This week I am pleased to have as my guest writer, Dr. Gordon Vail with Syngenta. Dr. Vail and I have had a long history of working together, dating back to our early days when we worked with Dr. Vail on herbicide efficacy. Recently I talked to Dr. Vail about herbicide resistance and I found his comments unsettling, especially for the future of weed control as it relates to no-till. Good to the Last Drop? Will Herbicide Resistance Cripple No-till? No-till is considered a key practice for controlling soil erosion, but it is …
When it comes to conservation, bring on the “Big Data”
In my last post I started by saying, “You would think by now that those of us working in the conservation field would have a really good handle on the value of topsoil. Again, you would think… However in 2015 we still struggle with a quantifiable value for topsoil.”Dr. Rick Cruse’s work gives us a terrific start. However, more research is needed to help us understand variations within fields, across regions and between states because a ton of topsoil does not always equal a ton of topsoil. More research is needed to help us understand why, …
No, soil doesn’t just grow on trees
You would think by now that those of us working in the conservation field would have a really good handle on the value of topsoil. Again, you would think. In the abstract, I think we would all say that we “value” topsoil. However, in the 80 years since we’ve identified soil erosion as an issue in the U. S., we have been unable to even begin to quantify the value of topsoil in real numbers; until recently. Thanks to the leadership of Iowa State University Professor, Rick Cruse, we’ve moved one step closer to identifying the value of one ton …
50 million acres pledged in sustainability initiative
"Too many people have lost sight of the fact that productive soil is essential to the production of food.” by: Hugh Hammond BennettOn Monday, December 5th, the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture announced their goal of advancing the sustainability of U.S. agriculture. To achieve this goal, Field to Market seeks to engage 20% of productive acres of U.S. commodity crop production in its supply chain sustainability program by 2020. This is equivalent to 50 million acres.At the time, two significant things about this announcement jumped out at …
Did the world just turn upside down? Walmart a corporate good guy?
At a time when conservation seems stuck in the quagmire of bureaucracy, red tape, old technology, and extremely low expectations it seems new life has been breathed into the conservation issue; and the timing could not be better. It reminds me of the legend where the Phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. In the legend, when the Phoenix feels its end approaching, it builds a nest, sets it on fire, and is consumed by his own flames. From the pile of ashes, a new Phoenix arises, young and powerful. Hopefully …
Getting it right with AdaptN
Note from Tom: A couple of weeks ago, I eluded in the post entitled “Looking at Both Sides of the Equation” that Nitrogen Index tool was the only nitrogen tools that provided information on the amount of nitrogen that is lost for a crop system by leaching, surface transport, and denitrification. Shortly after posting this article, I received an email from Dr. Harold van Es of Cornell University correcting this statement. The following is a guest blog by Dr. van Es.Guest post written by Dr. Harold M. van Es, Cornell UniversityThese days, …