Conservation

Are Your Fields A Green Light? Use the Three-Factor System To Guide Planting Decisions

Fri, 08 May 2026 16:52:22 GMT

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie is urging farmers to pay close attention to soil conditions and local weather forecasts as planting accelerates across the Midwest.

Ferrie and his team at Crop-Tech Consulting recommend using a “red-yellow-green light” system to guide planting decisions. The practice is based on three factors: soil moisture, seed chilling risks and the 10-day emergence forecast.

The information on the green-yellow-red color system for planting is pretty self-explanatory, says Ken Ferrie. Once you know the light color, you can see the meaning and the action he recommends taking.

(Crop-Tech Consulting)

Regional Forecast And Recommendation

Despite ongoing weather struggles from cold and rain in some parts of the country, planting progress continues across much of the upper Midwest.

For central Illinois, Ferrie says there is a green light for Monday, with some areas getting a yellow or red light for Tuesday. The U.S. National Weather Service says a weak cold front will bring the next chance for storms later on Tuesday, some of which could be severe. Temperatures will turn cooler for midweek.

Ferrie warns that the first 12 to 24 hours seed corn is in the ground are the most critical. During this window of time, the seed absorbs 30% of its weight in water. If that water is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the cells lose elasticity and tear. Chilled seed corn can easily result in a 10% stand loss.

“You can literally tell the difference between fields that were planted in the morning compared to in an afternoon that’s going into a cool night,” Ferrie says. “That is why you’ll see our lights change at noon some days, trying to get enough water absorbed before the soil temperature drops.”

You can get more information from Ferrie on the perils of seed corn chilling in this brief video:

Ferrie says if corn takes longer than 11 days to emerge, those kernels that were planted “spike down” will struggle to compete.

“The spike-down plants can be a week or two weeks behind the spike-up plants,” Ferrie explains. “At that point, they will be more than a collar behind and not produce a regular-sized ear.”

Listen to Ferrie’s complete recommendations in his Boots In The Field podcast:

Soybean Farmers Detail ‘Sustainable Practices’ That Can Pay Off

Fri, 08 May 2026 12:57:17 GMT

Cover crops were nearly scratched off Laurie and Jim Isley’s list of practices on their Michigan farm a few years ago. The reason? Production costs were adding roughly $35 an acre to their budget, which was already stretched beyond thin.

“Things were really limited for us, so we looked at that practice really, really hard,” says Laurie, who farms with her husband near Palmyra, Mich. “We can absolutely be environmentally sustainable, but the bottom line is we’re not going to stay in business unless we are profitable.”

The use of cover crops is back on firmer economic ground now, she adds, thanks to cost-share programs such as Farmers for Soil Health (FSH), which help make soil health investments possible for income-strapped growers.

Making Cover Crops Cash-Flow

The biggest hurdle for cover crops has always been the upfront cost versus the delayed gratification of better soil structure. The Farmers for Soil Health initiative is currently bridging that gap for growers in 20 states. Isley says the program offers up to $35 per acre in cost-share, plus technical assistance.

For many farmers, the frustration with government or industry programs often lies in the “fine print.” Isley highlights two specific features of the FSH program that make it a more useful tool for many row-crop growers:

The “No Look Back” Policy: Unlike many programs that only reward “new” adopters, FSH is open to almost any grower. “You are eligible for this program whether you are planting cover crops for the very first time, or whether you’ve been planting them for 10, 15 or 20 years,” Isley says.
Short-Term Commitment: “It’s a one-year contract, but you can re-enroll in it year-after-year (with up to 2,000 acres per operation) through the length of time Farmers for Soil Health continues,” Isley notes.

Beyond the dollars, the program addresses the “how-to” hurdle. Each state has designated advisers to help with cover crop species selection, seeding methods (including the use of drones), and termination timing.

“It isn’t just, ‘Go forth and find cover crops,’” Isley says. “Sometimes you just need some expert help in order to get started on something. Even if you say, ‘I’m only going to do 100 acres this year,’ that’s still 100 acres you’re going to get that $35 an acre on to get started.”

High-Oleic Soybeans: A Revenue-Side Opportunity

While cost-shares help manage expenses, Matthew Chapman is looking at the other side of the ledger: revenue. For his east-central Indiana farm, high-oleic soybean contracts have been a game-changer.

“This project’s really been a home run for the whole soybean industry,” Chapman notes. He says that backed by checkoff investments and partnerships with industry giants like Bayer, Corteva, and Beck’s, the specialty beans have already delivered over $400 million in total returns to U.S. farmers.

Chapman started off growing high-oleic soybeans on 20% of his acreage and eventually scaled to 100%. The premiums — ranging in his area from $0.75 to $1.25 per bushel last year — were a huge boost to his bottom line. But he says they have some requirements that farmers need to consider.

“Oftentimes you’re going to need to store this crop, depending on how far away your purchaser is,” he notes. “Your weed program and your plan need to start in the fall. There’s just a lot to consider ahead of time.”

The market is also evolving. High-oleic oil is prized by restaurants for its long fry life and trans-fat-free profile, and new markets are emerging. Chapman notes that his 2026 crop is destined for dairy feed — the beans will be roasted, cracked and fed whole.

United Soybean Board (USB) projections suggest that by 2027, about half of the U.S. high-oleic soybean crop could be headed to the dairy sector. Industrial uses are also gaining traction in asphalt, bioplastics and fire-resistant hydraulic oil, especially in sensitive environments like mining or near waterways.

Navigating The Carbon And Fuel Frontier

While the federal process for carbon intensity (CI) modeling is still unfolding, farmers see opportunity in markets tied to carbon scores and renewable fuels.

USB is currently funding research to ensure farmers aren’t left behind as these markets mature. One surprising finding from Iowa State University: simply planting earlier can reduce nitrous oxide emissions, a major contributor to CI scores.

“That really costs us nothing to do,” Isley says. By documenting this “free” practice change, farmers can potentially lower their CI scores and increase the value of their grain in renewable fuel markets.

However, participation requires data. Chapman emphasizes that farmers need to be the masters of their own information.

“Whenever you’re selling the data off your farm, which is what this is, it starts with knowing what we have,” he says. “It’s hard to sell something unless you know what you’ve got when you start off.”

In southeast Kansas, farmer Charles Atkinson sees this playing out in the biodiesel and renewable diesel sectors. He believes that using the product on the farm is the best way to support the market.

“It’s a product that we’ve developed, that we’ve raised, and it should be No. 1 on our priority list to use it,” Atkinson says.

The “Plan A Through F” Mindset Is Needed

Beneath all the programs and markets, the three growers say long-term profitability still depends on flexibility: having enough tools and plans on the shelf to adjust to whatever the season and markets throw at them.

The need for flexibility shows up in day-to-day decision-making. Atkinson describes his operation, based near Great Bend, as one that constantly shifts among no-till, cover crops, chemistry options and even occasional tillage, depending on the year’s weather, pests and markets.

“It seems like we have plan A, B, C, D, E and F, and depending on what gets thrown at us and what Mother Nature gives us, we have to figure out what plan to run,” he says. “Last year, I had a beautiful plan together. It was all going to work. And I think we were down to plan D before we got finished up.”

Chapman takes a similar view. He says farmers like having “a lot of tools in the toolbox,” even ones they rarely use.

“As the world’s always changing, we want to be proactive and we want to do stuff that we can voluntarily do on our farm,” he says. “Move towards that goal of leaving the farm better than you found it, and hope the day never comes that something’s your only option.”

Isley says programs such as Farmers for Soil Health, along with EQIP, CSP and state or watershed initiatives, help move more growers toward that toolbox mentality by reducing risk.

In her view, profitable sustainability isn’t about any single practice, but about using the right mix of programs, premiums and practices to fit each farm.

“I think we often are hesitant to look for help, because we want to be self-reliant,” she says. “But sometimes it really makes a difference if we look for technical assistance and for those resources that are out there and available to us.”

Isley, Chapman, and Atkinson shared their perspectives in a webinar, “How Sustainable Production and Economic Viability Can Coexist,” on Thursday. The program was hosted by Agri-Pulse in partnership with the United Soybean Board.

EPA Opens Public Comment Period On Draft Fungicide Strategy

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:20:14 GMT

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering the U.S. public an opportunity to help shape the future of agricultural safety, unveiling a draft Fungicide Strategy designed to balance the needs of American farmers with the protection of the nation’s most vulnerable wildlife.

The proposal marks a significant step in the agency’s effort to meet its dual mandates under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). By creating a more efficient and transparent framework for pesticide registration, the EPA says it aims to “safeguard more than 1,000 federally endangered and threatened species” while ensuring growers maintain the tools necessary to protect the nation’s food supply.

A New Framework for Modern Farming

The draft strategy focuses on conventional agricultural fungicides across the lower 48 states — an area covering approximately 41 million treated acres annually. Rather than a one-size-fits-all mandate, the proposal introduces a three-step framework:

Identify Impacts: Assessing potential population-level effects on listed species.
Mitigation Planning: Pinpointing specific measures to reduce those risks.
Targeted Application: Determining exactly where these protections are most needed based on where endangered and threatened species live and how fungicides move through the environment.

The agency emphasizes that while this strategy guides future regulatory actions, it does not impose immediate requirements. Instead, the strategy serves as a roadmap for upcoming registration reviews, with the EPA promising public input on every specific action before it is finalized.

Balancing Innovation and Conservation

Saying that it recognizes farmers are the backbone of the U.S. economy, the EPA’s draft includes several updates to provide greater flexibility. Notably, the plan expands options for reducing spray drift buffer distances and introduces new mitigation tools, such as the use of “guar gum” as a spray adjuvant.

"[American farmers] need a diverse toolbox of innovative agricultural technologies to manage crop disease, prevent resistance, and produce the affordable, nutritious food that feeds our country,” the EPA says, in a press release. “The draft Fungicide Strategy is designed to ensure those innovative tools remain available and that they are used in ways that protect the environment and endangered species.

How to Get Involved

In a push for transparency, the EPA has opened a 60-day public comment period to gather feedback from scientists, conservationists, Tribal partners and the agricultural community.

Public Comment: Stakeholders can review the strategy and submit formal feedback via (Docket: EPA-HQ-OPP-2026-2973) through June 29, 2026.
Informational Webinar: The agency will host a public webinar on May 20, 2026, at 2 p.m. ET to walk through the proposal and answer questions. Register here .

The EPA expects to review all public input and finalize the Fungicide Strategy by November 2026.

How AI Insights are Reducing Manual Scouting for Midwest Retailers

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:15:12 GMT

Recently, Syngenta and Taranis declared their AI-backed partnership a winner as it combined their respective prowess in leading crop protection and AI crop intelligence for retailers and farmers in the Midwest.

Syngenta’s leadership pointed to AI as agriculture’s next major breakthrough, with early results from the 2025 collaboration demonstrating how pairing Taranis’ leaf-level AI Crop Intelligence with Syngenta’s portfolio helped create value for retailers and growers—momentum that the partnership is now positioned to scale.

“Over the past two years, we’ve been intentional about keeping a pulse on growers’ pain points and making practical improvements to enhance their experience,” says Paul Backman, Syngenta’s Head of North America Crop Protection Digital Agriculture & Sustainable Solutions. “With the help of AI, technical expertise, and strong partnerships, we are enabling growers to spot issues and respond with solutions faster than they have before.”

Ag Retailers: At the Frontline Connecting Growers to Solutions

As the new growing season kicks off for the Midwest, Syngenta’s teams say they are taking off the training wheels and anticipating the program’s success in the retail sector to be the foundation for its growth.

“We believe ag retailers play a critical role in bringing conservation solutions together for growers,” says Backman. “The powerful capabilities brought together through our partnership with Taranis put us in an excellent position to collaborate with retailers and create value for them as we deliver on this vision.”

Early insights from the field signal momentum. Retailer enrollment continues to accelerate, with participating acres expanding rapidly throughout the Midwest.

“We’ve worked to scale the partnership more broadly in our second year – this means connecting AI Crop Intelligence with our Crop Protection portfolio and bringing these solutions to more retailers,” he says. “The results from our first year together demonstrated a clear benefit for growers to be more targeted and to address field issues earlier – helping growers and retailers be more efficient in pinpointing challenges and the right solutions to address them.”

Now, the company says that the program is optimized with data-backed intelligence for corn and soybean producers, and in the early stages of exploring its applications in potato production as well.

A Win-Win to Unlock Conservation Opportunity

Geography and crops are not the only expansion on the table for 2026, Backman says. The partnership is working to help growers enhance profitability and access to conservation funding and technical assistance by matching farmers with public conservation programs and working collaboratively through the enrollment process.

“We know that turning a profit and having the funds to invest in new practices can be one of the biggest barriers growers face when deciding whether to adopt a new practice,” Backman says. “This, in essence, is what makes Syngenta’s partnership with Taranis a real game changer.”

Through the partnership, Taranis Technical Service Providers will identify opportunities to access funding through popular federal mechanisms like the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). “The Taranis Conservation Partnership solution is designed to help growers access USDA conservation funding and implement sustainable farming practices on their farms with minimum effort,” he says.

Backman also notes that smooth enrollment isn’t just a convenience – it’s key to enabling growers to access resources to invest in their operations and experiment with new practices that might otherwise be out of reach.

“We see it as a win-win for all parties involved,” he says.

Sustainability, Driven by Digital Tools

AI-powered intelligence from Taranis is the latest capability offered alongside Syngenta’s suite of digital tools that underpin its corporate sustainability strategy .

“Syngenta has a long history of supporting growers to help increase yields, and today we’re leaning into a broad portfolio of digital tools to meet that mission,” Backman says. “Over time, we’ve learned that leveraging crop protection and advancing sustainability can go forward together.”

This AI-backed partnership, along with digital sustainability tools such as the CropWise™ Sustainability App, are critical levers to achieving Syngenta’s overall sustainability goals – one of several reasons the company combined the two into a new Digital and Sustainable Solutions team.

Backman’s team is charged with finding solutions that work at the farmgate, but also help to manage productivity, profitability, and stewardship.

