University of Minnesota Student Reflects on his “Vern-alization” while Studying Agriculture

University of Minnesota professor Vernon Caldwell is retiring after 45 years.

By Nick Peterson

This past winter one of my professors at the University of Minnesota retired after spending the last 45 years with the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics. It was bittersweet, since I had learned a great deal from him through my time with the Crops and Soils Club, Crops Team, and his classes.His name is Vernon Cardwell, previous professor/advisor/researcher at the University of Minnesota for the better part of the last century. As he spoke during the retirement party, he recalled the different “vern-alizations” he had witnessed with undergraduate and graduate students. With vernalization meaning acquisition of a plants ability to flower following cold periods, it was a metaphor of his students.Growing up on the family farm it was not difficult to realize that agriculture is what I wanted to continue to pursue in my career. However, the agricultural industry is a very broad field with many opportunities. As I was accepted to the University of Minnesota, College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences, I was still very uncertain as to where I wanted to end up following graduation.

As I attended my first Gophers Crops and Soils Club meeting, I met and talked to Vern, who was the faculty advisor for the club. Soon after, following persuasion from Vern, I decided to join the crops judging team, where we competed against students at other schools in weed and crop identification, grain grading, and seed analysis. Since the 1970’s Vern has been leading the University to top ranked finishes, although participation had been waning in the last few years. This is when my Vern-alization began.

As I spent more time looking at plant and seed mounts and taking in all the information that Vern was spewing out, I couldn’t help but notice him slowly having an effect on me. The vast amount of agricultural knowledge that he had acquired over his many years of research, extension, and interaction with students was a little intimidating. I tried to soak up as much of it as I could.

Looking at my Vern-alization, though, it wasn’t so much the knowledge but the activism that he inspired in me that I would attribute to it. What makes him such a successful mentor to students is his ability to inspire this activism.

So, as I look towards graduation and opportunities in the agriculture industry in agronomy or seed representative roles, I continue to look back and use his contagious personality as a template for myself. I have no doubt this outlook will not only strengthen my commitment to clubs and organizations that I put my time into, but it will enable me to see the best in people as well.

The agricultural community was lucky to have a man like Vernon Cardwell influencing its students for the last 45 years. And so my Vern-alization proceeds, as I am ready to follow in my mentor’s footsteps and do what I can to better agriculture and the people within.

Nick Peterson is a participant in Minnesota Corn Growers Association’s Agvocate program.

Eons at the verge of prairie and forest created “Lester”

The highly productive, clayey soil now designated “Minnesota State Soil”

Written by Jonathan Eisenthal

Some 400,000 acres, across 17 counties in south central Minnesota are home to some of the most productive soil on earth, called Lester soil. Legislation signed in April by Gov. Mark Dayton recognized Lester as the state soil of Minnesota, and a series of programs to celebrate Lester and all of Minnesota’s soils is now underway, including an exhibit called Dig It!, opening Nov. 10 at the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus.

“Lester is well drained, with a nice, thick ‘a-horizon’ — that black surface soil,” said Gary Elsner, a soil scientist at Minnesota Department of Agriculture. “There are a thousand different soil series in Minnesota. Lester is in the well-drained positions which are higher in the landscape (Slopes 5 to 70 percent).”

Elsner chairs the “Perfect Storm for Minnesota Soils” committee of the Minnesota Association of Professional Soil Scientists (MAPSS), which singled out Lester soil as something special back in 1987, but did not succeed in getting the official state seal for it until this year.

“Lester soil formed at the prairie and forest interface,” Elsner said. “Most of southern Minnesota soils were worked around by glaciers, and they have been forming ever since. A forest forms and that influences the soil, then a forest fire clears the land and it becomes prairie. Over a very long time period, it goes back and forth. In forested land you get clays near the surface, and over time these leach down and they accumulate deeper in the profile. So you get a layer that has a higher water-holding capacity and that makes it more productive–both for agriculture and forestry.”

