PNW Direct Seed List Server Continues to Expand

Pacific Northwest Conservation Tillage Handbook Series No. 15a
Chapter 10 – New Technology Access, Adaptation and Economics, December 2001

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 — 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.