Precision Pays

This week I participated in the Conservation Technology Information Center’s Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour. Several bus loads of participants visited Livingston County, IL area farms to see and hear how they are implementing best management practices for things like nutrient management.

One of the people working on the project with CTIC and a presenter is Harold Reetz. I visite with Harold prior to the start of the day’s activities. I’ll see him again next week in Sprinfield, IL for the InfoAg Conference. Since that’s all about precision agriculture and since that is an integral part of the BMP’s being implemented on the tour stops here we decided to call it “precision conservation.”

Harold says the project purpose is to demonstrate different best management practices for nitrogen. It’s a relatively small watershed with mostly corn and soybean crops. So the goal is to come up with practices to improve nitrogen efficiency which will reduce the amount that will get into the ground water. Local farmers have volunteered in this first year of the project to implement suggested practices and it is their farms we visited.

The project is receiving funding from a variety of sources that includes the Illinois EPA. It is a proactive approach to voluntarily manage natural resources without the need to have new regulations. That sure seems like a potentially win win situation for all parties.

You can listen to my interview with Harold here: Harold Reetz Interview

CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour Photos

During the recent National Ag Day festivities in Washington DC, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) Executive VP/CEO Dr. John Bonner presented Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) and Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN) with the President’s Award which recognizes those individuals who have furthered the cause of agriculture, science, and technology.

Senator Johanns grew up on a farm and eventually became the 28th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in January 2005. He is the Ranking Member on the Agriculture Committee’s Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant & Animal Health Subcommittee, and he honored our nation’s farmers and ranchers as part of National Agriculture Week in a speech on the Senate floor when he highlighted the hard work of producers across Nebraska and the nation who continue to lead the way in agriculture. Senator Johanns stays in touch with the CAST organization, and he recommended a study of the Convergence of Agriculture and Energy, a CAST publication that produced valuable research information.

Representative Peterson also has farming roots, and he has been in Congress since 1990. Currently the Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee, he has been involved in many agriculture bills, and the President’s Award is yet another achievement to add to his many accomplishments. His agriculture staff has assisted the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (NC-FAR) with locations for luncheon gatherings, and CAST has been able to present numerous Task Force Papers and Commentaries at these events.

Dr. Bonner is also chairman of the Agriculture Council of America, which sponsors National Ag Day activities, something he says is very important to help educate the public about American agriculture.

Listen to Chuck Zimmerman’s interview with John on Ag Day here: Dr. John Bonner Interview

The Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC) has named Dr. Harold F. Reetz, Jr. its new executive director. ADMC is dedicated to educating farm, drainage, conservation, and regulatory groups about the latest drainage water management system technologies, which can help benefit crops and reduce nutrient enrichment of surface water. Its members include equipment manufacturers, drainage contractors, and state commodity associations. The coalition recently coordinated a three-year demonstration of controlled drainage management in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio.

Reetz is an independent agronomy consultant based in Monticello, Ill., with long experience in research and education, from his role as an extension and research corn specialist at Purdue University to a 28-year post as a regional agronomist with the Potash and Phosphate Institute/International Plant Nutrition Institute. Reetz was one of the founders of the Certified Crop Adviser program, has served as first vice chair of the Conservation Technology Information Center, serves on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Conservation Districts, and is an active member of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America.

“We are delighted to have Harold in the role of ADMC’s executive director,” says ADMC president Charlie Schafer. “He brings a combination of research expertise and on-the-ground practicality that will help the coalition continue to help advance the understanding of drainage water management systems and communicate that knowledge to many audiences. Harold’s interest in high-yield cropping systems and precision agriculture also make an excellent tie-in with the next frontier in crop production and environmental protection – the management of agricultural drainage water.”

ADMC conducts training sessions and serves as a clearinghouse for information on drainage water management systems. The group’s web site, www.admcoalition.com, features cost-benefit analyses of drainage management systems, guidance on drainage regulations, and data from many of the 19 on-farm demonstrations conducted as part of the Midwest project.

Reetz says he is eager to help ADMC develop even more outreach and educational programs.

“Having grown up on a grain and dairy farm in east-central Illinois, I have known the value of a good drainage system all my life, and I am intrigued by the possibilities for managing those systems for better water efficiency for the crops and better control of water quality downstream,” he says.

