productions efficiency and profitability, cropland productivity, and environmental
protection. A PNW Direct Seed E-mail/Web List Server and associated PNW
Web sites are helping meet this expanding PNW demand for computer technology
access and an improved communications network on direct seed cropping
systems.
The PNW Direct
Seed List Server --- was established in late 1999 as a communications
network to help accelerate access to the latest technology on direct seed
cropping systems in the Inland Northwest It is part of a PNW technology
access project by under the STEEP (Solutions To Environmental and Economic
Problems) research and educational program on conservation tillage systems
in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The List Server offers an exciting link
to new information resources, coming events, research results, technology
innovations and experiences from the dryland production regions of the
Inland Northwest. It also helps provide access to direct seed systems
technology that may be adapted to Northwest production conditions from
other regions and countries.
List Server messages are sent and received by e-mail and are also stored
on the List Server Web site for later reference, and for access by those
added to the List Server over time. The List Server Web site can be accessed
for viewing of messages through the PNW STEEP Web site (http://pnwsteep.wsu.edu)
-- click on Direct Seed List Server. Begin with the brief overview and
procedures on how to use the List Server. You can also join the List Server
from the Web site.
Note that for your e-mail privacy, the list server member list will not
be accessible to List Server participants. Also, to prevent e-mail computer
viruses from being sent to all participants (which happened twice in September
2001), e-mails with attached files have now been blocked from the List
Server. Hopefully this will prevent further computer virus problems.
Expanding Participation --- When the List Server was established
in late 1999, the initial address list included about 230 university and
USDA-ARS researchers, extension specialists, county/area Ag extension
educators, conservation districts, USDA-NRCS staff, PNW grower organizations,
Ag industries representatives, and growers from across the dryland cropping
areas of the Inland Northwest. From this initial base network, the List
Server has been expanding with interested growers and other Ag support
personnel from across the region. The List Server grew to 310 by late
2000 and currently is over 460. More than 150 messages have been send
on the List Server
All growers and Ag support personnel interested in cropping systems technologies
for direct seeding are encouraged to participate in the List Server. To
be added to the List Server, send your request to Roger Veseth, WSU /
UI Extension Conservation Tillage Specialist and List Server administrator,
208-885-6386, e-mail (rveseth@uidaho.edu). You will be sent an e-mail
confirmation that you are on the List Server and more information on how
to use it.
A stronger communication
network and partnership among growers, researchers, Ag-support groups
and agencies, and Ag industry will help accelerate the successful development
and grower adaptation of direct seed systems in the region.
Pacific
Northwest Conservation Tillage Handbook Series publications are jointly
produced by University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System, Oregon State
University Extension Service and Washington State University Cooperative
Extension. Similar crops, climate, and topography create a natural geographic
unit that crosses state lines in this region. Joint writing, editing,
and production prevent duplication of effort, broaden the availability
of faculty, and substantially reduce costs for the participating states.
The Pacific Northwest Conservation Tillage Handbook is a large, three-ring
binder handbook that is updated with new and revised Handbook Series publications.
It was initiated in 1989 as a PNW Extension publication in Idaho, Oregon
and Washington. Updates to the Handbook are provided when the updating
card is returned. By the end of 2001, 54 new PNW Conservation Tillage
Handbook Series have been added to the original 98. Copies of the complete
Handbook are available for $20 through county extension offices in the
Northwest or ordered directly by calling state extension publication offices:
Idaho -- (208) 885-7982; Oregon -- (541)-737-2513; Washington -- (509)
335-2999 (some shipping and handling charges and sales tax may apply).
It's now accessible on the Internet! All of the PNW Conservation Tillage
Handbook and Handbook Series are on the Internet home page (http://pnwsteep.wsu.edu)
Pacific Northwest STEEP III Conservation Tillage Systems Information Source.
The home page also contains recent issues of the PNW STEEP III Extension
Conservation Tillage Update, listings of other conservation tillage information
resources, coming events and much more. For more information on the Handbook
or other Web site information, contact Roger Veseth, WSU/UI Conservation
Tillage Specialist, Plant Soil and Entomological Sciences Department,
University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-2339, phone 208-885-6386, FAX 208-885-7760,
e-mail (rveseth@uidaho.edu).
Cooperative Extension
programs and policies comply with federal and state laws and regulations
on nondiscrimination regarding race, color, gender, national origin, religion,
age, disability, and sexual orientation. The University of Idaho Cooperative
Extension System, Oregon State University Extension Service and Washington
State University Cooperative Extension are Equal Opportunity Employers.
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