“The Perfect Storm for Minnesota Soils” committee of MAPPS arose to publicize the series of important soil science events taking place last year, this year and next. Ultimately, the committee hopes to use these events to make the public more aware of the incredible importance of productive soil in their everyday lives. The roster of events shows that concern for the health of our soils is nothing new among farmers, foresters and soil scientists. In 2011, it was the 75th anniversary of the Soil Science Society of America. This year is the 150th anniversary of the USDA (inaugurated by Pres. Abraham Lincoln). In addition to successfully passing the soil legislation this year, the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum has a new exhibit, Dig It!, devoted to soil and including soil “monoliths” (glass columns showing the stratifications within soil series like Lester) for all the official soils of the 50 states. The exhibit opens Nov. 10.

For more information on Dig It! go to http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/ForAdults/Exhibits/DigIt/index.htm

The soil events continue, according to Elsner. Next year is both the 100th anniversary of the University of Minnesota Department of Soil, Water and Climate, and the 40th Anniversary of MAPSS. Various tours and special events at locations like the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum are planned.

Elsner noted that MAPSS chose Lester soils for a number of reasons, including that it is photogenic, but its water-storing capacity may be its most important feature, especially in drought years such as Minnesota experienced in 2012 and 1988.

“Whether you’re growing a tree or a corn plant–if you have more water it’s going to grow better,” said Elsner. “When you compare to a sandy soil, you can see how Lester holds more water, and it will do better at producing healthy plants than the sandy soil, when we have dry weather conditions.”

Lester soils were first identified in Lester Prairie, in McLeod County in 1939. According to MAPPS, soil supports 235,000 jobs in Minnesota. Roughly one hundred scientists belong to MAPPS, including state and federal government workers, academics and private industry workers.

Autumn Appreciations

By MCGA Agvocate Michaela Bengtson

Being a college student, I sometimes get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the cities.  So for me, one of the greatest things is getting to go home on the weekends, back to the farm and enjoy the country lifestyle again.  As I was driving home this weekend, I was rolling past the golden fields and started to think about how corn is used every day by my family.

My first thought was about the fuel in my gas tank, which is ethanol.  Ethanol helps the world not only save on oil costs but it helps us use more renewable resources.  Another benefit of ethanol for my family is that it produces distillers grain.  One of the components of our dairy cow’s diets on the farm are distillers grain.  If it weren’t for ethanol, we wouldn’t have that feed source for my favorite cows!  Another benefit is that ethanol can help boost local economies and provide jobs.  In Atwater, an ethanol plant was built in 2005. It not only helped out farmers by providing a new market to keep prices competitive,  but it also gave farmers more confidence that there would always be a buyer for their grain. 

The second thing that I thought about was how corn helps out my mom.  In May, right after the corn planting was done, my mom had a stroke.  Currently, she is working on rehabilitation and gaining back the mobility in her right arm and leg.  One of the things that she sometimes feels is that her arm is tight.  At therapy they have a special machine to help with that tightening.  The main part of the machine is made of crushed corn cobs.  How the machine works is that a patient’s arm is put into a sleeve in the machine and a cuff is secured around their arm to ensure that the sleeve is snug. The machine is then turned on and starts to blow hot air into the crushed corn cobs, which heats them up to very hot temperatures.  The neat thing is that even though the temperature of the air is extremely high, because of the crushed corn cobs, the patient won’t get burned and it helps to loosen and relax their muscles.  It is amazing how something that might only be used for compost is used to help out so many people! 

As I roll past those golden fields, I am so thankful for everything that corn does.  From being a fuel source, to a feed source, to helping a farmer to have an income, to helping people recovering from illness, corn can do a-maize-ing things!

Drought + Resistance = surge in rootworm numbers and damage

Written by Jonathan Eisenthal

Alarming signs that the corn rootworm is developing resistance to major GMO corn traits, along with the impact of increasing drought stress and booming rootworm populations, adds up to potential trouble for Minnesota corn producers, according to Prof. Ken Ostlie, a University of Minnesota Extension entomologist, based at the St. Paul Campus of U of M.

Now is a critical time, according to Ostlie, for getting a handle on Bt performance in your fields, and assessing corn rootworm populations. 

