This is one of the many cracks in our front yard. Granted, no grass grew here anyway, but look at how wide that crevasse is – you can almost see to the center of the Earth. At least it feels that dry. A drought alert has been issued in the state of Nebraska and if you look at the drought …
Iowa Market to Market Host Dies
We were so saddened to hear the news this morning that Mark Pearson, the long-time host of Iowa Public Television’s popular “Market to Market” show, passed away suddenly yesterday at his farm in Madison County. Mark, who was 54 years old, was also co-host of WHO-AM radio’s “The Big Show.” I just had the opportunity to interview Mark in February …
NRCS Chief Dave White on CTIC Tour
The Chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is Dave White. Dave was our lunch speaker during the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour. He also participated in the tour and talked about NRCS’ voluntary, incentive-based conservation work with private landowners. I recorded Dave’s remarks for you and also interviewed him at the end of our lunch. He said there are …
Zimfo Bytes
This week, the University of Illinois is hosting the 2012 INTSOY Short Course: Processing and Marketing Soybeans for Meat, Dairy, Baking and Snack Applications. Harvest to Hand, the popular, free iPhone app from Farm Family and American National Insurance Company on the App Store, is now available for Android users on Google Play. The American Soybean Association and Pioneer Hi-Bred …
Farmers Need to Stand Up and Advocate
Hopefully you’re one of the thousands who have viewed the Farmers Fight – Stand Up video. I visited with the star of that video, Jasmine Dillon. Jasmine is a graduate student at Texas A&M University and part of the student led initiative called Farmers Fight. Jasmine says the initiative started when a group of students got tired of all the …
Regional and Local Conservation Alliances
Since Delta region farm runoff makes its way eventually to the Gulf of Mexico, the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour heard from Phil Bass, acting director of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. This is a partnership started in 2004 by the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Phil says the Alliance has survived ten governor changes which shows …
Managing Field Drainage in the Delta Region
Rob Coker farms corn and soybeans in Yazoo County, Mississippi. He’s currently serving as the President of the Mississippi Corn Promotion Board and just completed his term as Chair of Delta F.A.R.M. He’s a progressive conservationist who is always looking for new technologies and practices. He shared some of what he’s learned with the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour. Land …
Monitoring Water Quality
Matt Hicks, U.S. Geological Survey, talked to the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour about water quality monitoring. We were standing next to a monitoring station that collects data from one of the drainage ditches on the farm. You can find photos of it in the online photo album. Matt says his agency provides water quality monitoring assistance to other agencies …
Managing Water Quality
Water quality was the theme of the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour stop where we met Robbie Kroger, Mississippi State University. You’ll notice a drainage ditch in the photo. After some opening remarks we got down there to see some of the creative ways that this farm is managing runoff water using pipes, pads and weirs. Robbie says the Delta …
Practicing Sustainable Water Conservation
Travis Satterfield grows mainly rice and soybeans in Mississippi. He has also served as Chair of Delta F.A.R.M. and is a member of the Mississippi Delta Sustainable Water Resources Task Force. I visited with him during the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour. He got involved in the tour because of his concern about the availability and quality of water and …