More than 60 representatives from more 20 national food and agricultural organizations have agreed to form the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) to focus on working together to enhance U.S. consumer trust in modern food production that ensures the abundance of affordable, safe food.

Rick Tolman, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association and chair of the USFRA Steering Committee, says the new organization represents a start toward a unified voice for U.S. agriculture. “It is only the beginning of a process designed to create a coordinated effort by and on behalf of U.S. farmers and ranchers. Several participants have stepped forward to officially join the Alliance. Others need to return to their boards to determine whether they will join.”

USFRA officially incorporated last week and oganizations have been asked to respond about affiliation no later than November 1. After that date, a board of directors will be established and will elect an executive committee.

Tolman says USFRA hopes to have its first campaign up and running shortly after the first of the year and will be sending out an RFP for a management organization to handle coordination since there are no plans to create a full time staff. He says they really hope to take advantage of the efforts already started by many organizations and coordinate them in a unified way so that consumers hear the same message.

Listen to an interview with Tolman about the new group here: Rick Tolman Interview

Another Ag Leader Technology helpful representative I met at the Farm Progress Show was Chad Huedepohl. He was showing growers their new SureStop Electric Row Clutch.

The product was in limited release a year ago but now they’ve done a full release and Chad says the product has generated a lot of interest. He says the SureStop basically shuts down individual seed meters on each row based on yield maps. You can hear him describe how it works in my interview with him. He says this will save on seed and provide a better yield. Looking ahead Chad says growers should order early and not wait until next March. This will assure availability.

You can listen to my interview with Chad below:

Farm Progress Show Photo Album

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Many of you corn growers using precision technology are very aware of the challenges we’ve had in the ethanol business, especially battling groups with an agenda to distort facts and misinform the public. Growth Energy is a group that was formed to battle that problem on Capitol Hill.

Here at the Farm Progress Show, Gen. Wesley Clark, Growth Energy, announced a new initiative. The organization is calling for country of origin labeling for fuel. I would call that the “COOL for fuel” initiative! Hey, we do it with food, why not fuel?

General Wesley Clark, Co-Chairman of Growth Energy, today called on the United States Congress and the White House to take action to dramatically enhance the market transparency of the nation’s fuel supply by requiring a national standard of country of origin labeling (COOL) for fuel.

Clark also unveiled Growth Energy’s labelmyfuel.com, which showcases the costs of American dependence on foreign oil, and serves to rally grassroots support for Congressional action on COOL for fuel legislation.

So what do you think about this initiative? Good idea?

You can listen to the press conference here: fps-09-growth-press.mp3

Farm Progress Show Photo Album

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The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is seeking comments until July 6 on the proposed petition to deregulate genetically modified (GM) corn that improves ethanol production.

The petition for deregulation, submitted by Syngenta Seeds Inc., is in accordance with APHIS’ regulations concerning the introduction of genetically-engineered organisms and products and is available for the public’s review and comment. As part of the decisionmaking process, APHIS also has prepared a draft environmental assessment and plant pest risk assessment for review and comment.

Reopening the comment period will allow interested persons additional time to prepare and submit comments on the petition.

APHIS will make a determination of nonregulated status if it can conclude that the organism does not pose a plant pest risk. If APHIS grants the Syngenta Seeds petition for deregulation, the genetically-engineered corn and its progeny would no longer be regulated articles. The product could then be freely moved and planted without the requirement of permits or other regulatory oversight by APHIS.

APHIS is responsible for protecting U.S. agriculture and the environment from animal and plant pests. APHIS regulates GE products in cooperation with the EPA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Food and Drug Administration. In compliance with agency policy, Syngenta Seeds submitted a food and feed safety and nutritional assessment summary to FDA for this genetically-engineered corn. EPA is not involved in evaluating this genetically-engineered corn because it has not been engineered to produce a pesticide or to be tolerant to an herbicide.

APHIS has safely regulated genetically-engineered organisms since 1986 and has overseen the deregulation of more than 70 products.

This notice was published in the June 4 Federal Register. APHIS is seeking comment on the petition, the EA and the revised plant pest risk assessment. Consideration will be given to comments received on or before July 6. Send two copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016. To submit a comment online, click here.

While anti-agriculture naysayers continue to blast away at GM crops as the end of the world, it’s our duty to offer sound science to the discussion.