“A key to meeting these goals and scaling sustainable practices starts with solutions that truly work for farmers, which is why we’re embedding sustainability into our business strategy and operations and equipping our field teams with resources to communicate how our solutions support those efforts,” he says. “While technology has long helped farmers increase yields, today we’re combining it with sustainable practices to help achieve higher yields with lower impact.

“By improving soil health, protecting biodiversity and conserving natural resources, we can help create lasting value – ensuring that growers succeed today, and well into the future.”

Blake Vince Shares 1.7 Million Reasons To Stop Tilling Your Soil

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:54:51 GMT

Blake Vince says some of the most highly-valued help on his 1,200-acre Ontario, Canada, farm never show up on a payroll sheet.

They live under his boots.

“One day I went out with a shovel, flipped over a slice of soil about 12 inches by 12 inches, and I started counting earthworms,” Vince recalls. “I counted 40 in that one square.”

He quickly estimated how many earthworms likely live in one acre of his cropland: “Multiply that 40 by 43,560 [the square feet in one acre] and you get 1,742,400. That’s a hell of a lot of earthworms out there in my soil doing the work.”

For Vince, earthworms are more than a sign of good soil — they’re central characters in how he farms, evaluates risk and stays profitable. In a production system shaped by no-till, planting green and cover crops, he sees earthworms as the quiet workforce that’s helping hold the whole thing together, he recently told farmers attending the 2026 Soil Health Conference in Aberdeen, S.D.

(Blake Vince)

From Traditional Tillage To Tiny Tillers

Vince grew up believing that aggressive tillage comes at a cost. The renowned fifth-generation farmer from Merlin — a 750-person farming community in southwest Ontario — is considered a conservation farming pioneer in the region, having used no-till for over 40 years to protect soil structure.

“(I learned early) that tillage was eroding our largest capital investment, our soil. Soil is not an infinite resource. I can’t stress that enough,” he says.

Blake’s father and his brothers started to no-till in 1983 when he was just 11 years old.

“Our motive for what we do on our farm first and foremost is to remain financially viable,” he says. “And then what’s important is the fact that we’re protecting the environment.”

Those two goals continue today on the farm, which he operates with his father, Elwin. Together, they grow commercial corn, soybeans and winter wheat, and cover crop for seed on approximately 1,200 acres.

The father-son team seeds cash crops directly into living covers such as cereal rye to suppress weeds, protect soil and extend the period of living roots. Vince says they use planting green to cut passes, reduce herbicide pressure and boost resilience in dry spells, evaluating the benefits by agronomics and economics, not appearances.

Even with its proximity to the Great Lakes (see image below), the farm’s heavy Brookston clay operates within a moisture-strapped, 16-inch rainfall zone. In such an environment, soil disturbance is critical.

Blake Vince’s farm is based just north of Lake Erie and south of Lake Huron. But despite its proximity to the Great Lakes, the farm only sees about 16 inches of rain annually.

(Blake Vince)

Vince categorizes soils as either “defensive” or “offensive.” On offensive soils, he believes aggressive tillage can continue for years with little visible impact.

“You can till it with the most aggressive tillage passes, and you can still grow a crop… So the decline is gradual,” he contends, noting he believes much of the upper Midwest has offensive soils.

His own ground is the opposite, and he refers to his soils as being defensive. As a result, the wrong tillage pass at the wrong moisture level could smear the soil profile, seal off pores and restrict roots just when crops need water the most.

“We can’t go down into the depth of the soil to bring up the much-needed moisture during that critical period of year when it’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the corn is trying to pollinate,” Vince says.

Betting On Biology Instead Of Iron

When Vince talks about earthworms, he sounds like a businessman who’s discovered an overlooked, underpaid labor force.

“When an earthworm poops, it’s pH neutral,” he says. “So it’s bringing all of those nutrients from depth, turning organic material — last year’s crop residue — into plant-available nutrients for subsequent crops that we grow.”

In other words: free nutrient cycling, free aggregation, free tillage.

A moment that cemented Vince’s faith in earthworms started with a disagreement. His independent agronomist, looking at soil test results, told him he needed to apply lime. Vince didn’t dispute that. The sticking point was how to use it.

“She suggested to me, ‘Blake, you need to add lime, which I agreed, but in order to use that lime and make it most effective, you need to till it in,’” he recalls. “And I said, ‘No. That’s where the buck stops. I am not interested in doing tillage. It costs time, it costs energy, it costs money — diesel fuel, depreciation, as we all know.’”

Vince’s answer sounded simple, almost unbelievable, even naive.

“I’ve got so many earthworms, they’ll do the work for me,” he told her.

Later, while installing tile drainage, he found the proof he’d been looking for. At the top of an earthworm midden — a vertical burrow —he saw a dusting of white on the soil surface.

“So folks, this is an earthworm midden,” he told the audience as he showed the image (see below). “You can see at the top of the picture, that’s lime that’s been broadcast on the surface. That earthworm has crawled to the surface. It’s got its body coated in lime that we’ve spread just on the surface, and now it’s bringing it down in its middens, down in its vertical burrows.”

Earthworms help move lime below the soil’s surface.

(Blake Vince)

For most farmers, incorporating lime means fuel, wear on steel and the risk of compaction or smearing. For Vince, it meant waiting on the night shift.

“If we think back to that picture where I was standing there with those earthworm casts, how much horsepower would be required to do tillage at that depth?” he asked the audience. “More than I have.”

In his view, every pass he doesn’t make is one more way he can reduce costs and protect his bottom line.

The contributions of earthworms to global food development have been assessed by the National Institutes of Health . The agency reports earthworms contribute to roughly 6.5% of global grain (maize, rice, wheat, barley) production and 2.3% of legume production, equivalent to over 140 million metric tons annually.

The Unseen Economics Underfoot

Behind Vince’s enthusiasm for earthworms and farming green lies a hard-edged focus on economics. From a brief stint in financial services, he brought one non-negotiable rule home to the farm: pay yourself first.

“The number one rule of financial planning is what? Pay yourself first,” he says. “With that mentality, I started thinking: how do I do that here? I don’t control the price of seed, chemicals, fertilizer, diesel, or machinery. But I can control how I manage my soil.”

One of his major “pay yourself first” decisions a decade ago was switching to 100% non-GMO soybeans. Growing them allows him to brown bag his own seed without worrying about patent infringement, all while securing a market premium.

“I’ve been doing this for over 10 years now,” he says. “Mathematically, I figure I’m well over a million dollars ahead in net profit, simply because of my willingness to think differently.”

That thinking applies to earthworms, too. To Vince, every earthworm burrow is a tiny cost-saving device. Every casting is a granule of fertilizer he doesn’t have to buy or risk losing to runoff. Every year he skips deep tillage is a year he avoids burning diesel and breaking shear bolts.

“Doing nothing, in all actuality, is doing something,” he told the audience. By “nothing,” he doesn’t mean neglect; he means resisting the urge to disturb the natural infrastructure the worms are building for him.

More Than A Soil Test Number

Vince doesn’t romanticize his soils. He’s pragmatic, often blunt, about what’s at stake when farmers ignore the biology just beneath the surface.

“We abuse our land because we regard it as a commodity,” he says, quoting conservationist Aldo Leopold. Then he adds his own twist. “‘Dirt’ is a four-letter word I wish everybody in agriculture would remove from their vocabulary… It’s soil. It’s a collection of living, breathing organisms, and we need to treat it with respect.”

On his farm, that respect looks like cover crops to keep the soil armored, no-till to protect structure and planting green to keep living roots feeding the underground food web as long as possible. Earthworms are both beneficiaries and drivers of that system.

“My main focus is preparing our transfer of our farm to the next generation, regardless if they’re our kids, or they’re somebody else’s kids,” Vince says. “I want [the farm] to be as productive as possible, so they can be a success.”

As long as he keeps the soils covered and the roots living, he knows his million-man workforce underground will be clocking in for their shift every single day, helping the farm thrive.

Listen to Vince’s keynote presentation during the 2026 Soil Health Conference here .

Why One California Farmer is Betting Big on Algae for Fertility

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:33:48 GMT

Rows of citrus trees stretch across the landscape under the California sun, their canopies forming neat green corridors between irrigation lines and tractor paths. Some trees are newly trimmed, others older and thicker from years of growth. It’s the kind of orchard scene that has long defined agriculture in this part of the state, where permanent crops dominate the landscape and generations of farmers have worked to coax productivity from difficult soils and an increasingly unpredictable water supply.

For fifth-generation farmer Justin Wylie , these groves are more than just another orchard to manage. They represent an opportunity to rethink how soil works on his farm and whether biology — specifically algae — can play a larger role in the future of California agriculture.

Wylie and his family farm roughly 4,000 acres across California’s Central Valley. Some of that land has been in the family for generations, while other acres are leased. Like many farms in the region, the operation produces permanent crops such as pistachios and citrus, commodities that require long-term planning and careful soil management.

“This is a long-term lease with an investment company partner,” Wylie says. “And we just entered into that lease last year. It’s a 15-year lease with a five-year extension.”

One of the ranches he’s currently working to improve came through a recent leasing agreement that gives the family time to invest in the land and experiment with new approaches. That time horizon matters. With permanent crops like oranges, orchard decisions can affect productivity for decades. The trees must be pruned, fertilized and irrigated carefully year after year, and the soil beneath them has to remain functional through increasingly hot and dry growing seasons.

When Wylie’s team first took over the ranch, some improvements were necessary before any new ideas could be tested.

“We were really lucky on this ranch,” Wylie says. “The previous guys, they did let some of the trees get overgrown, so we did have to come in and push a hedge and top and resize those trees.”

While the orchard needed structural work above ground, Wylie says the bigger opportunity lies beneath the surface. The ranch is now part of a broader effort on the farm to transition a portion of the acres toward organic and regenerative systems.

“For the majority of the ranch, as far as fertility, the soils, the condition of the ranch,” he says, “I think the big thing with this ranch is transitioning from a conventional model to an organic regenerative, which is part of our commitment in the lease. It’s part of the model of the lease here — that we transition the ranch from conventional to certified organic and regenerative.”

The transition is happening gradually. Wylie says roughly 25% of the farm’s acres are currently part of that shift, allowing the family to experiment with new soil-building practices without risking the entire operation.

But the push to explore regenerative systems didn’t begin with markets or policy. It started with a deeply personal experience.

A Personal Connection to Soil Health

Wylie says his interest in soil biology and regenerative farming took shape nearly a decade ago, around 2015 or 2016. At the time, his family was dealing with a serious health challenge involving his young son.

The experience pushed him to start researching nutrition, gut health and the human microbiome — topics that would eventually reshape how he thought about farming.

“[My son] was sick as a kid, and so we were doing everything we could to heal him,” Wylie says. “His gut ended up in the hospital a few times with an autism diagnosis.”

Doctors and therapists offered guidance, but the recommendations didn’t sit well with Wylie.

“And then at the time, the doctors and the therapist told us basically, ‘Practice acceptance,’” he says.

Instead, Wylie started searching for more information about gut health and what researchers were learning about the microbiome. Over time, he began seeing parallels between the human digestive system and the biological activity that happens in healthy soils.

“They started figuring out that autistic kids had very weak gut microbiomes,” Wylie says. “And so when you make that connection as a farmer and you start saying, ‘What are all the things I can do at home to not stress that?’”

That question eventually carried over into his work in the field. The farm’s first experiment with regenerative practices was modest.

“We started on 40 acres of pistachios, playing around with it,” he says. “What can we do here growing in a different system?”

At the same time, the regenerative agriculture movement was gaining momentum online, making it easier for farmers to explore new ideas.

“At the time, there were quite a few regenerative agronomists out there releasing podcasts and YouTube videos,” Wylie says. “So the information was there. It was never on my radar before. But once you join that community and industry, it’s pretty interesting.”

Building on What Came Before

Even as Wylie explores new biological tools, he says the farm’s current practices still build heavily on the work done by previous generations.

His father’s generation invested heavily in agronomy research and orchard management strategies, developing systems that helped the farm stay productive in California’s demanding growing environment. From pruning methods to fertilizer programs, many of those lessons still guide how the farm operates today.

Rather than abandoning those systems, Wylie says his goal is to refine them.

“It’s really a tweak,” he says. “In my mind it’s a slight change in the method, not a complete start over.”

The farm continues to rely on the knowledge accumulated through decades of conventional farming, while gradually introducing new practices aimed at improving soil biology.

“We’re just trying to make tweaks to the system that we’re already operating in on the other ranches to see if we can do this a different way,” Wylie says.

One of the biggest challenges in that transition is managing fertility.

California orchards have historically relied on precise fertilizer programs to keep trees productive. But moving toward organic or regenerative inputs can create a different nutrient dynamic, especially during the early years of transition.

Wylie says growers sometimes underestimate how sensitive orchards can be during that shift.

Managing the Transition Carefully

According to Wylie, one of the most common mistakes farmers make when transitioning to regenerative systems is reducing fertilizer too quickly.

He says orchards that have spent decades under conventional management are accustomed to intensive nutrient programs, and abruptly changing that system can cause yields to fall sharply.

On some ranches where regenerative practices have been in place for several years, Wylie says the difference in soil structure is already noticeable.

“There’s other ranches we’ve been farming regenerative for five years,” he says. “You can stick your hand in the soil and get your fingers down right there on the berms next to the trees — it’s chocolate cake.”

But he warns farmers shouldn’t assume that kind of soil health will appear immediately after switching systems.

“Until that day, do not pull back,” Wylie says.

He says the biggest mistake happens when growers assume they can immediately match their old fertility programs using organic inputs.

“That’s the mistake that growers make,” he says. “They think I’m going organic regenerative, I can match dollar for dollar, I can do the same thing I was doing conventionally.”

Instead, Wylie says the transition often produces what he calls a “J-curve.”

“You’re going to see that J-curve,” he says. “I mean, it’s going to tank.”

To avoid that, his farm relies heavily on testing.

“We pull a lot of sap samples, multiple tissues and soils per year,” Wylie says. “Kind of watching our fertility and making sure these trees are fed.”

He says growers must remember trees grown in conventional systems are used to consistent nutrient availability.

“The soil has been farmed a certain way,” he says. “These trees are used to being fed intensively in that conventional system.”