“Corn rootworms have been emerging over the last ten days to two weeks, with root injury nearing completion” Ostlie said. “The drought may be aggravating this situation in a couple of ways. Corn rootworm survival is better under drought conditions. Insect feeding on the roots will increase moisture stress and its yield impacts. Also, without thunderstorms, the typical lodging that would be a telltale sign of corn rootworm problems may not be happening, so producers need to get out into the field, dig roots and scout for beetles.

Besides looking for beetles on plants, especially on the ear silks, dig up plants, wash the roots and carefully examine for signs that the worms fed there. “Growers should be concerned when root injury is occurring to a node or more of the roots,” said Ostlie. “In these drought conditions, even loss of half a node may lead to yield loss. Time scale wise, the next week will be crucial to assess what is happening.”

Another concern is that high corn rootworm beetle numbers can trim corn silks so severely that pollination fails. Spraying for corn root worm beetles to prevent ‘silk clipping’ is warranted only on the leading edge of pollination when scouting uncovers the presence of eight-to-ten or more beetles per ear that are keeping silks chewed to within ½” of the ear tip. Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council sponsored a radio interview with Ostlie that aired recently on the Linder Farm Network to alert growers to this threat.

For the past six years, with critical funding from the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council, Ostlie has investigated the potential for corn rootworm to become resistant to the main genetic traits used to combat it– genes taken from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and spliced directly into the genetic make-up of “Bt” corn varieties. These Bt genes produce a protein in the plant which is toxic to the rootworm alone. In order to assure that the protein remained effective, producers have planted refuges of conventional corn where the insects could feed. Difficulties in maintaining refuges may have led, in part, to the current resistance, Ostlie said.

“It’s important for farmers to know how the traits are working in their fields,” Ostlie noted. “Scouting how these traits are working in their fields right now will be critical to making good decisions for next year. Producers are beginning to plan what additional root protection measures to take, which seed varieties and pest management resources to purchase for the 2013 growing season.”

Since 2009, Ostlie has tracked a growing resistance problem in Yieldgard VT Triple and Triple Pro, but it may be only a matter of time before resistance impacts other Bt varieties like Herculex Xtra, AgriSure 3000GT or even SmartStax.

“We suggest the fields most at risk are going to be corn planted after corn with a multiple-year history of the same trait,” Ostlie advised. “Those especially would be the ones growers should check–number one looking for signs of excessive moisture stress, number two looking to see if corn rootworm beetles are especially prevalent in a field, and third, digging up plants and washing roots off to see if they had been attacked by the worms.”

Ostlie is working with pest management scientist Bruce Potter, at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center in Lamberton, to develop maps and other information to help growers assess potential rootworm activity in their regions.  We’re particularly interested in reports of performance problems with Bt rootworm traits, Potter says.

Go to this web page to get additional information, or to report Bt hybrid performance problems:  http://www.extension.umn.edu/cornrootworm/

Farmers gather to learn latest science on nitrogen fertilizer

Written by Jonathan Eisenthal

An audience of farmers packed a meeting room in Rochester last week to hear from six experts representing the spectrum of scientific investigation into nitrogen fertilizer and the associated compound, nitrate, to hear the latest information about techniques for fertilizing crops while reducing nitrates in the environment.

The nitrate forum, convened by Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center (MAWRC), welcomed Bruce Montgomery, a scientist from Minnesota Department of Agriculture, who is in charge of its nitrogen fertilizer management review. Montgomery assessed how agriculture is doing controlling nitrate loss and where it can be improved. He praised the willingness of all the farmers he has encountered on these issues, to join with them to help solve situations where wells show presence of nitrates in drinking water above the standard for human health, 10 parts per million.

He noted that the yield of corn per unit of fertilizer has increased dramatically (meaning less fertilizer per pound of corn is being used), which is a great success story.

Montgomery noted that two major areas of the state–the Central Sands (stretching north from the metro area) and the southeastern region, are particularly sensitive to nitrate movement into groundwater, and that different crop regimens may in future be brought to bear, to reduce these problems. He noted that some areas had success using “nitrogen scavenger” crops like alfalfa–actually feeding high-nitrate water into these crops to cleanse the water.

