NCGA Celebrates Soil Health Partnership Progress

Taylor Truckey January 25, 2016

The Soil Health Partnership was initiated by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and announced at the Commodity Classic just two years ago.

During the Soil Health Summit in Indianapolis last week, NCGA CEO Chris Novak gave us an update on the progress of the Partnership and the impact that it has had within the industry so far.

“It’s exciting to see the number of farmers who are hearing about the Soil Health Partnership (SHP) and are coming to us saying I’d like to be a part of this,” Novak said. “Farmers realize the importance of soil quality, they recognize what soil crops can mean on their farms. They’re interested in joining into a program that’s going to help them learn and understand better the environmental benefit of cover crops.”

Novak said the primary purpose of the SHP is to find farmers willing to work with the program to collect environmental data on their farm regarding soil characteristics as well as environmental benefits.

“We need to understand how cover crops effect and improve water quality, how do they change the health and quality of the soil. We need to understand the economic benefits of the cover crops,” he explained. The interest has been higher than expected; they originally planned to enroll 100 farmers within five years and are well on their way.

The Soil Health Partnership hopes to demonstrate that there may be an economic return from using cover crops through their on farm research over the next few years. In demonstrating economic value, they may be able to incentivize growers to begin adopting this as a process.

Novak mentioned another unique factor of the Soil Health Partnership. “We have seed companies, we have NRCS, but we also have the Environmental Defense Fund and the Nature Conservancy s partners. Any time you can bring government, academic science, industry, environmental organizations, and farmers together, the power within this partnership is absolutely tremendous.” he explained.

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Chris Novak, NCGA

2016 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Ag Groups, Conservation, Soil, Soil Health Partnership, Sustainability

National Organizations Support Soil Health Partnership

Taylor Truckey January 23, 2016

Several national organizations are supporting the efforts of the Soil Health Partnership (SHP).

Jim Gulliford

Jim Gulliford with the Soil and Water Conservation Society spoke about their involvement while at the Soil Health Summit in Indianapolis this past week.

When asked about the value in supporting the SHP, Gulliford commented on the mutual goals the two organizations share. “Farmers learn from farmers and to have farmers leading the effort, getting demonstrations out there, communicating with their neighbors, that’s a real positive way to communicate opportunity to improve soil characteristics, or soil health,” he said.

“The Society’s interests are transitioning science into practice. We’re looking for innovations in science and agriculture that we can take to organizations that take them out to the fields, to the farmers themselves.” When the farmer actually implements the practice and makes those management changes, then SWCS knows they have done their work.

The SWCS supports the Soil Health Partnership through financial means as well as outreach such as publications and the SHP website.

Listen to the rest of Jim’s interview: Interview with Jim Gulliford, Soil and Water Conservation

Karen Scanlon

The Conservation Technology Information Center is another supporting partner of the Soil Health Partnership. “The Conservation Technology Information Center helped to identify and incorporate into the partnership two farmers from a watershed project in Illinois,” says CTIC Executive Director Karen Scanlon. “We’re looking forward to doing even more work with the partnership and spreading the information we’re learning through the farmer network and through the farmer data.”

This initiative, with the help of the demo farmers, is about collecting information and data directly from farmers who are using conservation practices; that’s exactly what CTIC does and the type of information CTIC likes to share. “We are about supporting, encouraging, and providing information that helps farmers adopt conservation systems that are productive and profitable so partnership with SHP just makes sense for us.” explained Scanlon.

Scanlon adds that CTIC would like to see more solid data about soil health benefits come out of the Soil Health project.

Listen to the rest of Karen’s interview: Interview with Karen Scanlon, CTIC

2016 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Conservation, cover crops, CTIC, Soil, Soil Health Partnership, Sustainability

Soil Health Partnership Continues To Grow

Taylor Truckey January 22, 2016

Nick Goeser, Director of the Soil Health Partnership as well as Director of Soil Health and Sustainability for the NCGA, gives us an update on what to expect at the Soil Health Summit as well as future plans.

“The Soil Health Summit is a number of different topics combined together. First we’re focusing on innovation, innovation in agriculture production. We’re looking at conservation practices as technologies and trying to focus on those while also being educational, telling people about the different options they might use on their operations.” It’s not all fun and games, attendees are also treated to an evening reception.