And organic fertilizers don’t always behave the same way.

“The organic fertilizers just don’t work as well,” Wylie says. “So you have to be careful.”

Introducing Algae Into the System

As Wylie searched for ways to accelerate soil improvement, one newer tool caught his attention: microalgae.

The technology comes from soil health company MyLand, which produces living algae on farms and distributes it through irrigation systems.

“We’re probably in our fourth or fifth season,” Wylie says.

The idea behind the system is relatively simple. Rather than applying microbes directly to the soil, the system produces algae that help stimulate microbial activity already present in the soil ecosystem.

Jeff Tuel says the technology centers around specialized tanks designed to grow algae on the farm itself.

“We call these APVs, algae producing vessels,” Tuel says. “And essentially, the sole purpose is to grow algae here.”

Water from the farm is stored inside the vessels, where conditions are controlled to encourage rapid algae growth.

“So for all intents and purposes, this is kind of like the algae producing container,” Tuel says.

From there, the algae are delivered through irrigation systems already used on the farm.

“And we try to keep that holding tank to a level where if the irrigator is irrigating a 12-hour set, 24, 36,” Tuel says. “Our main objective is for them to never run dry of algae.”

Production is adjusted to match the grower’s irrigation schedule.

“We harvest according to the grower’s irrigation schedule,” he says.

Another important step happens before the system is even installed. MyLand scientists collect algae samples from the farm itself, identifying native strains that are already adapted to the environment.

“The reason native is important is because it’s used to the pH, it’s used to the droughts, the floods, everything Mother Nature’s thrown at it,” Tuel says.

Because those organisms already exist in the local ecosystem, they are more likely to survive once applied to the soil.

“Its odds of surviving and actually making an impact in that ecosystem are far greater,” he says.

Microalgae also sits at the base of the soil’s microbial food web.

“Microalgae is actually the base of the microbial food chain,” Tuel says. “All the bugs and beneficials in the soil are feeding off of it.”

Rather than introducing microbes, the strategy is to stimulate the microbes already present.

“I like to say instead of a bug-and-a-jug approach, we are ringing the dinner bell for the microbes,” Tuel says. “It’s kind of an all-you-can-eat buffet for microbes to get them moving and active.”

Tackling Difficult Soils

For Wylie, improving soil biology could help solve one of the Central Valley’s most persistent challenges: poor soil structure.

Many orchard soils in the region contain very low levels of organic matter, which limits their ability to hold water and maintain structure through the growing season.

“We have about 0.5% soil organic matter,” Wylie says. “Our water holding capacity is very low.”

That lack of organic matter can cause irrigation problems later in the summer.

“A lot of times these soils as we’re irrigating during the season will lock up,” he says.

Early in the season, irrigation water infiltrates the soil fairly easily.

“You start with very good water infiltration in April, May, June,” Wylie says.

But conditions change as the summer progresses.

“By the time you get to July, August, when you really need it, it’s very difficult to push water down in the soil,” he says.

For farmers trying to manage water carefully in California’s dry climate, that creates a major challenge.

“These soils are not very functional for us as farmers,” Wylie says.

Tuel says stimulating microbial activity can gradually improve those conditions.

“When you get those microbes to start moving and firing, you’re going to start to build soil aggregate,” he says.

Better aggregation can help water move through the soil while also improving nutrient availability.

“If it’s a high-salt ground, we can start to leach out some of those salts,” Tuel says.

Algae may also influence soil chemistry.

“Algae is also going to help regulate the pH in the soil so we can start to free up some locked-up nutrients,” he says.

Thinking Long-Term

While installing an on-farm algae system requires investment, Wylie says he sees it as part of a long-term strategy for improving soil performance.

“In a biological system like MyLand, it’s about the same cost as a soil amendment program out here, depending on how much acreage you’re using,” Wylie says.

The difference is the system focuses on building biological activity rather than simply adding nutrients.

“But it’s a long-term solution,” he says. “It’s not going to work overnight.”

Instead, the goal is to strengthen the soil’s microbiome so it can better buffer environmental stresses.

“It’s actually creating a buffer by just supercharging the microbiome that’s in the soil,” Wylie says.

That biological activity may help address several common soil issues in California orchards.

“Everything feeds on it,” he says. “It’s overcoming high salt, high chlorides.”

Even trace mineral challenges may improve over time.

“In some cases in California, we have very high boron in some areas,” Wylie says.

He believes increased biological activity may help mitigate those problems faster than traditional soil-building methods alone.

“Microalgae being put into the system can actually overcome those salts that might take 10 or 15 years of compost and cover crops,” he says. “You can accomplish in a few years by using MyLand.”

The Pressure on California Farmers

The search for new tools is happening at a time when farming in California is becoming increasingly expensive.

Data from USDA shows the state continues to rank as the most expensive place in the country to grow crops, driven by high labor, energy and input costs.

Those economic pressures are compounded by growing regulatory expectations.

Wylie believes California farmers are already facing some of the strictest scrutiny in global agriculture.

“I think the state’s already looking at it very closely,” he says. “I think they’re going to put more pressure on farmers in California.”

Compared with other agricultural regions, he says California producers are operating under unique constraints.

“Other than the European Union, there is no one in the world that’s under as much pressure as a California farmer to change the way we do things,” Wylie says.

Because of that, he believes farmers must take the lead in finding workable solutions.

“We need to figure this out,” he says. “And I want to figure it out before the government gets involved and tries to tell me how to do it.”

Government incentive programs exist, but Wylie believes the real challenge is making soil health practices economically viable.

“They can offer me some incentives,” he says. “We have healthy soils out here. They give you a little compost and cover crop seed.”

Ultimately, though, growers need systems that work on their own.

“We need to figure this out and we need to make it economical and profitable before the state comes in,” Wylie says.

Because once regulations remove certain tools, farmers may have little room to adapt.

“Now you’re forced to figure it out with your back against the wall,” he says. “We don’t want that.”

For Wylie, the answer may lie beneath the soil surface where billions of microbes, fueled by algae, could quietly reshape how California farms grow their crops. And by doing so now, Wylie hopes he’s able to find ways to continue to grow productive crops in California, despite increased regulations.

Inside the Room: What Farmers Heard as USDA Rolled Out Its $700M Regenerative Ag Plan

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 21:55:25 GMT

When USDA quietly selected a small group of farmers to help roll out a new $700 million regenerative agriculture pilot program, most producers never knew the meetings were happening. Missouri farmers Jon and Brittany Hemme did, because they were invited into the room, sitting face-to-face with two cabinet secretaries and hearing firsthand how Washington plans to reshape soil health policy.

“We are very average farmers,” Hemme says. “It was a very humbling experience that we were chosen. My biggest takeaway is that I truly believe they’re trying to do the right things, bringing better health options to people through the way food is produced.”

Reinventing a Small Dairy to Stay Viable

Jon is one of three Hemme brothers continuing a dairy operation their father started 30 years ago. Today, the Hemmes operate the only dairy left in Saline County. Survival hasn’t come easily. As small dairies disappeared, the Hemmes reinvented their business model, adding on-farm processing and direct-to-consumer sales.

“That’s where our direct market part of our business came in, the creamery,” Hemme says. “Being able to go to processing and then direct market that end product has made us a viable operation yet as a small dairy.”

Their Hemme Brothers cheeses are now sold throughout Kansas City and central Missouri, but what also caught the attention of USDA was how they manage their land.

“We started planting cover crops the first time in 2017, got really aggressive by 2018 to where we tried to have all of our acres covered in one way or another,” Hemme says.

That shift began at the request of a landlord nearly a decade ago. Hemme says it pushed him to learn what regenerative agriculture really meant and how it could pencil out.

“We initially started just looking to try to reduce inputs to where we could keep a little more of our income,” he says. “For quite a few years we managed them that way trying to reduce our herbicide and we were successful, but that takes a lot of time and management. Here recently we’ve kind of mainstreamed it to where the main reason for them is erosion control.”

A Text Message From USDA

That work that started nearly a decade ago led to an unexpected invitation from Washington.

“We got a text message on Dec. 8 saying: ‘Would you and Jon want to come to USDA and be a part of Secretary Rollins’ announcement?’” Brittany Hemme says. “Thought it was a joke maybe at first, because it was so random. But we were on a plane the next morning and then with them in D.C. on Dec. 10.”

In the midst of the madness of the holiday season and school activities for their kids, the Hemmes went ahead and said yes, knowing this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A First-of-its-Kind $700 Million Pilot Program

Not knowing exactly what USDA was going to unveil, at the event, USDA and HHS announced what they call a first-of-its-kind, $700-million Regenerative Agriculture Pilot Program, administered through NRCS. The goal is to test a farmer-first model that improves soil health while maintaining long-term farm viability.

“We’re doing things a little bit differently than typical Washington, D.C.,” said U.S Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins during the announcement at USDA. “We have encouraged the states to think differently and creatively as our laboratories of innovation about how to solve the many health issues facing America ... but really today is about the next step in making America healthy again, and that is talking about regenerative agriculture.”

During thee announcement, Rollins said the focus of USDA and HHS for the new pilot program was on protecting soil and is critical for farm productivity and longevity.

“Protecting and improving the health of our soil is critical not only for the future viability of farmland, but to the future success of American farmers,” she said. “We must protect our top soil from unnecessary erosion and boost the microbiome of the soil.”

But it wasn’t just USDA unveiling the new program. Rollins was standing beside Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who called the program a milestone tied to promises outlined in the MAHA Report.

“Among the recommendations of the report was the promise to make it easier for farmers in this country, farmers who are dependent on chemical and fertilizer inputs, to give them an off-ramp,” Kennedy said in December. “An off-ramp where they can transition to a model that emphasizes soil health. And with soil health comes nutrient density.”

An ‘Off Ramp’ for Farmers

When “U.S. Farm Report” recently caught up with the Hemmes to get their reaction, Jon says one of the key takeaways from the announcement is the structure of the pilot program and why that matters.

“It’s a five-year program, a five-year contract,” he says. “You can address multiple things in the same contract that you want to address. The farmer gets to pick his goal. They’ll develop a plan to help them achieve that goal, and then they’re going to quantify it with a soil test up front and one at the end.”

Along with the announcement, the Hemmes then had the chance to take part in a closed-door roundtable discussion with Rollins, Kennedy and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who serves as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under Kennedy.

“They notified us that we would be in a roundtable discussion with Secretary Kennedy, Secretary Rollins and Dr. Oz; that made us pretty nervous,” says Jon, laughing.

Brittany says one word stood out during that discussion.

“He said ‘off-ramp’ several times,” she says. “I really appreciated that, because this is voluntary. There’s nobody forcing anyone to do this program. It’s not all or nothing. You can work with USDA NRCS and come up with a plan that is going to work for you on your farm, in your context.”

With no cameras in the room, Hemme says the conversation felt genuine.

“They wanted some feedback from farmers,” he says. “They allowed us to each go down the line and explain our operations, our motivations behind using regenerative agriculture, and then they followed it up with some really good questions.”

Those questions included market access and how long the transition takes.

“You could see him, the wheels turning,” Hemme says of Kennedy.

What Was (And Wasn’t) Discussed

Before Kennedy joined the cabinet, some farmers worried his focus would be on restricting tools like glyphosate. The Hemmes say that never came up.

“It’s been more voluntary, putting something out there instead of coming in with a stick,” Jon says.

“There was mention of tools in the toolbox, and there was no mention of taking any of those tools away,” Brittany adds.

As Brittany has watched Jon’s regenerative journey on their own farm, she says regenerative agriculture is often misunderstood.

“Some of the negative connotation has come in from an all-or-nothing mindset,” she says. “They demonize certain tools in the toolbox, and that’s unfortunate. True regeneration is what works in your context.”

Lessons From Their Nearly Decade-Long Journey in Regenerative Ag

For Jon, this really isn’t unconventional or something new. He says regenerative ag, to him, all comes back to building resilience in your soil.

“It is conservation, but it’s also trying to build resilience into your soil,” he says. “If you follow the soil health principles, minimize disturbance, keep residue on the surface, a living root in the soil, you will start to build carbon. You’ll hold more water, perform better in dry conditions, and handle weather shifts.”

But in the nearly 10 years of diving into regenerative ag, Jon says that journey didn’t come without mistakes.

“I was very aggressive when I started out, and I kind of set myself back,” Hemme says. “If I were to give any advice, it would be to start slow and safe.”

He points specifically to cover crops. He says by trying to put cover crops on every acre at the start, he learned the hard way that if you let those cover crops get too tall, it can actually negatively impact crop production.

“If you’re too aggressive up front, you almost constipate your soil,” he says. “Eventually that residue has to leave.”

As the Hemmes say, they still want to pinch themselves over a trip that seemed like a dream, it was those direct conversations with President Donald Trump’s cabinet members that made them believe USDA’s support of regenerative ag will be a practical approach and one any farmer can try or do.

What else should you expect when it comes to regenerative ag? That’s exactly what “AgriTalk” Host Chip Flory asked Richard Fordyce, USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, just last week.

Dollars And Dirt: Navigating The Financial Reality Of Conservation Farming

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 20:48:35 GMT

Farmers like Ted Hamer and April Hemmes aren’t opposed to conservation practices or regenerative agriculture—both Iowa row crop growers already use some. What they are opposed to is taking on unmanageable risk in an environment of tight margins, volatile markets and rising input costs without clear, reliable benefits.

During their recent, wide-ranging conversation on AgriTalk, a central theme emerged: if policymakers and companies seek broader adoption of conservation and regenerative practices, they must pair expectations with practical, well-designed incentives.

Here are some of the key points the two farmers made during their discussion with Host Davis Michaelson.

‘Regenerative’ is Just Good Farming
When new programs are announced with big dollar figures and bold language, they often imply that farmers need to be “fixed.” That doesn’t sit well with farmers, many of whom have been stewarding the same land for generations.

As Hemmes, based in Franklin County, Iowa, puts it, many practices highlighted under the umbrella of “regenerative agriculture” are simply standards for good farming.

“What you’re saying is regenerative ag, I just call farming. That’s just what we do. Taking care of our ground and having healthy soils is what we farmers do because it’s our legacy to our family,” says Hemmes, who uses no-till, cover crops and water management practices.

