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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