As the SHP continues to grow and focus on understanding the economic benefits of soil health, in addition to the environmental, they’ve set a goal to enroll 100 farmers over the next 5 years to have an adequate representation of a variety of regions. Goeser also elaborated on the collaboration with AgSolver and what it means for growers involved in the project.

“Every farmer will be able able to use AgSolver’s precision business management software to identify and help enable them to make better decisions on their land.” Goeser explained.

After Summit, the Soil Health Partnership will be heading directly into planning for future events while getting 2016 research strip plots planned and data from 2015 aggregated. The Soil Health Partnership has an exciting couple of years ahead with the support companies and demo farmers who are supporters of their mission.

Listen to the rest of Nick’s interview: Interview with Nick Goeser, Soil Health Partnership

2016 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Conservation, cover crops, NCGA, Soil, Soil Health Partnership

Soil Health Demo Farmers At #SHPSummit16

Taylor Truckey January 22, 2016

Gordon Smiley

The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) has a number of their demo farmers, the farmers who are implementing field size research trials over the next 5 years, at the Soil Health Summit this week. Hear from a few of them about their experiences so far in the program, and their hopes for what the next few years will bring.

Gordon Smiley is new to the demo farmer program, but he, and his brother he farms with, aren’t new to cover crops. “We’ve actually been doing cover crops for five years so we feel like we’re going to move along; we’re going to explore single species and multiple species.” Most farmers begin with a conventional tillage vs no-till field size strip trial, but with Gordon’s experience, they are going to take the research a little further.

With the cattle that they also have on the farm, Gordon is looking forward to implementing the relationship between livestock and cover crops in a few ways. “With the livestock operation, we’re really excited about the manure application being taken up by the cover crops in the fall so we don’t have to worry about nutrient release.”

Gordon and his brother both carry spades in their pickups and have made it a running contest to see how their soil is building. Recently they dug up a couple of corn plants with root systems 26 inches and 22 inches in length. Gordon explained, “That tells us it’s coming out of an earth worm channel. That’s very exciting.”

Listen to the rest of Gordon’s interview: Interview with Gordon Smiley, Indiana Farmer

Roger Zylstra

Roger Zylstra, who farms 50 miles east of Des Moines, enrolled in the program in 2015 as well. The driving force behind his decision to join was wanting to improve their soil. As a former grain and livestock operation, Zylstra’s crop rotation used to be include hay; since they’ve sold the cows that isn’t the case any longer.

“One thing I was noticing was that I didn’t think my soil structure was holding as good as i would have liked it to on some of our more rolling ground that we farm. I decided that this a program that could help us identify and improve our soil structure.”

A year ago Zylstra did a small cover crop field on their own, and they have a neighbor who has been implementing cover crops. Zylstra was pleased with the results and is looking forward to learning from the members Soil Health Partnership as the next few years play out.

Zylstra is also a member of the Iowa Corn Board.

Listen to the rest of Roger’s interview: Interview with Roger Zylstra, Iowa Farmer

2016 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Conservation, Farming, Soil, Soil Health Partnership, Sustainability

A Zippy 500th ZimmCast

Cindy Zimmerman January 22, 2016

We wanted our 500th ZimmCast to be something special so we felt it appropriate to spotlight the new president of the American Farm Bureau Federation who has a name that is sure to be unforgettable – Zippy Duvall of Georgia. Yes, Zippy is a nickname, one that Duvall has had from infancy, although he is proud that he has two namesakes that share his given name Vincent, which they do use. He and his wife, Bonnie, have four children – Vince, Corrie, Zeb and Zellie. Gotta love the whole Z thing they have going there!

Duvall, who served as president of Georgia Farm Bureau for nine years, was elected as AFBF’s 12th president at the organization’s 97th annual convention in Tampa. He is a poultry, cattle and hay producer and has been a Farm Bureau member since 1977. He loves farming, his family and his faith and he is very serious about the future of agriculture. I caught up with him on his first full day in the AFBF Washington DC office this week, getting right into the swing of things with ZEST!

We are pleased to welcome Zippy Duvall as the new president of AFBF and look forward to seeing him often in the years to come down the AgriBlogging highway.

