Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): Nebraska

What can Nebraska teach the American West about managing water? A lot.

By Christina Babbitt / Bio / Published: February 23, 2018

Nebraska is one of the top producers of corn, soybeans and hogs in the country. With 91 percent of the state’s total land area dedicated to agricultural production, a lot of water is needed to support all of Nebraska’s farms and ranches.

Fortunately, the state sits atop one of the largest underground aquifers in the world. The High Plains Aquifer, commonly referred to as the Ogallala Aquifer, underlies parts of eight states from Texas to South Dakota, and is a vital resource to Nebraskan farmers.

But as farms have expanded and demand for agricultural products has grown, pressure on the aquifer has increased and groundwater levels have been in steady decline for decades.

Posted in Water / Also tagged california, groundwater, groundwater management, groundwater recharge, sustainable groundwater management act, water use | Comments are closed

A coalition of uncommon bedfellows is bringing sustainable agriculture to scale

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: August 31, 2016

Farmers in field Today represents a huge advancement for sustainable agriculture, and a new era of food company collaboration. At the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, we are officially launching the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative (MRCC): a diverse coalition working to expand on-the-ground solutions to protect air and water quality, enhance soil health, and maintain high yields throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

Founding members of the MRCC include Cargill, Environmental Defense Fund, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Monsanto, PepsiCo, The Nature Conservancy, Walmart, and World Wildlife Fund. The coalition will work directly with growers to help foster continuous improvement and implement conservation activities across three pilot states responsible for 44 percent of corn, soy, and wheat production in the United States: Illinois, Nebraska, and Iowa. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Also tagged Ag Retailers Association, Agricultural Retailers Association, ARA, Campbell's, Cargill, cattle, corn, cotton, crop yields, Farm Progress, farmers, Field to Market, General Mills, Illinois, iowa, Kellogg, Mississippi, National Corn Growers Association, Ogallala, Pepsi, RCPP, soil health, Soil Health Partnership, soy, Upper Mississippi River Basin, Walmart, wheat, WWF | Read 2 Responses

What would it take for a Nebraska corn farmer to grow milkweed for monarch butterflies?

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: August 25, 2016

EDF is working to develop the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange to engage the agricultural community in the fight against extinction.

Virtually every farmer and rancher in America has room for conservation on their land. But deciding whether or not to enroll acres in a conservation program requires just as much business sense as deciding which crops to grow on other acres. It’s a matter of cost and return on investment.

My team and I traveled to Nebraska earlier this month to meet with a few corn and soybean farmers to get a sense of what the costs and benefits might be of dedicating some acres – namely marginal lands with low crop productivity, as well as roadsides and field edges – to growing milkweed habitat for the monarch butterfly. What we found was that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Also tagged agriculture, conservation, corn farming, environmental defense fund, habitat exchange, monarch butterfly, NRCS, Pheasants Forever, USDA, wetlands reserve program, wildlife | Read 3 Responses

Taking the bloom and gloom out of Lake Erie

By Karen Chapman / Bio / Published: August 3, 2015

NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory .

Green algae in the Great Lakes. Photo credit: NOAA

It’s been one year since a massive algae bloom in Lake Erie contaminated the drinking water of more than 500,000 Ohio residents.

Since that time, we’ve seen an increase in legislative actions and governmental commitments to reduce fertilizer runoff. Yet the harmful algae that showed up last summer have bloomed again. This summer’s catastrophic rains have caused farm fields to flood, sending fertilizer into Lake Erie. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this year’s algae bloom could be the second largest on record.

Nutrient efficiency and soil health practices can create a powerful antidote to Lake Erie’s bloom and doom cycle. But farmers need more support and guidance in making changes on their farm. And they need to know that these practices won’t reduce yields.

That’s why an innovative platform called SUSTAIN™ is taking off. SUSTAIN provides agricultural retailers with training on the best tools and practices for reducing fertilizer runoff and increasing soil health – but also focuses on maintaining productivity. Earlier this summer, a group of central Ohio retailers became SUSTAIN authorized – and while it’s not a silver bullet, this effort has enormous potential to keep Lake Erie’s algae blooms at bay.

Campbell’s Soup expands its fertilizer optimization programs

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: June 2, 2015

There’s a new reason to celebrate your favorite sugar cookie. The Campbell Soup Company has committed to fertilizer optimization in its sourcing areas in Ohio and Nebraska. These areas provide wheat for Campbell’s subsidiary, Pepperidge Farm – and the company will enroll an additional 70,000 acres into its fertilizer optimization programs by 2020.

Campbell will work with EDF to create additional fertilizer optimization and soil conservation programs for farmers, and will deploy United Suppliers’ SUSTAIN platform in these sourcing areas to help ensure farmers that changing their practices will not only reduce nitrogen runoff, but also protect yields and farm income. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Also tagged agriculture, Campbell, Campbell Soup, climate change, farmers, farms, GHG mitigation, Ohio, Pepperidge Farm, sustainability, United Suppliers, Walmart, wheat | Comments are closed