A recent study established 60% of Iowa farmers say fertilizer dealers should do more to help their clients address nutrient loss. Obviously, farmers are looking for information and they want their ag retailer’s help. Even though retail agronomists admit they should be talking to farmers about conservation, they are not quite sure how to bring it up with their clients. They tell me they are uncomfortable with the topic and aren’t sure how their growers will react. The research bears that out. In a recent study by the Minnesota Freshwater …
Targeting Critical Resource Areas
Throughout many watersheds in the Corn Belt, entire farms and fields are managed uniformly to simplify farming operations. However, land conditions such as soil type and topography vary substantially at smaller scales. This in-field variability influences the need for and effectiveness of conservation best management practices for erosion control. In order to reduce soil loss and improve water quality, it is imperative that conservation practices be applied to these critical resource areas on the landscape. Defining critical areas at the …
Top 5 Features of a Good Sustainability Program
In a recent study, 60% of Iowa farmers agreed that their fertilizer dealers should do more to help them address nutrient loss. However, those same farmers reported they were least likely to receive information about the Nutrient Reduction Strategy from their local agricultural retailers, seed company salespeople, and independent/private crop advisers. To me, that’s a disconnect. If, as an ag retailer, you want to maintain your status as a farmers’ “most trusted advisor,” then you will want to provide meaningful assistance to help farmers …
Are Sustainability Commitments Achievable?
As a young NRCS Conservationist I was required, every couple of years, to develop a workload analysis for my Soil and Water Conservation District. This exercise required me to evaluate my District’s resource needs and formulate a strategy for how my staff would work with farmers to meet these workload demands. Every single time I did the analysis, I always turned out the same results. In order to accomplish the workload, I invariably needed to quadruple the staff, make a significant improvement in technology, and hope for a miracle that one …
Mandatory Regulations on Farmers
WHAM! CRASH! POW! KABOOM! I know that probably sounded like Batman and Robin, but I think what you may have heard was the court of public opinion. Just when the ag sector hoped things would quiet down in the Lake Erie Basin, farmers are actually hearing more disturbing reports of regulation. Survey results from a new Ohio poll, funded by Healthy Lakes, were released just this week showing a majority of Ohio voters are in favor mandatory regulations on farmers to protect the state's rivers, streams and lakes. According to the Healthy Lakes …
Precision Conservation Needs the Easy Button
Conservation is in desperate need of the Easy Button. We can never hope to mainstream conservation if we can’t figure out how to build the Easy Button. Conservation is complicated. There is sheet & rill erosion, ephemeral erosion, nitrogen leaching, soluble phosphorus, insoluble phosphorus, greenhouse gases, denitrification, and so much more. The issues can make the head spin of even a learned conservationist. From this complicated perspective it seems it is impossible to scale conservation. It takes too long to learn the trade and …