The next time you visit the library or sit down to your own computer, why not go on-line and check out the updated SSCA web page?
The first item on the menu is the Direct Seeding Conference. For the first time, you can print out the exact brochure and registration form. You'll see that we have an excellent group of speakers and a couple of panel discussions to complement the ever-popular Bear Pits.
New to the web page are the Technical Pages prepared by SSCA staff. The pages provide information on the 5 pillars of direct seeding (residue management, rotations, soil fertility, weed management and seeding equipment), the economics of direct seeding and carbon sequestration issues. These Technical pages will be updated constantly as more information becomes available. Case studies of farmers from around the province who have successfully moved to direct seeing will be added in the spring of 2001. Another feature of these pages is the Links to other sources of information.
SSCA Membership Information is the next menu item. If you're wondering who the SSCA is and what the Association does, it's all there. Membership rates and a downloadable membership application form can be found there, too.
The next two menu items feature the phone numbers and addresses of the SSCA Staff and the SSCA Board. Got a burning issue? Call your nearest board member or member of the Executive. Need some technical information? The staff is there to help.
The SSCA newsletter, the "Prairie Steward" is published three times a year. The last 16 issues appear on the web site and are easily downloaded. (If you want to see the photos, though, you'll still want to refer to the paper copy. Not that any of the staff want to give up their day jobs to open a photography studio, but amateur photos, even the ones we submit, are better than no photos at all!)
The Farmers Helping Farmers Service is the next menu item. Several years ago, the SSCA began to develop a database of farmers willing to share with other farmers, their experiences with various pieces of equipment. This item describes more fully what the database offers and how to access it.
The SSCA Members Benefit Plan and Project Soils, a conservation education program, are other items on the web page.
The SSCA web page is a good source of conservation-related information and it doesn't take very long to open from a farm computer. We think that once you've had a chance to view the SSCA web page, you'll soon want to add it to your "Favourites" file.