Dr. Carrie Laboski, an expert from the University of Wisconsin, shared an overview of the complex chemical workings of the nitrogen cycle. With knowledge of this chemistry in mind, management decisions that improve water quality can be made. The timing of fertilizer and the use of “inhibitors” that slow the transformation of ammonium (NH4) into nitrate (NO3)–a process known as mineralization. This can be the key to making nitrates available at the right time for crops to make use of them, so they don’t end up moving into the water table. Environmental factors can influence mineralization, which is a chemical process actually governed by bacteria and microbial fungi in the soil. Mineralization hastens under conditions that favor that flourishing of these microbes–soil temperatures in a certain range and a certain level of soil moisture. “Mother Nature has the final say,” Laboski acknowledged. As understanding of the weather and how it acts on this cycle becomes more and more refined as time goes on, but chance can disrupt even the most careful stewardship.

Other experts included Eric Cooley from Wisconsin Discovery Farm Network, speaking about data that compares nitrogen loss from surface water versus the flow from tile drainage systems; Waseca crop scientist Jeff Vetsch discussed his research on maximizing the impact of fertilizer while minimizing nitrate loss; and Iowa State University’s Steve Ensley gave practical advice on the signs and impacts of nitrate toxicity on livestock animals. He noted the most pertinent information for this growing season, marked by drought, that livestock operators who have to haul water for cattle and other animals should, at all costs, use a separate tank devoted to water, rather than hauling water in a tank that has been used to transport nitrogen fertilizer. Even after careful washing of such a tank in order to haul water, an Iowa cattle operation suffered significant cattle losses to nitrate poisoning.

Ensley offered a cautionary note for farmers who raise their own corn to feed cattle who cut their drought losses by green-chopping stunted corn. Farmers cut the plants down, stalks and all, for cattle feed. Unlike silage, which is mature corn that has been cut and allowed to cure for a period of time, this immature green-chopped corn can contain super-high levels of nitrates–in excess of 10,000 ppm–two to three times the level considered safe for cattle. The danger increases if the crop is cut down shortly after a rain, which oftentimes stimulates the withered plants to take up even more nitrates into their stalks.

 

Home Sweet Home

By 2011-2012 MCGA Agvocate Kelsey Gunderson

College is done and I am ready for summer, excited to be home on the farm for a couple of weeks to relax, right?  It seems like farming and relaxing are not always synonyms as I came home to tractors busy in the field, a request to pick rocks from my dad, and lots of work being done around the house.  It’s planting season, perfect weather for working outside and time to get ready for summer and never a dull moment on the farm.  Farming is not a job or career, it is a lifestyle.

Having livestock and crops, my family’s work is never complete. Caring for the animals, planting and harvesting a high yielding crop and implementing new technologies are all important in our farming operation.  I have learned the skills and gained knowledge through helping on the farm while my brother has learned everything that is needed in running a farm.   My brother is just finishing up his senior year of high school, and will soon be off to his next adventure – college, studying farm operations and management with plans to take over the farm.  He has grown up as my dad’s right hand man, working with him every day and learning all of the tricks to the trade.  Nothing other than farming has interested him so deciding to go to a college near home so he could keep working on the farm was always the plan for him.  He believes in the agriculture industry and knows that his work on the farm plays a key role in our world.

I have seen my brother develop his passion for agriculture and put his skills to work into his future career on the farm.  We are going into our third generation of Gunderson Farms and it is great to see a young generation want to continue to farm.  He has developed skills such as responsibility and teamwork, and has developed a strong work ethic that never quits. I am proud he is continuing to develop our family farm.  

I am proud of the way I was raised, the farm I grew up on and the family that I have. This opportunity is one that many people do not have.  Being raised on a livestock and crop farm has taught me skills that I use in my everyday life and has helped me in my current jobs as well. After experiencing my time in the big city, I realize how much I have learned, gained, and have much more appreciation for farmers everywhere.  Farming is not a career – it truly is a lifestyle. Plans are changed around seasons, weather and the animals, and we work together as a family to get the job done.  I would not be the person I am today without my family and farm experiences.