In her and Hamer’s perspective, farmers are not resistant to regenerative practices. Instead, they dislike being told they are “farming wrong” by groups and individuals outside of agriculture who may not fully grasp the on-the-ground economic and agronomic realities.

Tight Margins Make Experimenting A High-Stakes Decision
Hamer, based in Tama County, Iowa, explains that adopting new practices—such as cover crops, reduced tillage, or diversified rotations—often means incurring upfront costs, significant management changes, and a lot of uncertainty.

“It’s terribly risky with the margins we have right now… I’ve got to make a buck… I can’t have it be so risky that I don’t see a return on my investment,” Hamer says.

This is the crux of the matter: even when farmers are supportive and willing to adopt new practices and technologies, the math has to work, and some profit must be realized.

Their collective perspective is clear: without robust ROI data, strong cost-share or incentive payments, and integrated risk-management tools (like multi-year contracts or crop insurance integration), shifting current practices is often unjustifiable.

“The margins are too tight to stick your neck out very far at this time,” Hamer says.

Incentives Must Include Technical Support
National agricultural announcements often tout the dollar amounts available, such as the recently announced $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program . While funding is crucial, Hemmes points to an equally pressing need: technical support in the field to help implement the programs effectively.

“They need more dollars for people in the field…. I’ve been a soil and water commissioner for over 30 years, and we are in desperate need for technicians out here. So, throwing money at this is one thing, but getting the people in place to carry out the programs is another,” she says.

When USDA service centers, Extension offices, and others at the local level are understaffed and technical assistance is stretched thin, good programs can stall at the farm gate. Hemmes outlines the requirements for effective incentives:

Adequate Technical Assistance: To help farmers correctly design and implement complex practices.
Reasonable Timelines: Recognizing that some benefits, like improved soil structure and organic matter, take time to develop and build.
Simple, Predictable Processes: Application and compliance should be straightforward.

Without the necessary technical support and manpower, Hemmes notes that even the best programs often just turn into frustrating paperwork exercises.

Aid Payments Don’t Fix Structural Issues
Short-term “bridge” or aid payments can help keep farms afloat during difficult years, but Hemmes and Hamer say they don’t structurally support the long-term decisions that can improve grower practices and profitability.

The main issue, they contend, is that much of the money from these aid programs never truly stays on the farm.

“This payment (the $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance program) isn’t for us. It’s all going to input costs, fertilizer, equipment. None of that money stays in our hands,” Hamer says.

Hemmes agrees, noting that people outside of agriculture often “don’t see what the problem is” because farmers are seemingly getting “free” money.

“It’s not like we go to Amazon and order a bunch more crap off there because we got some money,” she says. “No. It goes to everything we have to do to put the next crop in the ground.”

Ultimately, she believes, major policy change requires facing difficult truths.

“We’d love free and fair trade, but we know that’s not a possibility,” she contends. “It’s going to hurt to make a change, and I think that’s what politicians don’t like. They want to get reelected, so [their attitude is] ‘let’s just keep doing it this way.’ That’s the tough part of it all, because anything that revolves around changing policy is messy.”

Hear the complete conversation between Hamer, Hemmes and Michaelson on AgriTalk:

ARA & CCAs Express Strong Support for USDA’s Regenerative Agriculture Initiative

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 22:53:14 GMT

The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) and Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs) welcome the recent announcement by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz regarding the new $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program. ARA applauds the Trump Administration’s commitment to voluntary, incentive-based conservation efforts that place farmers first and strengthen America’s food and fiber supply.

“ARA stands ready to collaborate with USDA, NRCS, and all agricultural partners to ensure the Regenerative Pilot Program strengthens producer profitability, enhances natural resources, and supports a resilient food and fiber system for generations to come,” said Hunter Carpenter, ARA’s Senior Director of Public Policy.

Agricultural retailers and the Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs) they employ have long been at the forefront of helping growers adopt practices that improve soil health, protect water quality, and enhance long-term productivity. Many regenerative agriculture principles—such as the 4R nutrient stewardship framework, no-till and strip-till systems, cover crops, variable-rate application, and grazing—are already implemented across the country. For decades, growers have voluntarily invested in these practices because they improve soil function, increase efficiency, and support more resilient farm operations. Farmers are the original conservationists, and their commitment to leaving the land better than they found it remains steadfast.

ARA strongly supports USDA’s voluntary and incentive-driven approach to regenerative agriculture. These practices must make agronomic and economic sense for individual operations, and we encourage USDA to work closely with agricultural retailers—the trusted advisers who serve farmers every day—to help determine where and how regenerative approaches can be implemented profitably. At the same time, growers who choose not to adopt certain practices, for whatever reason, should not be penalized. Successful conservation requires flexibility and respect for the diversity of production systems across American agriculture.

The technical expertise offered by ag retailers and their CCAs is essential for helping producers adopt regenerative practices in ways that fit their farms and improve their bottom lines. ARA looks forward to working in concert with NRCS staff—not in lieu of them—to expand technical assistance and ensure that growers receive the full benefit of both public and private-sector expertise.

The Increased TSP Access Act represents an important opportunity to expand the number of CCAs who can be certified as Technical Service Providers, bolstering NRCS capacity and accelerating on-farm adoption of regenerative systems. ARA greatly appreciates Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Representative Jim Baird (R-IN), and others for introducing this bipartisan, bicameral legislation to help address TSP shortages.

USDA Launches New $700 Million Regenerative Ag Pilot Program

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 22:33:18 GMT

USDA wants farmers to focus on soil health and producing more nutritious food. To that end, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins, along with Robert “F” Kennedy Jr., Health Secretary, and Doctor Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, announced a $700 million pilot program aimed at supporting regenerative farming. USDA says the Regenerative Pilot Program’s goal is to help American farmers adopt practices focused on improving soil health, water quality and boost long-term productivity.

“We are committed to restoring America’s natural strength by empowering producers with simple outcome-based tools,” Rollins says. “Producers at every stage, from beginners just starting with cover crops to advanced operators with years of conservation experience, many of those are represented by our farmers today, will find a pathway through this pilot.”

Rollins says the program will be funded through existing programs at USDA and allow farmers to pursue “whole-farm planning” instead of a piecemeal approach. The pilot will be administered through the agency’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

“Each producer’s results will be measured and credited back to the farmer through an outcomes report, recognizing and rewarding improvements they achieve on their own land,” Rollins says. “This initiative puts American farmers first as part of the solution to make America healthy again.”

Building Off MAHA

The announcement follows the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy released in September.

Kennedy said the initiative promises farmers an “off-ramp” to transition away from chemical fertilizer inputs, “to a model that emphasizes soil health, and with soil health comes nutrient density through voluntary action.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is also investing in research on the connection between regenerative agriculture and public health, as well as developing public health messaging explaining this connection.

“We cannot truly be a wealthy nation if we are not also a healthy nation. Access to wholesome, nutritious and affordable foods is a key tenet of the Make America Healthy Again agenda, which President Trump has directed this administration to execute across all government agencies,” Oz says. “I commend Secretary Rollins and Secretary Kennedy for today’s efforts to strengthen our nation’s food supply.”

“This is another initiative driven by President Trump’s mission to Make America Healthy Again,” Rollins adds. “Alongside Secretary Kennedy, we have made great strides to ensure the safe, nutritious, and affordable food our great farmers produce make it to dinner tables across this great country.”

How Does it Work?

USDA released details about the program in a release. It says the program will be administered by NRCS, allowing producers to bundle multiple regenerative practices into a single application, saying it will both streamline the process and allow for operator flexibility.

In FY2026, USDA is dedicating $400 million through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and $300 million through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to fund the first year of regenerative agriculture projects.

USDA says farmers and ranchers interested in regenerative agriculture are encouraged to apply through their local NRCS Service Center by their state’s ranking dates for consideration in FY2026 funding. Applications for both EQIP and CSP can now be submitted under the new single regenerative application process.

Regenerative Reaction

Farm groups and outside influencers are weighing in on the new pilot program announcement. Farm Bureau and President Zippy Duvall welcomed the approach while pointing out its still light on details.

“We value USDA’s acknowledgement that farmers have long practiced regenerative agriculture on their farms, both through federal conservation programs and on their own,” Duvall says. “Building on these efforts by leveraging existing voluntary and incentive-based programs to advance additional regenerative goals sounds like smart government to me, especially when farmers remain in the driver’s seat.”

Cashing in on Conservation: How Local Retailers Can Connect Agronomy With Market Opportunity

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 14:17:04 GMT

Recent research from Trust In Food places ag retailers as a trusted source of conservation information for the average farmer because a majority of them (55%) have farm experience themselves.

It’s something Nutrien Ag Solutions sees play out in their business each day. With more than 1,900 retail locations globally, Nutrien Ag Solutions is a leading provider of both inputs and advice for farmers who are battling constant challenges, both from agronomic and external pressures.

“The trust in the relationships our crop consultants have with growers is key to implementing the best agronomic practices over time,” says Sally Flis, director, Sustainable Ag Programs, Nutrien Ag Solutions. “As the trusted adviser, they are working with our growers 365 days a year to find solutions, evaluate problems and look for new opportunities to drive their businesses.”

Nutrien Ag Solutions has been capitalizing on that trust by rolling out conservation programs that can net farmers added income in exchange for continued conservation agronomy practices and data-capture, specifically around nitrogen management. The retail leader is hoping the programs will leverage agronomic practices and data into bottom line incentives for farmers.

“Good agronomy is the base of all sustainability programs, making sure we have the best tools, practices and products selected at a field level to drive production efficiency and return to the grower is what drives the metrics we look at for sustainability programs,” Flis says. “Our programs are focused on nitrogen management, an agronomic fundamental that growers and our crop consultants are working on every season to optimize return.”

Conservation programs through Nutrien Ag Solutions can help farmers secure added income in exchange for conservation agronomy practices and data-capture.

(Nutrien Ag Solutions)

According to Flis, the programs are paying off at the farm gate in a variety of ways, including:

Improved data collection
Access to sustainable ag reports with compiled field-level and operational data
Education about new tools, technologies and products to drive efficiency on the acre

Program enrollees begin the enrollment process with a registration into Nutrien Ag Solutions’ proprietary digital platform, Agrible . The company says the software uses predictive agronomic forecasts and sustainability metrics generated from in-field data. Through a variety of value chain connections, such as Ardent Mills and Bunge, Flis says the company is using that data to shape downstream sustainability goals within the industry.

But, Nutrien Ag Solutions is backing up this technology by doing what they do best, Flis says.

“We have the Sustainable Ag Field team, our crop consultants on the ground and Waypoint Analytical as resources to help growers select practices, collect data and analyze progress,” she says. “The level of support we provide means that the majority of growers that enroll in our programs make it to completion and receive payments.”

Payments vary and are based on outcomes, specifically a reduction in applied nitrogen by a minimum of 5%. The program has a minimum payment of $2 per acre but can rise as much as $4.89 per acre for long-term, no-till corn and $4.47 per acre for conventional tillage corn. Cotton producers, on average, receive $3.84 per acre for long-term, no-till practices. The program is applicable for winter wheat, barley and sorghum as well.

Nutrien Ag Solutions provides support for growers enrolled in conservation programs to help ensure success in the partnership.

(Nutrien Ag Solutions)

For Nutrien Ag Solutions, conservation programs sprang from enhanced market opportunities available through the carbon space and a desire to ensure those opportunities were optimized for the farm gate. Flis says Nutrien Ag Solutions, with their trusted grower relationship, was the natural fit to make that connection stronger, and they are consistently looking for more programs that align with that mission.

“The programs were designed after a few years of experimenting in the carbon space and getting feedback from growers and our crop consultants,” Flis says. “We blended those findings into the Sustainable Nitrogen Outcomes Program in the U.S. and Canada — shorter term agreements, carbon and other sustainable ag metrics calculated to meet grower and CPG needs, provide tools and products available to allow for continuous improvement, and pay growers for the outcomes from changes.”

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is a public/private collaborative that meets growers across the country where they are on their conservation journey and empowers their next step with technical assistance from USDA-NRCS and innovation solutions and resources from agriculture’s leading providers. Learn more at americasconservationagmovement.com .

America’s Conservation Ag Movement Adds Nutrien Ag Solutions to Coalition Strengthening American Agriculture

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 13:40:59 GMT

This article is published as part of America’s Conservation Ag Movement , which supports farmers and ranchers in building profitable, resilient futures for their operations.

Since its beginning in 2018, America’s Conservation Ag Movement (ACAM) has been dedicated to preserving the American farm family’s access to the tools, resources and education needed to grow the products that feed, clothe and power the world.

Today, ACAM welcomes Nutrien Ag Solutions , the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services through a nationwide network of trusted retail locations, as the newest contributor in that coalition.

ACAM is a public-private partnership that brings together leading technical assistance and innovation through a farmer-led experience aimed at bridging the gap between the industry and farm-gate. Nutrien Ag Solutions joins other supporters in the coalition including Ducks Unlimited, American Farmland Trust, Syngenta, National Association of Conservation Districts, and Valent U.S.A.

“Nutrien is a strong on-the-ground resource to farmers nationwide,” says Andrew Lyon, America’s Conservation Ag Movement. “Their comprehensive agronomic expertise and commitment to sustainability through their industry-leading conservation programs will be a vital asset as we work to secure the future of America’s working farmlands.”

Nutrien Ag Solutions works side by side with farmers through its global retail network of local crop consultants, delivering agronomic expertise, digital tools and programs that help strengthen on-farm operations. By joining America’s Conservation Ag Movement, Nutrien Ag Solutions is expanding its efforts to share practical know-how and farmer-tested practices with a broader community. The company is dedicated to supporting strong yields today while safeguarding the land for future generations.

“We are proud to join ACAM and bring our deep retail network and agronomic expertise to this important coalition,” said Dr. Sally Flis, Senior Director of Agronomy, Environmental Health and Safety, Nutrien Ag Solutions. “Our goal is to help farmers adopt practices that improve soil health, protect water quality and strengthen long-term productivity, while demonstrating the positive role agriculture plays in addressing food security challenges. Joining ACAM strengthens our shared mission of advancing solutions that work for both growers and the environment.”

