Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): Soil Health Partnership

3 ingredients for success in soil health

By Guest Author / Published: April 9, 2021

This blog was originally posted on Soil Health Partnership’s blog.

Profitable conservation systems don’t look the same on every farm. Growers must implement different strategies to address their specific needs, thanks to a wide range of variables including soil type, moisture availability, equipment and labor. However, just because every farmer takes a slightly different approach to soil health doesn’t mean there aren’t some consistent success factors.

In our recent report, Conservation’s Impact on the Farm Bottom Line (developed in partnership with Environmental Defense Fund and the agricultural accounting firm K·Coe Isom), we discovered that farmers who felt their soil health practices were making a difference — both in the data and anecdotally — took some similar approaches. These three “ingredients for success” increased their chances for achieving profitable conservation systems. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged conservation, farm finance, soil health, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

Experience plays a role in cover crop profitability

By Guest Author / Published: March 19, 2021

This blog was originally posted on Soil Health Partnership’s blog.

When it comes to cover crops, patience combined with realistic expectations is often the name of the game. Unlike the immediate cost savings that often come with conservation tillage, cover crops have annual costs as well as efficiencies and soil health benefits that can take time to achieve.

These are some of the reasons why in our report, Conservation’s Impact on the Farm Bottom Line, we found experienced cover crop users were more profitable when compared to new adopters. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged conservation, cover crop, farm finance, soil health, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

Understanding the impact of conservation tillage on operating expenses

By Guest Author / Published: March 12, 2021

This blog was originally published by Dr. Maria Bowman on Soil Health Partnership’s blog.

When farmers consider implementing a soil health or conservation practice on their farm, one question they inevitably ask is: what will the financial impacts be?

In an effort to answer this question, we recently released Conservation’s Impact on the Farm Bottom Line — a report developed in partnership with Environmental Defense Fund and the agricultural accounting firm K·Coe Isom — to better understand the benefits, opportunities and limiting factors associated with common conservation practices. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged farm finance, soil health, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

Farm budget analysis finds 3 ways conservation affects the bottom line

By Vincent Gauthier / Bio / Published: February 16, 2021

Soil health practices can provide many public environmental benefits including reduced soil erosion, increased soil organic carbon and improved water quality. However, adoption of soil health practices such as no-till and cover crops only represent 26% and 4% of U.S. farmland respectively.

Still, we know farmers can be rapid adopters of new technologies, including new seed varieties and equipment, when presented with a profitable solution. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged conservation tillage, cover crops, farm finance, no-till, soil health, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

A call to help us strengthen the economic case for sustainability practices

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 30, 2017

Visiting my friend and Iowa corn farmer, Tim Richter.

Before installing a new heating system for your home, you’d want to conduct an analysis to make sure it’s worth the money, right? The same logic applies to farming – before a producer considers implementing conservation practices or new technologies, he or she will need to know how those practices will affect an operation’s bottom line.

Despite some good anecdotal information and several isolated field trial studies, the reality is we don’t have nearly enough information on the economic impacts – good or bad – of individual conservation practices. That means we cannot yet make an ironclad business case that will persuade the majority of farmers to implement conservation practices.

There are several key reasons for the dearth of information, and that’s partly my fault.

I’m hoping you can look past this and consider my call to work together to collect the necessary data to strengthen the case. Our food, livelihoods and landscapes depend on it. Read More »

Posted in Supply Chain / Also tagged cover crops, data collection, economics, fertilizer, Illinois, Illinois Corn Growers Association, iowa, National Corn Growers Association, nutrient efficiency, On-Farm Network, Partnerships, precision agriculture, Precision Conservation Management, profitability, sustainable agriculture, water quality | Comments are closed

Conservation relies on profitability

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 5, 2017

Conservation practices help make this wheat field more profitable Whether in agriculture or any other business, if you don’t have enough money coming in to pay the bills, it’s hard to find the time or resources for anything other than working to turn a red budget spreadsheet black.

A wheat farmer friend from Washington recently told me that current prices are $4/bushel, the same as 40 years ago. Take into account inflation, and that’s a significant decline. Nationally, the USDA predicts that net farm income will drop by almost 9 percent this year, the fourth year in a row of declines after reaching a record high in 2013. Farmers also face enormous volatility in income, with fluctuations in yield, demand, as well as crop and input prices.

