Do you remember the old westerns of the good guy and the bad guys? Invariably the fight
would start with a few good guys doing battle with a lot of bad guys. After the few good guys put up a valiant fight, the cavalry would be sent to rescue the valiant foot soldiers. I am waiting for the same thing to happen in conservation. If the foot soldiers are the conservation planning agencies and the bad guy is soil erosion, then who is the cavalry? I believe the cavalry is agri-business. If agri-business can figure out how to “make conservation pay its way” they can definitely be the cavalry and swoop in and rescue the day.
Yet again, a survey completed by CTIC and USDA’s SARE program demonstrates that farmers want their local ag retailers to provide conservation services. This latest survey showed that “surveyed farmers want their local retailers to provide help to monitor soil health and changes related to cover crops.”
http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/conservation/c-mon-ag-retailers
This is just one of many studies that validate the importance of ag retailers to farmers. Many surveys have been taken of farmers and landowners. In every case, the survey participants indicated that ag retailers were a highly trusted source of information. Therefore, if we want to accelerate conservation implementation, it seems critical to get the ag retailer involved. Easier said than done…right? If ag retailer does get involved, how do they make money? That is the question that everyone is looking to solve.
Maybe we don’t have to look too far for a workable model. When I graduated from college, it was hard to imagine how a farmer could get agronomic recommendations from anyone but the Cooperative Extension Service. Extension did yield variety trials, conducted population trials, developed the recommendations for fertilizer application, helped farmers adjust planters, and made herbicide recommendations. In fact, what didn’t they do? It was hard to imagine farming without your Extension Agent.
During the last 20 years, it became difficult for the Extension Agents to keep up with the demand for agronomic information and new technology. Private business started filling the voids and making recommendations. These private businesses had to figure out how to “get paid” for offering services and competing with free services.
This is the same thing that needs to be parsed out today. But, for an ag retailer to be successful, some adjustments need to be made.
- Reduce the transactional costs of providing conservation planning services: Private businesses simply cannot afford to spend 8 to 20 hours on a waterway design. It is not possible to pass this hefty price tag on to a farmer.
- Reduce the learning curve: When I started with NRCS it took me a couple of years to get comfortable with conservation planning. Technology must be put in place that takes the pain of a steep learning curve away and lowers the entry barrier costs.
- Provide timely service: Land improvement contractors say farmers are no longer willing to wait 4 to 6 months for a practice design. Private business can add value by giving prompt service and removing the red tape.
- Use Technology: Ag retailers can adopt new software and provide machine control files in order to provide value added services.
- Bundle services: Ag retailers provide many services. Conservation planning can be added as a part of their regular activities instead and something special.
Private business is already making the transition to fee-based conservation planning. I am looking forward to making a significant announcement next week about one private business that is entering the conservation planning arena in a big way. Stay tuned…
Tom,
Well said. Keep up the good work. The general public is not aware of the conservation planning issues that you discuss in your note. Since government services cannot deliver to meet the demand,NRCS should not try to “control” all conservation planning and design. The private sector must deliver conservation services if we are to make sufficient progress to meet our environmental goals.
Stu, I hope that Iowa Conservation Agencies actively support the efforts of the private sector. Throughout the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy there are calls for more private sector involvement. The following are a couple of excerpts:
“This strategy encourages the development of new science, new technologies, new opportunities, and the further engagement and collaboration of both the public and private sectors.”
“It calls for expanded agribusiness consulting and advisory services to farmers as a means to increase water quality and soil sustainability efforts. This strategy seeks ways to becer harness the collective power of more than 1,200 CCAs working through retailers, and develop new ways for them to assist farmers and landowners in accountability and certification of achieving water quality and soil sustainability goals.”
“The level of future efforts needed to achieve the nutrient reductions called for in this strategy will extend beyond what can be achieved through publicly funded government-centric programs and actions alone, and will depend on private sector actions and solutions as well.”
“Entrepreneurial opportunity within the private sector needs to be enhanced for development and marketing new technologies that reduce nutrient transport to water.”
It is only with the active involvement of both the private and public sector that Iowa’s can accomplish our necessary conservation objectives.