Each year, ACAM connects farmers and ranchers through on-the-ground farmer-led education and online community building bolstered by Farm Journal, Inc., the leader in outreach, business information and media for the agriculture market.

To learn more about America’s Conservation Ag Movement™ and its partners, visit www.americasconservationagmovement.com .

Farm Groups Offer Additional Thoughts On MAHA Strategy Report

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 02:52:01 GMT

As the dust settles from the rollout of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) strategy report – the action plan for the initial report which was released in May – farmers, farm groups and industry continue to assess what this latest document means to agriculture.

There was “a lot more transparency” in the process of developing the strategy report, released Tuesday, according to Brian Glenn, director of government affairs at American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

“It led to a more positive outcome in this report,” Glenn told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory.

That was not the case in May, when the initial report – which did not include farmers’ input – called out atrazine, chlorpyriphos and glyphosate as pesticides that are “exposure pathways” for potential chronic disease issues in U.S. children.

“Our biggest plea coming back into this August report was, ‘Please listen to the farmers. Ask us for our input.’ And they did ask us,” says Amy France, who farms with her family in western Kansas, near Scott City, and chairs the National Sorghum Producers.

“We had great conversations, and a big chunk of those conversations were directed to education,” France adds.

France addresses the MAHA report and her outlook for the sorghum industry at the AgriTalk link below:

Specifics On Soil Health And Precision Agriculture
What the Commission delivered on Tuesday was a 20-page report outlining 128 recommendations – a roadmap it plans to enact via a series of research projects and multiple federal agencies. Among those recommendations, pages 18-19 of the latest report specifically address “Soil Health and Stewardship of the Land” and “Precision Agriculture.”

The report says “USDA and EPA will promote and incentivize farming solutions in partnership with the private sector that focus on soil health and stewardship of the land,” and provides six specific actions. Read them and the entire report here .

Glenn told Flory that the NFBF had a mostly positive reaction to the report, which included several positive policy recommendations that support U.S. farmers and ranchers.

“There were recommendations to provide a foundation for a lifetime of smart choices, which include focus on American-grown fresh fruits, vegetables and meat. They included a recommendation on reintroducing whole milk into school meal programs. They took an opportunity to highlight efforts to prioritize and support voluntary conservation programs under USDA-NRCS and specifically mentioned the Environmental Quality Incentives Program,” Glenn says. “They even included a recommendation on highlighting EPA’s already robust pesticide regulatory process … with ways to optimize that robust process to accelerate innovation.”

While Glenn says the Commission acknowledged the safety and health of the American food supply, he stressed the importance of the Commission having continued discussions with farmers and farm groups.

“More engagement is needed [with agriculture] as there are a lot of recommendations in this report, asking for different federal agencies to look at different things, and I certainly don’t think this will be our only bite at the apple,” Glenn says.

“I think there will be more opportunities for us to engage, and that is really the message that needs to ring loud and clear for farmers and ranchers. I think us sharing our voice and story has led to a more positive outcome in this report, and I think we need to continue to do that,” he adds.

Glenn offers more perspective from the NFBF on the new MAHA strategy plan here:

New Tool Helps Farmers, Ranchers Identify Conservation Incentive Programs

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:49:38 GMT

Conservation incentive programs that fit your farm and specific agronomic practices and/or livestock are not always easy to identify and sign up for online.

But those hurdles could soon be problems in the past, thanks to a new online platform, the Conservation Connector, which was just launched this week by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC)

The new tool allows farmers, ranchers, and farm advisers to easily evaluate conservation incentive programs and connect with technical support at one online site, according to Ryan Heiniger, CTIC executive director.

As a fourth-generation farmer, Heiniger says he knows firsthand how challenging it can be to identify programs, companies and the individuals in charge of them who can provide more details in a phone call or an email.

“You might visit four or five government offices and a dozen websites, only to collect bits and pieces of information on those programs that would be a good fit for you. Our goal with the Conservation Connector is to bring all of that under one roof, so to speak, to help farmers, ranchers and advisers more easily find what is available in their area and fits with their needs,” Heiniger says.

The platform currently has around 500 programs and service providers in the Midwest that are participating, Heiniger says. He notes the tool is continually updated with the latest program offerings from trusted agencies, organizations and conservation partners. In addition, Connector.ag has no associated costs for farmers, ranchers and advisers to use.

“I want to underscore that it’s free for farmers; none of the information is behind any kind of paywall,” he says. “It’s also free for people who want to create a listing.”

The Conservation Connector is easy to navigate – it’s searchable by geography, commodity, incentive type, and/or management practice.

“We’ve made it easy for people who are on a specific mission to filter through,” Heiniger says. “You might be in New York looking for help with pasture renovation, and you don’t want or need to see what programs are available in Iowa. So, you can default right to New York. Or, you can default to a specific crop. The filters can help you ratchet down to the specific information you want to dive deeper into.”

Heiniger says the idea for Conservation Connector originated from Houston Engineering, the Nature Conservancy, and Open Team, and the CTIC invested the past 18 months in developing it.

CTIC invites farmers, ranchers, technical service providers, and conservation partners across the country to explore the platform at Connector.ag . You can provide feedback about your experience to help inform future iterations of the platform here .

Fusing The Best of Regenerative Ag and Smart Farming: Senator Marshall’s Take on MAHA

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 14:22:11 GMT

Having grown up as a Kansas fifth generation farm kid and spending many years as a physician, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, R-Kan., views the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda through a different lens than many of his Beltway colleagues.

“I delivered a baby every day for some 25 years in my hometown,” Marshall says. “And certainly, diet and nutrition are so, so, so important. When I came to Congress, this was one of the things I wanted to address. And I want to start by saying there’s no MAHA without American agriculture leadership.”

RELATED: MAHA Report’s Surprising Stance on Glyphosate, Atrazine Explained

While much of the recent reporting around MAHA focuses on unpacking the movement’s outwardly anti-pesticide bent , Marshall has fashioned his own, more conventional ag-friendly version covering four distinct pillars:

Increase American agricultural efficiency
Grow healthier, nutrient rich food
Unlock affordable health care access for millions of Americans
Focus on health care resources to combat the mental health epidemic

“I believe soil health leads to healthy food, which leads to healthy people,” Marshall says. “I hear the MAHA group and I hear the ag folks. I have a foot in each of those worlds, and I am trying to bring them together. Because guess what? American agriculture wants healthy children just as much as anybody.”

RELATED: Decode MAHA’s Potential Effect on the Agriculture Sector

Marshall believes MAHA can achieve that goal by embracing some – but not all – of the regenerative ag principles Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., espoused on the campaign trail. American farmers are already reducing chemical use with tools like selective spraying systems and mechanical weeding implements, but the senator knows there’s still meat on that bone. He views it less as a return to “40 acres and a mule” and more as a combination of pieces and parts from the regenerative ag playbook with precision ag technology generously sprinkled into the mix.

“Regenerative ag should be centered around precision ag and growing more with less,” he says. “We’re already using 60% less fertilizers and less pesticides. I think we must continue to decrease the amount of fertilizers and pesticides, so there’s less residue on that loaf of bread in the grocery store.”

Marshall is currently rallying Congressional support for the bipartisan Plant Biostimulant Act. This yet-to-be-ratified farm policy would streamline the FDA approval process under FIFRA for new, novel and natural modes of action. But the senator emphasizes the program must remain voluntary.

“About 5% of the farm bill is conservation practices,” he says. “So, I would streamline the FDA process and allow these biostimulants to be one of the options. It’s not a subsidy, though. I just want to make the regulatory process easier. And that’s going to make it more affordable, as well.”

More MAHA: 250-Plus Ag Groups Ask Trump Administration To ‘Correct’ MAHA Commission’s ‘Activities’

Another goal is for the American producer to embrace best-in-class crop production and sustainability practices. The Kansas senator points to one example from his home state as the creative and nimble thinking he wants to see American farmers embrace.

“We have a group of sorghum growers that have their own mill,” Marshall says. “And they’re selling that flour directly to the infant formula (companies) as well as to European markets. The EU has higher standards, so to speak, than America does, and so be it. I don’t know if they’re necessary, but I don’t make the rules. These Kansas farmers have cracked the code and they’re getting a premium for their sorghum right now, and all it takes is a little extra effort.”

Your Next Read: Can Pulse Crops Double Acreage by 2030? The Push to Include More Pulses in the MAHA Movement

Aligning Inputs with People, Planet and Productivity

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 13:51:44 GMT

This article is published as part of America’s Conservation Ag Movement , which supports farmers and ranchers in building profitable, resilient futures for their operations.

As the challenges facing agriculture grow more complex – from climate variability to shifting market dynamics – growers are increasingly looking for crop inputs that help produce abundant, healthy crops while safeguarding the land they steward.

Valent U.S.A. recently unveiled a new tool to help growers ensure that the inputs they are using to protect their crops act like silver bullets rather than shotguns. Through the Sustainable Solutions Portfolio, Valent has centered 47 broad-spectrum products that make up convention biorational and botanical products that cover both conventional and organic agriculture.

Validated by a third-party, the Sustainable Solutions Criteria aligns the company’s products with Sustainable Development Goals laid out by the United Nations in 2000, specifically around impacts to people, planet and productivity.

“Our parent company, Sumitomo Chemical, was one of the first companies globally to partner with the UN to support the SDGs and we have embraced five of those for our businesses in the U.S.,” says Matt Plitt, President & CEO.

Doubling Down on Sustainability

In January, Tiffany Dean joined Valent as vice-president of sustainable solutions, a move aimed at further threading this focus throughout the business.

While Dean has a large focus for the organization, for her, it all begins on the farm, where she says the organization is hyper-focused.

“Growers want to do right by their farms, by their soil and by their ecosystem,” she says. “They also want to make sure they’re maximizing profitability and productivity at the end of the day.”

Listening to growers and the organization’s channel partners in the retail space is how the company keeps that focus.

Tiffany Dean leads Valent U.S.A.'s Sustainable Solutions Team, which focuses on grower support in driving their Sustainable Solutions portfolio innovation and implementation at the farm-gate.

(Provided by Valent U.S.A.)

“We are hyper-engaged with growers because we know that they have a lot of challenges and opportunities to address,” Dean says. “We want to make sure that the solutions that we have today and the solutions that we have tomorrow are going to bring them value, so they can maximize inputs and ensure that that soil is going to be productive today and tomorrow.”

Innovation Through Sustainability

Over the next decade, Dean expects that the company will roll 20 new products into the market, the result of an arduous decades-long process to develop and gain registration for new agriculture inputs.

She says that the company’s “North Star” in that process is also the same one they use for their entire business – sustainability.

“We want to bring products into the market that are going to be the most beneficial to the grower and to the environment,” she says, adding that the majority of those new products are going be around the company’s plant growth regulator platform, but will also include seed treatments and herbicides.

“We have much innovation, investment and excitement around the Sustainable Solutions Portfolio,” she says. “But we need to make sure that we are using the grower as the voice of how we drive our business moving forward.”

Betting On Sustainable Productivity

Valent’s Sustainable Solutions Criteria ends with productivity and Dean says it is not lost on her how critical it is right now for America’s working lands to be working both at peak capacity and peak efficiency. The team is working to ensure that products in the Portfolio are optimized as well.

“Input costs are under an extreme amount of pressure right now, and so we want to make sure that growers are maximizing those input costs and gaining the benefit of everything that they are purchasing,” she says. “Through our biorational, our biological and our conventional portfolio we’re able to bring products that allows the grower to maximize their productivity while also not sacrificing the environmental aspects as well.”

In the short term, Dean says she is focused on listening so that she can build strategy for innovation that takes all of these factors into account for conservation at the farm-gate.

“We need to continue engaging with our customers and our partners to understand what is needed from growers, what’s needed from the value chain, and what’s needed at the end of the day to make sure that producers are continuing to maximize their productivity and profitability and are able to use our products to benefit them in many ways possible,” she says.

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is a public/private collaborative that meets growers across the country where they are on their conservation journey and empowers their next step with technical assistance from USDA-NRCS and innovation solutions and resources from agriculture’s leading providers. Learn more at americasconservationagmovement.com .

Natural Resources Conservation Service Lays Out ‘Farmer First’ Vision

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:22:33 GMT

“I started as a customer of NRCS first,” says Aubrey Bettencourt, chief of the USDA agency that helps farmers and ranchers manage natural resources on private lands. As a third-generation California farmer, Bettencourt is leading the effort to make the Natural Resources Conservation Service work more efficiently and effectively for farmers.

Outlining four efforts, Bettencourt and NRCS Associate Chief Louis Aspey laid out their “farmer first” approach at the 2025 Trust in Food Symposium in Washington, D.C.:

Upgrade technology.
Revive hands-on service through field offices.
Improve data management and use.
Simplify programs.

Tech Overhaul to Reduce Burdens

Consolidating five internal systems into a single mobile-based platform will allow NRCS staff and farmers to access farm data while sitting on the pickup tailgate in real time, say agency officials. The initiative, referred to as “One Farmer, One File,” is intended to reduce duplicative paperwork and streamline conservation plan development.

According to Aspey, the new system will allow farmers to enter information only once, with NRCS and partner agencies, such as Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency, handling verification behind the scenes. He also notes the agency is experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) to help generate and certify conservation plans with basic farm data, which will get projects off the ground faster. [1] [2] Farmers will play a key role in providing a “reality check” in ensuring AI models accurately reflect real-world conditions, Aspey adds.

Improving rural broadband access [3] [4] [5] is essential to making the new system work, stress Bettencourt and Apsey. Without faster internet connections, agency service centers and farmers alike will continue to face what they call the “spinning wheel of death.”

Renewed Focus on Field-Based Service

NRCS was founded to provide one-on-one support and technical assistance, Bettencourt says, and changes are in the works to return to the agency’s field-based origins. While headquarter operations are being downsized, she says local service centers will remain open. The goal is to equip local offices with the tools and talent needed to meet farmers where they are.