It’s no surprise then that environmentalists’ calls to cut crop insurance, disaster programs or other conservation payments fall on deaf ears in the agricultural community – or serve only to raise blood pressure levels across the Corn Belt. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged Conservation Technology Information Center, conservation tillage, corn, cover crops, crop insurance, farm bill, fertilizer, fertilizer efficiency, kansas, National Corn Growers Association, no-till, nutrient efficiency, profitability, soil erosion, soil health, stewardship, sustainable agriculture, water quality, wheat | Read 2 Responses

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 Climate Resilience, Supply Chain / Also tagged Ag Retailers Association, Agricultural Retailers Association, ARA, Campbell's, Cargill, cattle, corn, cotton, crop yields, Farm Progress, farmers, fertilizer, Field to Market, General Mills, Illinois, iowa, Kellogg, Mississippi, National Corn Growers Association, Nebraska, Ogallala, Partnerships, Pepsi, RCPP, soil health, soy, sustainable agriculture, Upper Mississippi River Basin, Walmart, wheat, WWF | Read 2 Responses

How cover crops can help growers beat droughts and floods

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: July 22, 2015

Cover crops can include grasses like cereal rye.

Corn is trying to fight this summer’s extreme weather, and unfortunately, the weather is winning.

There are serious floods in the Midwest, devastating droughts in California, and brutal heat waves along the eastern seaboard. Ohio for example had a record June rainfall of 11 inches, which stunted corn roots and prevented many growers from planting any corn crops. In Northwest Ohio alone, 100,000 acres were left unplanted. At the same time, places in my home state of North Carolina experienced a June heat wave during the critical corn pollination period, significantly damaging corn yields.

These extreme weather events leave many farmers searching for ways to make the best of a challenging growing season. Although June’s weather was the opposite in Ohio and North Carolina, cover crops offer a proven solution to deal with both conditions. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agriculture, California agriculture, California drought, cash crop, climate change, conservation, Conservation Technology Information Center, corn, cover crop, crops, drought, ecosystems, farm, farmer, fertilizer, flood, food, nitrogen, North Carolina, nutrient, Ohio, pollination, soil, soy, soybean, soybeans, SUSTAIN, sustainable, sustainable agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, sustainable grain, United Suppliers MB Gro Program, water use, western water, yields | Comments are closed

Meet Brent Bible, state trooper turned farmer and mentor

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 14, 2015

A new Purdue University study released this week found that agriculture will create nearly 60,000 jobs each year for the next five years. But to meet this growing demand, more students will need to graduate with agricultural degrees. And as the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a recent interview, the farming sector must do more to work with students and the educational system as a whole.

That’s where growers like Brent Bible come into play. Brent is inspiring the next generation of farmers, scientists, researchers, and agronomists through his work with Purdue students who help him operate his 3,000-acre grain farm in Indiana. He’s also promoting soil health, nutrient efficiency, and sustainable agriculture through changes in on-farm practices.

I asked Brent, a former Indiana state police officer, about his transition to the agricultural world, his work with the Soil Health Partnership, and what gets him out of bed every morning. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agriculture, ecosystems, farmers, farms, fertilizer, food production, nitrogen, nutrient efficiency, Purdue, Purdue University, soil health, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

The key ingredient in a resilient food supply: healthy soil

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: December 4, 2014

Dec. 5 is World Soil Day.

Last year, the United Nations General Assembly declared December 5th as World Soil Day. This annual event aims to “connect people with soils and raise awareness of their critical importance in our lives.”

As the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. notes, we often ignore soil’s key role in our food systems, climate, and in sustaining biodiversity. Today, 33 percent of the planet’s soils are considered degraded – and this has vast implications for meeting the world’s growing demand for food.

In honor of World Soil Day, I asked Nick Goeser, Ph.D., soil health and sustainability manager for the National Corn Growers Association, to elaborate on why soil really matters.

How is soil health tied to food production? Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged Conservation Technology Information Center, cover crops, ecosystems, fertliizer, Food and Agriculture Organization, National Corn Growers, nutrient management, soil health, sustainable agriculture, The Nature Conservancy, tillage, United Nations, USDA, Wolrd Soil Day | Comments are closed