Smack dab in the middle of Iowa, you will find Casey’s General Store headquarters. For those of you who have stopped at a Casey’s General Store, you realize this is one of the great businesses in the Midwest. Whether you are looking for gas, a slice of pizza, clean restrooms, or just a great cup of coffee, Casey’s is your place. After starting with one location, Casey’s General Store now has over 1,900 stores across a 14 state area. So why is Casey’s so successful? It is because Casey’s has everything a traveler needs, whether it is for a …
The Secret to Making Good Decisions: Knowing Your Choices
I have four children. My youngest will be graduating from college in the spring of 2015. There are definitely good and bad points to being empty nesters. I do miss having my children at home, but one of the really good things is that Peggy (my wife) and I are done buying cars for my children. Early on we told our children that we would buy each one a car after they turned 16. However, we never promised them what kind of car they would get. Since we were buying the car we reserved the right to buy the car that we thought was the best fit …
The Greatest Generation
It was an extraordinary time to be a new employee of the Soil Conservation Service in 1982. The field offices were staffed and trained with a new crop of conservationists. It is this generation who I consider to be the greatest generation of soil and water conservationists. The individuals hired by the agency in the years 1970–1980 were special. They were people like my supervisor, Warren Johnson; a farm kid with a deep respect for agriculture and a passion for conservation. Warren knew how to listen to farmers and how to talk …
Looking at Both Sides of the Equation
A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of spending a couple of hours with Dr. Jorge Delgado at his office in Fort Collins, Colorado. Dr. Delgado is a research soil scientist with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and one of the godfathers of Precision Conservation. While visiting, Dr. Delgado demonstrated his Nitrogen Index tool. The Nitrogen Index tool is designed to help resource professionals quickly assess the N loss risk related to agricultural nitrogen. Currently, there are several nitrogen tools available through the …
Good for Minnesota. They got it right!
Recently Governor Mark Dayton, of Minnesota, signed into law, a statewide program that will require an estimated 110,000 acres of farmland to be seeded down to buffer strips for water quality. In short, the law establishes new perennial vegetation buffers of up to 50 feet wide along rivers, streams, and ditches that will help filter out phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment. As I delve more into this law, what I find most remarkable is that this bill ultimately provides for flexibility in the width of the filter strip. According to an online …
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 …