Bayer CropScience‘s Alan Ayers will head the new board of directors for the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC). CTIC made the announcement, along with announcing Lara Moody of The Fertilizer Institute as vice-chair and Terry Tindall of the J.R. Simplot Company being named treasurer. “It’s exciting to work with such a dedicated board to continue building CTIC as a preferred … Read More
CTIC Talks Soil Health at #Classic15
Good crops start from healthy soils, so it only makes sense that the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), a national, public-private partnership that promotes environmentally beneficial soil practices, was a part of this year’s Commodity Classic in Phoenix, Arizona. Cindy caught up with Karen Scanlon, CTIC executive director, who said her organization is celebrating 2015 as the International Year of … Read More
Public Comments Open on USDA Conservation Easements
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has opened up the public comment period for proposed rules designed to help producers protect working agricultural lands and wetlands. This agency news release says USDA is now accepting comments on its interim final rule for the new Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), a consolidation of three previous conservation easement programs into one to make … Read More
USDA Works with Ranchers to Save Sage Grouse
A program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with ranchers in the Western United States to preserve habitat for sage grouse. This USDA news release says the agency, through the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI), has partnered with private landowners to restore 4.4 million acres of habitat for sage grouse while maintaining working landscapes across the West, and … Read More
Farm Bill is One Year Old
President Obama signed the 2014 Farm Bill into law one year ago this week, calling it a “Swiss Army Knife.” “Despite its name, the farm bill is not just about helping farmers,” President Obama said at the signing. “Secretary Vilsack calls it a jobs bill, an innovation bill, an infrastructure bill, a research bill, a conservation bill. It’s like a … Read More
Iowa Corn Farmer at Soil Health Summit
The National Corn Growers Association is the administrator for the Soil Health Partnership which was launched at the 2014 Commodity Classic and Corn Board member Kevin Ross believes it’s a very worthwhile initiative for farmers and all involved. “I’m really pleased with the direction it’s heading,” said Ross at the first Soil Health Summit last week in St. Louis. “It’s … Read More
Soil Health Partners Pleased with Progress
The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) was launched just shy of a year ago with seed funding in part from Monsanto and technical support from The Nature Conservancy (TNC). At the first Soil Health Summit last week in St. Louis, Monsanto Sustainability Business Development Lead Kevin Coffman said having partners in the environmental community is very helpful to the effort. “They’ve … Read More
Importance of Quantifying Cover Crop Benefits
A common theme at last week’s 2015 Soil Health Summit in St. Louis was the need to quantify the benefits for farmers of using cover crops. Purdue University economics professor Dr. Wally Tyner is trying to do just that. “I’ve worked in a lot of different areas in economics and this is the hardest nut to crack,” he said. “Because … Read More
USDA Share of Proposed 2016 Budget
On Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack outlined USDA’s $156 billion share of the $4 trillion Obama budget proposal, which is three percent more than last year but includes a $1.6 billion cut in the crop insurance program and some cuts to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). While the CSP cut would reduce enrollment by three million acres to 7 million, … Read More
Soil Health Hinges on Farmers
The first year of the Soil Health Partnership (SHP) enrolled 20 farmers in six states to be demonstration sites for the effort and by the end of five years they expect to have 100. These farmers have agreed to basically be the “guinea pigs” to help other farmers learn from their experiments and innovations. One of those farmers is Tim … Read More