I wanted to write and let you know that you may want to visit the new blog over at http://www.c.Optmzr.co
Although Blogger helped me prove a point to a co-worker, it doesn't have the depth and sophistication to support multiple authors and a richer long term experience. As such, I invite you to cruise over there and check it out.
I'm not going to "kill" this blog, but my contributions will be less often here. Over there, we hope to post multiple times per week and create a rich environment for others to contribute as well.
Cheers! and thanks for reading!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Indiana's Conservation Consulting Initiative
Indiana farmers lead agriculture in so many fascinating ways... notill, precision ag and cover crops. Certainly other states in the US have massive acreage of each of these but it appears to me that Indiana has an amazing foundation for these practices to gain deeper and wider adoption faster.
First, Indiana has good but not great soil and weather. I joked with several Illinois and Iowa customers this summer, that Indiana would fare well with the extra rainfall... we have small valleys! Between these small valley's we have lots of clay, timber soils as well as sands, depending on the area of the state. Rolling terrain increases erosion but also sparks creativity around reduced tillage and cover crops.
While this terrain varies, we are also fortunate to receive ample rainfall. Different than some of our western counterparts or even far eastern farmer friends, we tend to get ample rainfall to capitalize on soil health management. (I would argue that the more severe the climate the more response you get from soil health management but that's another topic.) Anyways, rain makes grain and thus, well managed clays can quietly yield 200+ bushels per acre and cost far less to purchase or rent, again accelerating creativity.
Finally, this variability, yield potential and field size, afford the Indiana farmer technology investments and experimentation that outpaces other areas with less variability and scale. No doubt, an Illinois or Iowa farmer can achieve massive scale, but the variability within their fields has struggled to justify the on-farm experimentation behind precision ag thinking.
This all adds up to some exciting people making a real difference around the globe. I'm proud that Advanced Ag Solutions is among the approved mentors for CCSI. http://ccsin.iaswcd.org/
Next week we share some of what we've learned with the "hub farmers" who are doing on-farm research around the state. I'm sure they'll have some great roundtable discussions!
First, Indiana has good but not great soil and weather. I joked with several Illinois and Iowa customers this summer, that Indiana would fare well with the extra rainfall... we have small valleys! Between these small valley's we have lots of clay, timber soils as well as sands, depending on the area of the state. Rolling terrain increases erosion but also sparks creativity around reduced tillage and cover crops.
While this terrain varies, we are also fortunate to receive ample rainfall. Different than some of our western counterparts or even far eastern farmer friends, we tend to get ample rainfall to capitalize on soil health management. (I would argue that the more severe the climate the more response you get from soil health management but that's another topic.) Anyways, rain makes grain and thus, well managed clays can quietly yield 200+ bushels per acre and cost far less to purchase or rent, again accelerating creativity.
Finally, this variability, yield potential and field size, afford the Indiana farmer technology investments and experimentation that outpaces other areas with less variability and scale. No doubt, an Illinois or Iowa farmer can achieve massive scale, but the variability within their fields has struggled to justify the on-farm experimentation behind precision ag thinking.
This all adds up to some exciting people making a real difference around the globe. I'm proud that Advanced Ag Solutions is among the approved mentors for CCSI. http://ccsin.iaswcd.org/
Next week we share some of what we've learned with the "hub farmers" who are doing on-farm research around the state. I'm sure they'll have some great roundtable discussions!
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