The agency is reviewing staffing needs across its network of service centers, Aspey says, to identify and address regional gaps. Future hires will be fluent in the technologies used in modern production agriculture, such as drones, precision irrigation and autonomous equipment, Bettencourt adds.

Data Use and Farmer Trust

Knowing many farmers are wary of how their conservation data is used, Aspey says part of the agency’s modernization effort is to ensure data is not only protected but used in ways that benefit the farmer — such as helping them qualify for market premiums or regulatory recognition of conservation practices.

He also emphasizes the importance of streamlining recordkeeping across USDA, saying farmers should no longer have to submit the same information across multiple programs.

Partnerships and Program Tweaks

Bettencourt says NRCS wants to collaborate more with food companies, cooperatives and local conservation groups through existing vehicles such as the Conservation Partnership Program and Regional Conservation Partnership Program. She describes NRCS’s role in these efforts as the federal “gold standard” for conservation practice validation.

Within NRCS, agency officials are eyeing reforms to make conservation programs more accessible and responsive. For example, Aspey emphasizes programs must be designed to scale not just for large operations, but small family farms that typically face higher per unit costs. To better adapt to dynamic market conditions, Aspey says his team is considering tools such as payment schedules tied to inflation.

He points to the length and complexity of the easement process as a key barrier, saying simplification is a top priority. Acknowledging farmers have been frustrated with delays in the Conservation Stewardship Program, Aspey stresses farmers should be paid promptly after completing their work.

When it comes to program timing, NRCS deadlines often fall during the busy planting season, for example. NRCS officials say they aim to better align program timelines to farmers’ off-season schedules when possible.

Another target of farmer scrutiny is NRCS program language. Terms such as “eligible” and “accepted” might be familiar to agency staff, Aspey notes, but they can confuse or deter farmers who aren’t used to federal program jargon. NRCS officials say they aim to reduce this jargon to make programs more accessible. According to Bettencourt, they are also working to improve understanding of NRCS programs with other federal agencies, such as EPA, and food company partners. Her goal is “to be the farmer in the room,” so farmers get credit for engaging in voluntary conservation.

What Farmers Might Expect

If plans move forward, officials hope farmers will see faster service, reduced paperwork and improved access to mobile tools that allow them to work with NRCS on their own schedules. Bettencourt emphasizes changes are already underway but should be implemented in 2026.

“This is not a pipe dream,” she says. “We’re already demoing the system.”

According to Aspey, farmers will play a central role in shaping how that change unfolds — through feedback, collaboration and by challenging the agency to better reflect the realities of farming in 2025.

“You all are what makes the engine of the American economy go,” he says.

MAHA Report's Surprising Stance on Glyphosate, Atrazine Explained

Fri, 23 May 2025 19:21:33 GMT

Anxiety levels among some members of the agricultural community were off the proverbial charts going into the unveiling of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s report on Thursday.

The concerns were well-founded, based on the body of work done by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as an environmental lawyer, over the past decade. Kennedy, now U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, is long-known for opposing herbicides and other crop protection products, having helped win a 2018 lawsuit filed against Monsanto, the original producer of Roundup (glyphosate).

Yet, when the details of the 68-page NAHA Report became public, the hammer many members of the agricultural community expected would slam down on herbicides was more akin to a hard smack from a fly swatter.

AgriTalk Host Chip Flory credits the work of USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins – who has championed agriculture’s efforts to produce feed, fuel and fiber for American consumers and the global economy – as a key reason the Report was subdued on the topic of pesticides, namely glyphosate and atrazine. Flory talked with Rollins last week, well before the Report was released.

“I think the most important thing I can say here is that the comments about pesticides, based on what Secretary Rollins told me, I believe they were going to be much scarier for the farm community than what they ended up being,” Flory told U.S. Farm Report Host, Tyne Morgan.

“I think this MAHA Report and the lack of an attack on glyphosate and atrazine, I think this is all the evidence we need to prove that she very much has a say in what’s happening with this administration,” Flory adds.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall agrees with Flory, but added he was “deeply troubled” by what he read in the Report.

“We suspect USDA had a prominent role in the report’s recognition that farmers are the critical first step in the food system, but as a whole, the report falls short,” Duvall says in a prepared statement.

In addition to Rollins, there were call outs by farmers and  more than 300 agriculture organizations advocating for the preservation of science-based systems and credible data in their evaluations of products and practices essential to food and agriculture, leading up to the Report’s release.

Ag Weighs In On Report’s Muted Criticism Of EPA, USDA
The muted attack by the Report on crop protection products was not lost on ag industry groups, including the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), which noted in a prepared release that the expected finger pointing at atrazine, glyphosate and chloripyrifos was “hidden in the Report.”

Specifically, the Report calls out the three products on page 35 of the Making Our Children Healthy Again Report , as part of its list of “exposure pathways” that can contribute to chronic disease in children.

The Report also soft-pedals its criticism of the U.S. regulatory system, noting: “…Regulatory and medical systems around the world largely evaluate chemicals or chemical classes individually and may be neglecting potential synergistic effects and cumulative burdens, thereby missing opportunities to translate cumulative risk assessment into the clinical environment in meaningful ways. The cumulative effect of multiple chemical exposures and impact on children over time is not fully understood.”

Ag groups including ARA, CropLife America and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) released statements in support of the U.S. regulatory system.

“[The MAHA Report does] not reflect the wealth of evidence developed over decades by federal agencies such as the EPA and USDA on the safety of crop inputs and food production methods. These institutions have consistently reaffirmed the safety and efficacy of the systems that help feed our country and the world,” says the NCFC.

Farmers And Ag Groups Need To Be At The Table
The National Farmers Union (NFU) praised the MAHA Report for its focus on the health and well-being of children, while also shedding light on the lack of opportunity farmers and other members of the agricultural community had to participate in the Report’s development.

“We urge the administration to include the voices of family farmers and ranchers … and to ensure that solutions are rooted in sound science, fairness and transparency,” NFU says in a prepared statement.

Jon Doggett says agricultural groups tried to get a seat at the table to provide input for the Report but were largely shut out of discussions.

“That really concerned a lot of people, and my phone started blowing up earlier this week. The ag groups were trying to get in to talk to (Secretary Kennedy), trying to have a conversation about what this is, and that didn’t happen,” says Doggett, former CEO of the National Corn Growers Association and now principal for Camas Creek Consulting.

What farmers want, with regard to the discussions around agricultural products, is decisions that are based on peer-reviewed, established science that’s well-documented, Doggett adds.

“They want a regulatory process that is transparent and allows agriculture to have an input, whether it’s on pesticides, seed oils, ethanol or whatever,” he says. “[There] needs to be good science used, and so far we haven’t seen the Department of Health and Human Services come through very well with good science.”

There is still time for agriculture to have a voice in the process. The Executive Order creating the MAHA Commission directs a second report, providing policy recommendations, be issued within 80 days.

Individuals who want to share their perspectives with the Trump Administration and Congress can submit a letter at https://www.farmervoicesmatter.org .

Your next read: Farmers and Farm Groups Push Back on MAHA Report

Next Gen Spotlight: Indiana Farmer Overcomes Challenges to Carry On Family Legacy

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 13:06:21 GMT

In 2011, when Aaron Krueger was a high school freshman, his grandfather was beginning to transition the family farm to the next generation. Krueger’s father, the next in line, passed away and his grandfather, who was having health challenges of his own, decided to sell his equipment and transition out of farming. Six years later, Krueger returned home with a degree from Purdue University and a plan to become the family farm’s fourth generation. Despite the obstacles in his path, he now works alongside his 86-year-old grandfather, growing yellow corn, soybeans and cereal rye.

Q: What have been your biggest challenges in returning back to the farm?

A: One of the biggest challenges I faced was putting together a fleet of equipment. Luckily, Grandpa still had the land base. He still had all the farm infrastructure, but he sold all the equipment. Acquiring reliable, technologically advanced — to the point I wanted — equipment at that time was pretty tough. There were several retiring farmers in the area who were happy to see their equipment go to a good place. They gave me a lot of good deals. We’ve upgraded to a point now where the equipment we have is reliable, and it’s the technology I want to use on our farm.

Q: What has helped you implement new initiatives?

A: I’ve been a main driver on our farm with the implementation of cover cropping. I’ve been able to access cost-share programs through NRCS, and I’ve worked with America’s Conservation Ag Movement for four years. We’ve been able to host a lot of meetings and field days in our area and build a network of producers where we can all gather up and get on the same page to share ideas and learn from one another.

Q: Have you received pushback in changing the way things have always been done?

A: The younger generation is more adept to adopting newer practices, and it did help me from a capital standpoint. We still don’t own any four-wheel drive or high-horsepower tractors. We only have a beat-up old field cultivator that we pull out every couple of years to level tile runs. My grandpa now drinks the Kool-Aid very heavily, but he’s kind of taken the stance of letting me do what I want to, and then he tells me later, ‘Well, I really didn’t think that was going to work out.’ But he runs the combine, so he sees that it works. I try to be transparent with him, and now he advocates the cover cropping for me.

Q: What’s your vision moving forward?

A: My long-term goal is more diversity. Right now, we’re just corn and soybeans, and last year we started growing rye. I see an opportunity in my area, and with the increase of cover cropping, to also grow other small grains to sell as cover crop seed. We recently got a seed cleaner, too. I’d like to integrate livestock as well. My father-in-law has Red Angus, so my wife grew up with them, and it would make her very happy for me to bring livestock to our farm.

Your Next Read: Texas Rancher Kimberly Ratcliff Trades the Big Apple for Community Beef Business

Industry News: First North American Green Ammonia Plant Launches, Nominations Open For 4R Advocates

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 01:28:51 GMT

Landus and TalusAg Deliver First Local Green Ammonia Production in North America
Landus and TalusAg have commenced commercial green ammonia production with the first and only modular systems in North America - a step toward cost-competitive, reliable and sustainable fertilizer supply for American farmers.

“Any import tariffs are likely to disrupt fertilizer supply chains and could have a detrimental impact on American farmers,” said Hiro Iwanaga, founder and CEO of TalusAg. “Our partnership with Landus is critical to building supply chain reliability and resilience within the United States.”

The commercial, modular system locally produces up to 20 tons of ammonia per day, using only renewable power, water and air.

“This announcement represents a major milestone in our ability to bring a more price-stable and sustainable ammonia fertilizer option to our farmers. In addition to creating long-term price stability, green ammonia can immediately reduce the carbon intensity score of biofuel feedstocks by as much as 25%, providing significant value to domestic biofuels producers,” said Matt Carstens, Landus and Conduit president & CEO.

TalusAg and Landus are actively deploying additional systems across the Corn Belt with expansion planned throughout the United States.

Meristem Announces Replant Program for Hopper Throttle MaxStax for Soybeans
Meristem Crop Performance has announced a $40 per acre replant protection program for Hopper Throttle MaxStax for Soybeans to help eliminate the risk of planting early.

“We are the only company NOT in the seed business to offer a $40 per acre replant program, and it’s because we want farmers to plant early, go faster, get more bushels, and let us take the risk,” said Mitch Eviston, Meristem founder and CEO. “Why wouldn’t you go after higher yields?”

The replant protection also covers Hopper Throttle MaxD Soybean and Revline Hopper Throttle with Ether, Prephyte, and Metalaxyl - though the amount varies with the product.

TFI Opens Nominations For 2025 4R Advocates
The Fertilizer Institute’s 4R Advocate Program is accepting nominations for the 2025 class of advocates. This program recognizes farmers who exemplify excellence in 4R nutrient stewardship, implementing advanced nutrient management practices alongside their retailer as a trusted adviser.

Selected advocates will:

Share their farm stories and ROI data in Washington, D.C., through speaking engagements, interviews, and meetings with legislators.
Contribute farm data to TFI researchers, helping measure the economic and environmental impact of 4R practices.
Highlight fertilizer efficiency and nutrient stewardship through print, social media, and press outreach.
Showcase success stories at farm shows, industry events, and publications.

The deadline to apply or nominate someone is March 17. Winners will be notified on May 1 and farm visits will be conducted by the end of July.

Biowish Appoints New CEO
Biowish Technologies has named Bill Diederich as chief executive officer (CEO), effective immediately. Diederich, who has been with the company for 15 years, spearheaded the development and commercialization of the Biowish agronomy program. Before this appointment, he served as the company’s chief innovation officer.

Diederich has nearly 30 years of experience in the ag industry.

“Bill’s leadership, deep industry knowledge, and innovative approach have been critical to Biowish’s success,” said Dr. Nabil Sakkab, Biowish board chairman. “We are confident that under his direction as CEO, Biowish will continue to grow and lead efforts to address the global food crisis through sustainable practices that improve both profitability and productivity for farmers.”

EPA's Final Herbicide Strategy Sets A New Trajectory For Applications

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 21:02:46 GMT

It’s been a long time coming, but now it seems to have gotten here in a hurry. Since the Endangered Species Act (ESA)was passed in 1973, the federal law established agencies must ensure no species listed as endangered or threatened could be jeopardized by actions within their regulatory authority. Until EPA’s Final Herbicide Strategy was published in August 2024, agriculture did not have clear guidance on what that meant for the application of pesticides. And now, we do for herbicides, with insecticides coming next and fungicides to follow.

“It’s been 50 years EPA did not develop methods to protect ESA species as it relates to pesticides, and then everything came at once because the courts were acting and dictating it was time to develop a plan,” says Bill Chism, a weed scientist with a career spanning industry plus 20 years with EPA as a pesticide benefit biologist.

From the Final Herbicide Strategy, there are four main changes to be aware of where a herbicide has the potential to impact listed species or its habitat:

Spray drift mitigations
Runoff/erosion mitigations
More restrictive mitigation in specific geographic areas called Pesticide Use Limitation Areas (PULAs)
Applicator will be required to visit EPA’s Bulletins Live! two, up to six, months prior to the application and follow current ESA restrictions for the pesticide product

While the new parameters add complexity, Stanley Culpepper from the University of Georgia, says it is a challenge ag retailers, distributors, Extension and crop consultants have an opportunity to help farmers rise to meet.

“This appears to be our way of life into the future,” Culpepper says. “It’s unfortunate how complicated it is, and it’s difficult to understand, but it’s our job to take the burden and simplify it.”