Listen to this week’s Zippy ZimmCast here: ZimmCast with new AFBF president Zippy Duvall

2016 AFBF Convention photos

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Soil Health Makes Financial Sense #SHPSummit16

Taylor Truckey January 22, 2016

Monsanto has been a part of the Soil Health Partnership since its inception. Kevin Coffman, Market Development Lead in the Ag Sustainability Strategy division of Monsanto, elaborated on the plans of the Partnership with AgWired’s Chuck Zimmerman during the 2nd Soil Health Summit held in Indianapolis this week.

Kevin Coffman, a member of the steering committee for the Soil Health Partnership, said the conversation first began 3-4 years ago. The Soil Health Partnership came about as part of the sustainability conversation, but one of the big goals was to drive profitability for growers for many decades to come while becoming more sustainable and improving soil quality.

“We started this out with the idea of going 5 years, but I’m sure this will go a lot longer than 5 years. The outcome that matters is what works on a growers farm. We can talk about trying to have a better sustainability footprint, but if we also don’t improve the economic profitability of a farm, we really haven’t moved the needle much.” explained Coffman.

There have been a lot of conversations in recent years around topics like soil quality, water quality, and sustainability. Those involved in the launch of the Soil Health Partnership were trying to figure out how to get the ag groups having these conversations coalesced around a single idea that could actually drive decisions on the farm.

“One of the things that’s really intriguing around this idea of soil health is ‘what is it’. What are the pieces that drive soil health? Within Monsanto we’ve got a lot of people researching hybrids, but we haven’t really sat around thinking ‘how do I improve soil?'” Coffman continued, “That’s the interesting thing. If you think about agronomic practices, with cover crops being a part of it, tillage practices, reduced tillage, different nutrient management strategies, can you improve the health of soil over time, thereby driving yields longer term? It sounds like a perfect fit for us to be involved in.”

When asked about the best case outcome of the five year initiative, Kevin again tied in the importance of finding the economic value for growers. “The best outcome is the ability to say ‘these practices drive these kinds of outcomes’ as far as profitability and environmental outcomes, so we have a more informed decisions of what will work and what won’t work.”

Learn more in this interview: Interview with Kevin Coffman, Monsanto

2016 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Audio, Soil, Soil Health Partnership, Sustainability

The Economics of Cover Crops

Cindy Zimmerman January 22, 2016

At the first Soil Health Summit last year, I talked with Purdue University agricultural economist Dr. Wally Tyner about the need to quantify the economic benefits for farmers of using cover crops. This year, Chuck talked with him again about where they are at with that initiative.

“We’ve designed some new studies…to get statistically, economically valid comparisons on farm fields without cover crops and with cover crops,” said Dr. Tyner. “We just got funding for that project.”

Tyner says the new study will be recruiting about 70 farmers from 18 Indiana counties, one third that use cover crops and two-thirds who do not. “We’ll be getting five years of historical data on five fields and then three more years during the project – eight years of data – so that will give us over 2,000 field years of data and that should be enough for us to make valid statistical comparisons,” he said.

Listen to Chuck’s interview here: Interview with Dr. Wally Tyner, Purdue University

2016 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Audio, cover crops, Soil, Soil Health Partnership, Sustainability

FFA State Officers Return from South Africa

John Davis January 22, 2016

Seventy-five FFA members from 23 states have returned from a 12-day educational and cultural experience in South Africa. This news release from the group says they participated in the 2016 International Leadership Seminar for State Officers, an experience that allows FFA members to experience foreign culture, learn about international agriculture and become more knowledgeable of the global marketplace.

The group traveled throughout five of the country’s nine provinces while surveying the agricultural landscape. FFA officers met with government and U.S. Embassy officials to learn about U.S.- South African trade relations, toured crop and livestock operations, met with business and industry leaders and explored a private game reserve, which is home to lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalo. The group also met with fruit exporters and olive oil producers and much more.

“This seminar exposes students to culture and food production practices beyond what they are accustomed to in the United States,” said Shane Jacques, education specialist with the National FFA Organization. “Our hope is that through a structured experience like ILSSO, these students will see that study abroad opportunities or global internships and careers are not only attainable, but essential to providing a sustainable talent pipeline for agriculture and feeding the world.” Jacques added that, on average, nine out of ten students who participate in the program admit that they would be receptive to living and working abroad as a result of this experience.

Prior to departing the United States, the students completed ten weeks of online coursework related to cross-cultural adaptability. The program was made possible by corporate sponsors Bunge North America and John Deere.