To this end, a recent study by the British-based PG Economics offers some statistics on the value of biotech crops…as discussed in a recent Nebraska Corn Kernels blog post.

Biotech crops help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the use of pesticides – in addition to increasing yields for many farmers while reducing production risk, according to a study released this week.

In other words, biotech crops help farmers produce more with less – and that’s good on the sustainability front.

Graham Brookes, director of PG Economics and co-author of the report, had this to say:

Since 1996, biotech crop adoption has contributed to reducing the release of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, decreased pesticide spraying and significantly boosted farmers’ incomes. … The technology has also made important contributions to increasing the yields of many farmers, reducing production risks, improving productivity and raising global production of key crops.

The combination of economic and environmental benefit delivery is therefore making a valuable contribution to improving the sustainability of global agriculture, with these benefits and improvements being greatest in developing countries.

If farmers who used biotech were not able to, in 2007 it would have taken an additional 14.6 million acres of soybeans, 7.4 million acres of corn, 6.2 million acres of cotton and 0.7 million acres of canola just to produce the same sized crop. (This total area requirement is equivalent to about 6 percent of the arable land in the U.S. or 23 percent of the arable land in Brazil!)

Other Biotech crop benefits from the study:

• Reduced tillage and fuel use in 2007 which cut carbon dioxide greenhouse gases by the equivalent of removing 6.3 million cars from the road that year.
• Reduced pesticide spraying by 8.8% (1996-2007)
• Increased no-till adoption in many regions, especially South America
• Increased on-farm net economic benefits to $10.1 Billion in 2007, with a total of $$44.1 Billion (1996-2007)
• Almost 50% of total farm income gains are due to yield increases with biotech crops, with the balance from production cost reductions
• Farmers in developing countries got the lion’s share of farm income gains in 2007 (58%), while garnering 50% over the 12 year period.
• Since 1996, biotech corn has added 62.4 Million tonnes and biotech soybeans added 67.8 Million tonnes to global food production.

Read the entire study to gain more insight. And kudos to the Nebraska Corn Board for promoting the value of biotechnology.

This week I’m attending the National Agricultural Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas. It’s the first contact I’ve had with this group and I’ve been learning a lot. For example, I didn’t realize how big a role precision agriculture is playing in aerial application. I guess it makes sense though. If you can use gps and variable rate on the ground then why not from the air?

One of the people who explained some of this to me was David Eby, AgSync, pictured on the left of Denise and Ryan Eby in their trade show booth. David says that they realized the need for aerial application companies to have a software solution for managing data, especially when they’ve got multiple planes in the air. So they developed AgSync, which is a web based solution for this problem. We’re sure seeing a growth in web based programming aren’t we? Even in ag!

David says they’ve been working closely with BASF on the development of this program. I’ve been hearing a lot of applicators here talking about BASF’s Headline fungicide and I asked him what that has meant for the business. He says “it has changed our world in aerial application.”

Listen to my interview with David here: basf-naaa-08-eby.mp3

If you’d like to see some photos from the convention then check these out: NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2008 National Agricultural Aviators Association Convention
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The NFU (Scotland) is promoting a booklet called “Best Farming Practices” produced by Environment Agency, which mentions the importance of precision agriculture.

Farmer Philip Chamberlain found that an integrated approach using manure, compost, crop rotation and precision-farming techniques could significantly reduce his costs.

In 100 pages Best Farming Practices explains how wise stewardship of resources such as soil, nutrients, water and energy can help you cut costs while maintaining or improving productivity. It includes 15 case studies of farmers across England and Wales – from Pembrokeshire to Norfolk and from the Devon hills to the Yorkshire moors. Their stories show how a variety of farm enterprises can reap environmental and economic benefits from a range of simple, low-cost actions.

I’m not so sure about all the political policies of these groups but at least they seem to think precision agriculture is a good thing!

It’s less than two weeks to the Cotton Incorporated, 2008 Crop Management Seminar & Workshops. There’s a nice agenda of precision workshops included in the program in case you’re interested. It’s all going to take place at Harrah’s Casino & Resort in Tunica, MS, November 11 – 13.

Here’s the precision workshops agenda (pdf):

7:00 AM – 8:30 AM REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM LUNCH