The first row crop product registered under the EPA’s Final Herbicide Strategy is Liberty Ultra, a glufosinate herbicide from BASF. Going forward, as products receive registration or go through the 15 year reregistration process for FIFRA, all will have to be evaluated against the Final Herbicide Strategy.

“It’s not everything immediately, so this year is a learning year about what we can expect,” Chism says. “We think it’ll take at least 15 years for all pesticides to have ESA assessments through that 15-year cycle for reregistration.”

Points-Based System
Culpepper says the ESA parameters are front and center in his local trainings this winter. The practices for pesticide containment in the field are assigned points for runoff mitigation (zero to nine points). The points are expected to vary by product, crop and geography, and PULA.

“When growers walk out of their county meetings, I want them to understand the ESA concept and if they are implementing enough mitigation measures to meet potential pesticide runoff point requirements,” he says.

For trainings across Georgia, Culpepper is matching potential mitigation measures offered with practices implemented by farmers in the geographic area.

“If you present the 40 or more mitigation options to growers, it can be time consuming and overwhelming,” he says. “Focusing on only the measures important to those growers in the room can speed up and simplify the educational approach. The goal is to get each grower to nine points, the maximum required, thereby ensuring herbicides applied remain on the field maximizing weed efficacy while making sure all tools in the toolbox are legally available to the grower.”

For growers who aren’t able to identify the nine points, Culpepper is collecting information on why they can’t accrue enough points.

“If there are good stewardship practices that aren’t getting points, then we need to develop sound science to support those practices and work with our regulatory partners to obtain appropriate credit and recognition of those practices,” he says.

Buffers Required
On the pesticide label, herbicides will be assigned buffer requirements. Per the ESA guidelines, the maximum downwind buffer distances for different application methods are:

Aerial zero to 320'
Ground boom zero to 230'

Droplet size and boom height are also considered.

Achievable Goals
There is a track record of growers and their advisers stepping up to meet necessary application requirements and steward pesticide products. Referencing the Using Pesticides Wisely Program that Culpepper helped implement in Georgia for 10 years, growers were able to reduce off target pesticide drift by 90%.

“Our goal is to always use pesticides wisely by applying them on target and keeping them there,” he says. “Although it is hard to see because of complexity, the overall objective of ESA is the same as ours. Thus, we are confident we can do this. We can ensure the product goes on target and stays there.”

This highlights the role of advisers who can help farmers navigate some previously uncharted waters and a new decision-making process.

Culpepper, Chism and others are encouraged by the changes EPA made to the Final Herbicide Strategy after receiving feedback from its initially released draft. Groups such as the Agricultural Retailers Association also advocated for further options and flexibility added into the final version.

“We are at an important juncture, and we need collaboration,” Culpepper says.

One sector that could potentially have more of an uphill challenge with the mitigation points are some of the specialty crop production scenarios that can often impact vegetable growers.

“If you are a row crop producer, you have many potential options when it comes to herbicides. But for some of our specialty crops, they only have only six,” Chism says. “And there are conservation practices certain crops can’t adopt. For example, I’ve never seen a no-till planter for broccoli. So while corn, soybeans and cotton may be taking baby steps, specialty crop producers may be taking leaps.”

Moving Forward With A Bit More Certainty
With the guidance of the Final Herbicide Strategy, Culpepper says he can help growers address the current ESA guidelines documenting how farmers are the true stewards of agriculture, “as long as EPA doesn’t move the goal posts and they continue their effort of working with us.”

EPA states in the rule that no pesticide has been fully removed from the market based solely on ESA risks, and “that remains an unlikely scenario in the future.” Instead, this agency action suffices to keep pesticide registration and use outside of courtroom litigation.

A self-proclaimed optimist, Culpepper says the Final Herbicide Strategy once completed allowed the opportunity to start moving products forward with Liberty Ultra as an example.

“The dam has cracked a bit since August,” he says. “It’s not a big crack, but we desperately need our regulatory partners to move new products forward much more quickly in support of our farmers.”

New Product of the Year Runner Up: RhizoSorb from Phospholutions

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 20:07:05 GMT

Launched in 2024, RhizoSorb from Phospholutions puts an emphasis on phosphorus sustainability from start to finish. It’s stood out in its first year on the market, and readers of The Scoop have voted it as the New Product of the Year runner-up for 2024.

“RhizoSorb is the first major step in 60 years to make phosphate more efficient from a mine to end use perspective,” says Craig Dick, Phospholutions’ vice president of sales and marketing. “Phosphate rock is finite, and the ability to stretch a unit of phosphorus further in the soil has a significant impact to both manufacturers and farmers.”

RhizoSorb 8-39-0 is a dry fertilizer that serves as a replacement for conventional phosphates and increases the availability and efficiency of on-farm use.

“It has the same handling characteristics as MAP or DAP but is twice as efficient and therefore costs less per acre for the grower,” Dick says. “We’re applying slightly less per acre but seeing the same amount of phosphorus be taken up by the plant. That’s while reducing the grower’s cost per acre for phosphorus by 15% on average.”

Because it can be used in the same way as MAP or DAP, RhizoSorb doesn’t require a change in application for users.

“If the grower broadcasts his phosphorus fertilizer, he can still broadcast RhizoSorb. If he’s a strip tiller, he can just replace his MAP with our product,” Dick says. “It’s a very easy swap for not only the grower, but for the retailers and how they’re used to handling products. They don’t need additional equipment to coat a product. It’s seamless.”

A Long Time Coming
While the product’s launch came just as farmers were looking to cut back expenses, the research behind the technology has been in the works for some time — originally developed 30 years ago by a Penn State professor.

“Our CEO, Hunter Swisher, was an undergraduate in that professor’s class, and he licensed the patent for the technology,” Dick says. “Over the last nine years, we’ve raised over $38 million and done nearly 600 trials.”

Spending less per acre while increasing the absorption of phosphorus has translated into strong commercial success for RhizoSorb and also provides unique efficiencies for retailers.

“As we’ve thought about the grower and manufacturer, we thought just as much about the retailer. They’re the linchpin to making this all work,” Dick says. “When they compare RhizoSorb to MAP, they can achieve a 20% higher margin than with the higher volume of MAP, and they’re still able to pass on a 10% savings to the grower. Then, they’re handling 33% less product in their warehouse.”

He adds that as phosphorus continues to be the least efficient of the three macro nutrients used to grow our food, there’s more work to be done to bring RhizoSorb to farmers.

“Our goal is to make phosphate more efficient, and that comes with making it more cost effective,” Dick says. “We want to further expand our market reach and continue to work on finding the right retailers and distributors to partner with and bring this to market in a very thoughtful way.”

Your Next Read: New Product of The Year 2024: Loveland’s Awaken FlowBoost

Choose Your Own Adventure: Online Tool Makes It Easier To Find Conservation Programs

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 15:40:54 GMT

Due to the growing number of climate-smart programs that are available to growers, it can be hard to navigate. That’s just what the Conservation Connector was intended to change.

Developed by The Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) and its partners (The Nature Conservancy, Houston Engineering and OpenTeam), the Conservation Connector is an online directory that allows users to easily view and sort through the programs relevant to them in one place.

“There’s a huge growth in the number of program offerings out there to help farmers put conservation practices to work on the ground. It’s a little bit confusing for folks, because people don’t necessarily have any single place where they can go to find out what’s really available to them - other than just a generic Google search,” says Dave Gustafson, CTIC conservation connector project director. “The Connector is intended to be a very quick and easy-to-use tool right now that focuses on farmers to find all the programs and providers that are relevant for their location, for their commodities of interest, and for the practices and incentive types that are of interest to them.”

When using the Conservation Connector, growers and their advisers can filter the database by state, county, commodity, practice and incentive type.

(Conservation Technology Information Center)

The Conservation Connector can be found at connector.ag . Gustafson says the programs on the platform have been preloaded by CTIC staff, but there are plans to shift that in the future toward a self-registry process.

“We did our best to get very accurate information, and in many cases, the data resulted from a one-on-one interview between our intern and the program administrator. However, our process going forward is to request that all of those program administrators and service providers do regular quarterly updates to their information.”

And while the majority of programs currently on the platform are located in the upper Midwest, each U.S. state is represented - as well as Puerto Rico. That list will be expanding in the months ahead to also include more livestock offerings.

“We have been in conversation with a number of different partners, such as dairy and other commodity groups, to help make sure our directories are as accurate as possible,” Gustafson says. “The kinds of different conservation offerings that will be available in the connector will broaden significantly over time.”

The team plans to officially launch the farmer-facing side of The Connector sometime toward the end of August. For more detailed information on how to use the directory, check out the CTIC YouTube page .

USDA's Interim Rule for Climate-Smart Crops Used As Biofuel Feedstocks Viewed Favorable for Farmers

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 18:35:12 GMT

Today, USDA announced the publication of an interim rule on Technical Guidelines for Climate-Smart Agriculture Crops Used as Biofuel Feedstocks. The interim rule establishes guidelines for quantifying, reporting, and verifying the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production of biofuel feedstock commodity crops grown in the United States.

USDA says these guidelines “will facilitate the recognition of climate-smart agriculture within clean transportation fuel programs, creating new market opportunities for biofuel feedstock producers while enhancing climate benefits.”

Highlights:

Farmers can choose one or more of the CSA actions — no-till or reduced-till, cover crops, and nutrient management.
Unlike prior rules, farmers no longer have to use all three on the same field at the same time.
Corn, soybeans, and sorghum are the crops specified as was noted in 45Z guidance.
USDA will release a beta version of what is called the USDA Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (USDA FD-CIC) to facilitate the farm-level, crop-specific reductions.
There will be a final version established and results via the beta version should be viewed as preliminary.
60-day comment period on the interim final rule.
Key will be the chain of custody and traceability and recordkeeping requirements.

“The new guidelines are a win for farmers, biofuel producers, the public, and the environment. The action today marks an important milestone in the development of market-based conservation opportunities for agriculture,” said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

He added that today’s action builds on the prior work to create greater opportunity for homegrown, renewable biofuels. From making E15 more widely available at gas station pumps and approving record biofuel levels, to investing in infrastructure to help communities invest in biofuels, to accelerating a future for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).

“America’s farmers play a critical role in building the clean energy economy,” said White House Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy John Podesta. “Today’s announcement from USDA reinforces the important role climate-smart agriculture plays in our rural economy, including in fueling clean transportation solutions, as well as the importance of providing pathways for unbundled, science-based accounting of the carbon benefits of climate-smart practices that help farmers earn more for what they grow.”

The rule establishes a framework to connect climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices applied in the production of feedstock crops with reductions in the carbon footprint of biofuels.

The rule includes three feedstock crops: corn, soy, and sorghum. It also covers CSA practices that could reduce GHG emissions or sequester carbon, including reduced till and no-till; cover cropping; and nutrient management practices, such as the use of nitrification inhibitors.

Importantly, the interim rule allows for adoption of CSA practices both individually or in combination. This means that participating farmers would have the flexibility to adopt the CSA practices that make sense for their operation, while still being able to produce feedstocks with reduced carbon intensities under the rule.

Through this interim rule, USDA is establishing standards that can be used to quantify, track, and report the impacts of these practices. The interim rule establishes voluntary guidelines that may inform the development of requirements for other programs which incentivize low-carbon biofuels.

USDA says establishing quantification and verification standards for climate-smart practices helps to ensure that the net GHG emissions reductions from these practices are real, thereby improving credibility and confidence, which could facilitate market opportunities for U.S. farmers growing biofuel feedstocks. Besides reducing GHG emissions and increasing carbon sequestration, CSA practices can also generate additional environmental benefits, including improved water quality and soil health.

The interim rule includes guidelines on the following:

Biofuel feedstock crops and entities in the biofuel supply chain;
Quantification of farm-level crop-specific carbon intensity;
Chain of custody standards for entities in the biofuel supply chain, including traceability and recordkeeping standards;Auditing and verification requirements; and
Climate-smart agriculture practice standards for the biofuel feedstock crops included under the rule.

USDA is also publishing a beta version of the USDA Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (USDA FD-CIC) to facilitate the quantification of farm-level crop-specific carbon intensity. USDA FD-CIC allows for the calculation of a farm-scale carbon intensity in line with the standards in the interim rule. USDA will complete a peer-review process to finalize the methodology and resulting carbon intensities included in USDA FD-CIC.

USDA will evaluate and respond to the public feedback and peer-review provided on USDA FD-CIC, after which USDA will establish a final version. Until that time, USDA says users should consider values from USDA FD-CIC as preliminary. As part of this process of testing and feedback prior to finalization, the public will have the opportunity to examine and download USDA FD-CIC to experience how it would operate.

Next Steps

USDA is requesting public comment on the interim rule to help inform future revisions or additions to the final rule. Interested parties are welcome to submit comments on any aspect of the rule. Interested parties may submit comments during the 60-day public comment period at regulations.gov.

One Montana Farmer’s Conservation Solution: Get Back to His Prairie Roots

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 14:54:23 GMT

A few years ago, Jeff Sather was dealing with burnout and the routine of doing things how they’ve always been done.

“Spray this chemical, put on this fertilizer and hope and pray you get a crop,” he says.

Sather Farms sits in Larslan, Mont., the far northeast corner of the state. When it comes to the ranching side of his operation, Sather felt like he’d made great progress after taking a course in the art of “ranching for profit.” Through that work, his 10,000 acres of pastureland was finally working for him.

What wasn’t working for him? The 4,500 acres of crop ground he was farming.

He started looking for a solution. He took online courses and went to the Montana Soil Health Symposium.

“In spring 2020, I heard these guys talking about how biology in the soil works and how they could cut fertilizer and phosphorus use,” he says. “That was what I wanted to do, so I went home and told everyone we weren’t buying fertilizer that year.”

“I knew that was our end goal so I thought we’d might as well go there now.”

Partnerships That Unlock Potential

Sather had heard about farmers in his area receiving financial and technical assistance from the USDA NRCS to implement conservation. It seemed like a logical place to start.

Completing conservation enhancements through NRCS’s Conservation Steward Program meant he could afford a no-till disk drill to plant seed with minimal soil disturbance.