Ag Groups, FFA, John Deere

#SHPSummit16 Hears From Indiana Farmers

Taylor Truckey January 22, 2016

Carrie Sanders, left, shown with her husband, right

Carrie Volmer-Sanders farms with her husband and parents in Northeast Indiana/Northwest Ohio, and they have implemented cover crops on their farm for about 5 years now. Sanders works for The Nature Conservancy which is where she first heard about the project.

“There are a couple of goals being a part of this. Some include sharing the information with local farmers about the Soil Health Partnership and using cover crops; having them touch, feel, and see what they can do for the soil and what they can do for farms.” The Sanders’ family farm was one of the first involved and got started with SHP in 2014. A sentiment echoed between many of the demo farmers is the excitement for what they’re going to see take place in their fields over the next few years and how they can share that insight with other growers.

“We can share the data with other farmers about look, this is what it’s done for the microbes, this is what it’s done for the yields, it’s done this for our investment.” The Sanders’ farm has shared yield data the last few years to help show the potential of implementing cover crops. Carrie is excited about working with AgSolver to aggregate the data collected through the project to really understand it and to be able to share that information with interested growers.

Mike Buis

Mike Buis is looking forward to what the next few years will bring as he learns from the members of the Soil Health Partnership and fellow demo farmers. “Listening to a lot of the speakers today, we’re looking at the economic value, we’re looking at saving the soil, and we’re looking at different cover crop variations.”

Buis hasn’t had a lot of experience with cover crops as of yet, but has been researching and reading about the possibilities with implementing cover crops. “I’ve been reading about it and have other friends who have tried it, liked it, and have improved their yields on a lot of their marginal ground. We have real good ground, we have some marginal ground, and we have overflow ground. We’re trying to improve our soil.”

Buis’ farm in Central Indiana had 8 inches of rain in June and 8 inches of rain in July so they experienced a loss of nitrogen and soil. Buis elaborated, “If we want to hand this ground to our younger generations, then we need to protect it.”

Mike signed up in 2015 and is excited to hit the ground running in 2016 as they start planning.

Listen to the rest of Carrie’s interview: Interview with Carrie Sanders, The Nature Conservancy

Listen to the rest of Mike’s interview: Interview with Mike Buis, Indiana Farmer

2016 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Conservation, cover crops, Farming, Research, Soil, Soil Health Partnership, Sustainability

Soil Health Stewardship Program Benefits Growers

Taylor Truckey January 21, 2016

Illinois farmer David Brown (R) and another SHS participant on AgriTalk

While at the Soil Health Summit, David Brown, a farmer from Illinois, spoke with AgWired about his involvement in the Soil Health Partnership Stewardship Program.

“We’re learning so much from it,” said Brown. “When the opportunity presented itself, I thought ‘we have to do this’. It’s a learning opportunity for us and if you don’t learn, you’re standing still.”

Brown is involved in the Conservation Stewardship Program with the USDA in addition to the Soil Stewardship Program and says the stewardship program is a true partner in the research and data collection that comes out of the field trials.

When asked about what he looked to gain from the program, Brown said, “I hope to find out that we should have been doing this all along. This is not new.” As a young child he asked his father why there were drilling alfalfa seed on a certain field. Even then, he was hearing words like fertility, soil health, and other benefits like getting a crop off as well with cover crops. “I hope we find out that this is what we should have been doing all along; improving our assets.”

Central Illinois land values have climbed over $13K/acre and Brown offered a unique look at why farmers should place value on soil health in their operations. “Where the farmstead sits, that 80 acres is worth over $1M. When you get your envelope from the stockbroker every month you open that to see how your stocks and assets did. Every day we on television we hear how NASDAQ and Dow Jones are doing, yet we walk across that farm and we don’t think about what is underneath our feet and the asset that is there. How am I taking care of that? Am I improving it? Am I making it worth that 13K/acre? It’s an asset, and I’m here to learn if this is what we need to be doing,” he explained.

Brown emphasized that the partners in the Soil Stewardship Program are knowledgeable and more than willing to share their experiences and information. David encouraged growers to try a few acres if they were unsure. “Just see what you can do. It’s kind of fun to watch things green at a time of year when things shouldn’t be green.”

Learn more in this interview: Interview with David Brown, Illinois Farmer

2016 Soil Health Summit Photo Album

Farming, Soil, Soil Health Partnership, Sustainability

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