The Direct Seed Mentor Program

The project is an innovative approach that provides tools and strategies to assist farmers in adopting direct seed operations. This farmer -to-farmer mentor program will partner a farmer experienced in direct seeding with at farmer currently using conventional tillage. The mentor will provide custom-seeding services on a portion of the farmer's land, creating an on-farm demonstration of direct seeding. This also provides a side-by-side comparison of direct seed and conventional tillage for the farmer to observe. Tours and workshops will be conducted, and a framework will be developed to transfer the approach to other regions. The ultimate outcome is increased adoption of direct seeding, which will benefit farm profitability, soil tilth and stability, and the surrounding environment.