But the dominos kept falling for Sather. The no-till disk drill could be used with a stripper header that would leave stubble standing after harvest. In Montana, stubble is critical.

“Because we’re high and flat with long winters and the wind always blows, anything that’ll catch snow is in your benefit,” he says.

That’s when the biggest domino fell for Sather Farms. In an effort to find financial assistance for that equipment purchase, he connected with Marni Thompson, then a NRCS soil health specialist.

In 2020, Sather Farms enrolled in an Environmental Quality Incentives Program contract aimed at solving their most challenging soil health concerns.

Sather’s path to regenerative farming was now in overdrive.

Jeff Sather uses cover crops as part of a five-year intensive soil health partnership with USDA-NRCS.

(USDA-NRCS)

On 600 acres, Sather and Thompson got to work. The partnership put these key soil health practices into place:

Using a no-till disk drill to limit soil disturbance
Implementing a diverse rotation with no fallow ground
Planting diverse, full-season cover crops
Integrating livestock through grazing cover crops
Using a stripper header to maximize organic residue
Testing soils regularly

Betting On Diversity

Of the soil health principles, Sather is putting his chips into diversity. He calls it intensive cropping of his cash crop rotations.

“We were growing yellow peas and spring wheat before and maybe some lentils,” he says. “Now we grow peas, lentils and spring wheat, durum wheat, winter wheat and hull less oats for gluten-free flour.”

Sathers planted some safflower and flax, and he’s looking into adding old-fashioned oats or maybe another crop.

Montana doesn’t have an extra-long growing season, so Sather has started intercropping to stack those crops into the same field in the same year.

He’s grown lentils and flax in the same field, harvested them at the same time and then used a cleaner to separate them. Last year, he intercropped flax and chickpeas.

“We are looking at adding a grass, or some kind of perennial mix in the rotation, so we can plant the grass and keep it in grass for up to six years. Then we would take it back out to farm again as a quicker way to improve soil biology and organic matter,” he explains.

By implementing his rotational matrix, he’s seeing surprising benefits, including an increase in residue material and a decrease in pathogens.

Planting lentils and peas along with flax has allowed Sathers to avoid spraying a fungicide because he’s eliminated the likelihood of blight becoming a problem.

“Peas and lentils are not a high-carbon plant, and their stubble basically disappears before winter even happens,” he says. “But by adding in flax, when we harvest we leave more residue behind and a higher carbon that will still be there next year.”

Multiple years of experimenting with this mixture is starting to pay off, even with current drought conditions in Montana.

“The cool part about intercropping is it might be flax one year and the next year might be a lentil,” he says. “You end up with two different crops you can market.”

Soil health practices are helping Sather Farms weather the drought that Montana has faced for the past several growing seasons.

(Sather Farms)

Reaping the Benefits

Thompson had taken some initial soil health tests prior to the pair’s work. Now, every June, she’s back at it, collecting more data to see the benefits of Sather’s intensive soil health focus.

“It’s tough in Montana because the environment is dry and it’s windy, so soil health moves pretty slow,” she says. “But we did see some really cool things happening in comparison between benchmark data and where he’s at now.”

Slake tests show Sather’s soil is staying intact and the water around is remaining clear, signs his soil biology is holding the soil together.

“In a PLFA soil test, we are keying in on the increase of mycorrhizae fungi because that is lacking in our area,” Thompson says. “In his soil test, we are seeing an increase in those, which is huge because they are very susceptible to chemical and physical disturbance.

“We are seeing the increases in mycorrhizae fungi because he is bought in to these practices and incorporating the soil health principles,” she adds.

Agronomic Armor

Coincidentally, Sather says his work with NRCS hass coincided with the tap drying up for his region.

“We went into a drought in 2020 and now we are in a long-term drought,” he says.

Sather knows what the data is showing him in terms of the health of his soils, but anecdotally it’s adding up to a protective armor for his crops, which he can see every growing season.

“A couple of the years, the guys who used the heavy fertilizer with their seed, their crops really never even grew, where mine put on with biology and fish hydrolysate came up and look good,” he says. “It still ran out of moisture and wasn’t worth combining, but it looked better than some of the crops across the field or across the fence line.”

That visual confirmation made Sather feel like he’s on the right track.

“Now we’re just hoping, praying one of these days it’s going to start raining again.”

Jeff Sather is working to establish a “farming-for-profit” model for his cropping acreage by investing in soil health practices.

(Sather Farms)

Farming for Profit

Sather feels like he’s on track to reaching a profit-centered approach on his crop acres that is yielding benefits not only for his soil but also for his brand, Prairie Roots , a brainchild of his wife, Marisa, to direct-market their food products.

“I might not have the bumper crop yields everybody else might have in the area, but I’m still making a profit on every acre,” he says.

While Sather is concerned about the health of his soil, interested in preserving a legacy and choosing to grow healthier food products for consumers, he knows none of those interests trump his ability to keep farming.

“Mom and Dad rent me everything they own, so I need to make profit to be able to pay them rent,” he says. “I need to be able to make a profit to afford to stay here.”

If the Sather legacy is going to survive in Montana agriculture, he knows he must make a profit in order to set up his sons for a future on the farm. Along the way, he’s bringing his sons on his regenerative journey, hoping they will learn how to steward the land for the future.

“I’m just working on trying to get my system figured out and learning as much as I can to hopefully continue to improve yields,” he says.

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is a public/private collaborative that meets growers across the country where they are on their conservation journey and empowers their next step with technical assistance from USDA-NRCS and innovation solutions and resources from agriculture’s leading providers. Learn more at www.americasconservationagmovement.com .

Your Next Read:

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How One Oklahoma Farmer Used Conservation to Stop Fighting Mother Nature

One Georgia Farmer’s Living Conservation Laboratory

4R Management Experts Share Their Big Plans For 2025

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 17:00:00 GMT

We caught up with The Fertilizer Institute’s 2024 4R Advocates—a group of two farmers and two retailers who are committed to implementing fertilizer management practices based on the principles of 4R Nutrient Stewardship. They reflect on 2024, share their sustainability wins and describe how 2025 could look different.

What Does Sustainability Mean To You?

Allen Spray
Chestertown, Maryland, Willard Agri Service
Sustainability means maintaining a profitable farming operation while doing what’s right for the environment and always looking for ways to improve yield with less inputs.

Bryant Lowe
Laurel, Delaware, Lakeside Farms
To me, sustainability means being able to farm the way we have been for years while trying new things along the way to be successful for future generations.

Daniel Mullenix
Auburn, Alabama, GreenPoint Ag
If we are more aware of nutrient stewardship and using the 4R methods of fertilizer applications along with new technology when applying crop protection, we can work toward enhancing environmental stewardship. Focusing on sustainability from a cover crop and soil health emphasis builds organic matter and allows the soil to hold onto nutrients longer. Both of these perspectives preserve our environment, provide an economic benefit to the grower and move toward a path of preserving the land and soil for the future generations to follow.

Mason Roberts
Sylvester, Georgia, MTR Farms
Sustainable agriculture is the No. 1 priority in our operation, and the reason for that is the assurance there is a tomorrow for our future generations to produce food and fiber for the world. That comes from knowing we are making practical and ethical on-farm decisions today to minimize our footprint.

What’s Been Your Biggest Success Story With 4R Management?

Spray: This year, while working with some technology, I was able to reduce phosphorus by 66% in a corn starter and maintain the same yield.

Lowe: Our biggest success story has to be successfully growing high-yielding crops on our sandy soils. Using the 4Rs allows us to manage the crop while minimizing nutrient leaching throughout the season.

Mullenix: When a grower sees the 4R plan as an investment and not an expense, we have been successful. Our greatest successes have come when growers and retailers understand that soil sampling and prescriptive fertility management really help everyone involved. It’s not just about cutting cost or using new technology. Everyone wins when we work together toward success.

Roberts: Practical and ethical decisions that we have made through following 4R have made our farm footprint smaller but also helped our neighbors and other farmers in the community grasp the concept today before we are legislated to make infeasible changes tomorrow.

Are You Trying Anything New Agronomically in the Field in 2025?

Lowe: We are going to try banding almost all of the nutrients next to the row instead of any broadcast in hopes this will raise our ROI even more for 2025.

Roberts: After meeting Bryant Lowe and hearing the successes of farming strictly with liquid fertilizers, I know we will have some agronomic changes take place in our operation. In southern Georgia, most at-plant fertilizer applications and sidedress applications are broadcast dry granules. For 2025, most of our operation will go to an organic at-planting fertilizer, such as chicken manure and compost, and sidedress applications will be done using liquid fertilizers through a Y-drop applicator to ensure an on-target application directly over the root zone of the crop.

As Retailers, What Are You Asking Farmers to Try for Next Year?

Spray: I’m asking my growers not to panic and try some new technologies to help reduce their risk and the amount of fertility.

Mullenix: The biggest thing we’re asking farmers to try for 2025 is to try to stay in business. We have several agronomic and technology tools to help farmers spend each dollar as wisely as possible. Working together is the only way we’ll make it through these economic times.

Can You Still Bank On Carbon Opportunities?

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 17:00:00 GMT

Carbon offset markets caused quite the buzz in 2020 with a flurry of more than a dozen opportunities for farmers being introduced in a short time frame.

Today, the dust has settled a bit, and as such, the programs currently available are more focused and have multiple years of a track record behind them.

This space has seen exits. At the end of 2023, Rabo AgriFinance ended its Carbon Bank pilot programs, and it reassigned its focus in its sustainability team. In September, Nori closed its doors.

Two other programs refined their approaches to no longer include offsets.

Moving away from a broader approach, now Nutrien offers its Sustainable Nitrogen Outcomes program, which focuses on nitrogen management as a way to reduce overall nitrous oxide emissions. As Sally Flis with Nutrien explains, the program has grown from 150,000 acres in the U.S. and Canada to more than 2 million acres in 2023. With one-year contracts, farmers can adjust nitrogen management practices for enrollment.

“The total opportunity with additionality was overestimated,” Flis says. “Everybody thought it was going to be easier than it was. There are some tenacious companies who have not given up. Others have walked away.”

The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) now solely focuses on Scope 3 projects for food and beverage companies, which have been the most interested in reducing the environmental effect of their supply chain.

“Regenerative ag practices improve the producer’s ability to continue to operate and produce food,” says Thayer Tomlinson, communications director at ESMC. “In hindsight, it makes obvious sense the food and beverage companies would want to improve the resiliency in their supply chain and provide financial incentive to do so.”

Carbon Crescendo?
Have carbon offset opportunities reached their peak? Current providers say no.

“We’re still on the upswing,” says Clay Craighton with Agoro Carbon Alliance. “When I started at Agoro Carbon four years ago, we had 30,000 acres enrolled. Today, it’s close to 2.4 million across 32 states.”

In the past three years, Indigo Ag has produced $16 million in sustainability program payments to farmers—$10 million of which was from carbon offsets. In the first three years, Truterra paid over $21 million to farmers for the sequestration and reduction of over 1.1 million metric tons of carbon.

In that same time, the value of a carbon credit per ton has risen from $15-$20 to now $60-$80.

In December, a partnership was announced where Truterra will begin offering Indigo Ag carbon programs, and Indigo Ag science will back Truterra’s carbon measurement. Company leaders say this partnership aims to simplify, standardize and bring scalability.

“We’ve got to stop double investment,” says Ewan Lamont, head of Indigo’s Sustainability Solutions business. “Both companies have been investing in the same things, and it makes absolutely no sense. This work is expensive, it’s difficult, and it involves biology and sustainability science so it’s challenging.”

Jamie Leifker, president of Truterra, says previous years’ programs for carbon credits have sold out of the tons Truterra enrolled. Leifker is bullish on how adding Indigo Ag into their portfolio will expand opportunities for farmers.

“This market is fragmented and decentralized with inconsistent standards,” he says. “Farmers have a lot of questions. What this collaboration means for us is that we’re able to then guide them to the right program by working with Indigo to expand the portfolio of program options that farmers have and give them flexibility to move from one program to the next.”

New Questions Arise
Carbon offsets require a practice change or additionality for enrollment. With financial support available to facilitate those changes, farmers ask how they can stack these opportunities. In the most simple way to answer those questions, federal and state-funded programs can be stacked with private programs (most often). But enrollment can not duplicate across multiple outcomes. For example, crops can’t be enrolled in a Scope 1 program at the same time as a Scope 3 program.

This is coming into focus as questions are asked around the carbon space because of the 45Z tax credit provisions scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. The provisions make carbon intensity a measurement parameter for biofuels production. A crop acre can’t be enrolled for offsets at the same time a crop is sold for 45Z tax credits.

Sort Out The Biofuels Provisions Of The Inflation Reduction Act

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 14:00:00 GMT

Enacted in August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) restructured biofuels tax credits in three ways: extend the Biodiesel Blenders Tax Credit (40A), create a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) tax credit (40B) and transition future biofuel tax credits to a carbon intensity (CI) (45Z).

“Both 40A and 40B become part of 45Z, transitioning blending to a production credit,” says Susan Stroud with No Bull Ag. “As the end of 2024 draws near, which is the end of 40B providing a $1 per gallon subsidy in the form of a blender tax credit for every gallon of biodiesel and renewable diesel blended into U.S. fuel supplies, oil share has somewhat been buoyed, as mandates are increasing at the same time we are disincentivizing fuel imports. This should spell more demand for soybean oil.”

As the hand off to 45Z nears, there’s a lack of clarity for the opportunity for farmers.

“USDA is trying to put guidance together to help the Department of Treasury with the 45Z rules,” explains Mitchell Hora, founder of Continuum Ag. “But climate smart commodities and low carbon feed stocks for biofuels are not the same thing.”

Whereas bundles were used with 40B and other previous programs are an all or nothing approach, Hora contends 45Z needs to use the Department of Energy’s GREET model.

“If bundles are used, it stifles farmer innovation — it waters down the impact,” he says. “We have to get this done right. The weight of this decision is massive. The ripple effect 45Z could have is tremendous.”

Legislation has been introduced to extend the biofuels tax credit through 2025 as we are still waiting on the Treasury to issue 45Z guidance.