A fast forward planting season

Written by Jonathan Eisenthal

Every major crop in Minnesota has blasted past five-year averages in panting progress this year, by a wide margin, according to the latest report of NASS-Minnesota (USDA).

“Corn planting was 73 percent complete, compared to 20 percent last year and 53 percent for the five-year average,” according to the May 7 Minnesota Ag News Crop Weather report. “Twelve percent of corn was emerged. Land prepared for soybeans was 39 percent complete. Nineteen percent of soybeans were planted, compared to 4 percent planted last year and 13 percent average.”

Minnesota even exceeds the average progress of the 18 major corn-producing states, though producers in all theses states are accomplishing planting progress faster than the five-year average. Nationally, corn producers had planted 71 percent of their corn acres as of this past Sunday, which compares to the average, from 2007 through 2011, of 47 percent.

“The weather is one of the most unpredictable aspects of our job, but this early spring warm up, coming along with the moisture we need is putting us in a very good position,” said John Mages, a farmer in Belgrade, Minnesota, and president of Minnesota Corn Growers Association. “Minnesota corn producers are taking the ball and running with it.”

As of Sunday, Iowa’s corn planting was 64 percent complete.

Early corn planting progress in Minnesota correlates with higher plant populations and higher yield, research by University of Minnesota has found.

Across Minnesota, a very welcome half-week of rain kept operators out of the fields and perhaps kept them from finishing the corn planting altogether. Following a drought that began in late July, rains in late April and the first week of May have replaced much of the missing moisture.

“Topsoil moisture was rated 1 percent very short, 10 percent short, 71 percent adequate and 18 percent surplus,” the NASS crop weather report stated.

Locations across the central and southern tiers of the state saw rain amounts ranging from just over an inch in Aitkin (East Central region) to 5.84 inches in Pipestone in the southwest of the state.

Want a window on all the positive changes in agriculture? Take a look at the 14th annual Women’s Agricultural Leadership Conference

Written by Jonathan Eisenthal

There were blue jackets, grandmothers, university professors, agribusiness and commodity organization representatives–many playing a double role as a farm producer along with full-time jobs off the farm–it was the 14th Women’s Agricultural Leadership Conference. Held on Wednesday, April 11 at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen, the conference drew a diverse crowd of more than a hundred women from across the state who shared a common excitement for agricultural leadership at this time of rapid change.

Roundtable discussions offered four ten-minute sessions where participants could attend one quick briefing after another, choosing from a dozen topics. MCGA Outreach & Communications Specialist Jenna Kromann and North Dakota Soybean Board Volunteer Karolyn Zurn spoke about the recently launched CommonGround initiative. Farm women volunteer at local events, grocery stores and other venues where they reach out to suburban and urban counterparts, who are the family meal planners and opinion makers when it comes to food, and start conversations about farming and food.

The morning general session panel addressed the “Changing Face of Agriculture”–the panel’s makeup demonstrated the diversity of agriculture today in Minnesota. Not only did the panel reflect different ethnic heritages among Minnesota farm women, but the panelists reflect how women lead in agriculture at every level. Pakou Hang, executive director of the Hmong American Farmers Association spoke about her work advocating for one of the state’s fastest growing minority populations (60,000+), among whom many are connected to agriculture, particularly small farms that use organic methods and market their products at farmers’ markets.

“Minnesota’s Hmong farmers have been right at the forefront of the growth in the local foods movement,” Pakou said. “There’s a growing number of people willing to pay a premium for locally-raised foods, and our organization is working to make sure that Hmong farmers are benefitting from that.”

Another fast-rising star in agricultural leadership, Sangeetha Gummadi, talked about her work for the past two years as a soil conservationist at Wright County Natural Resource Conservation Service, where she not only helps farmers develop plans to prevent soil erosion and maintain water quality, but she has begun to work on outreach with school groups and local government units, to educate the public about all the conservation happening on today’s farms. Gummadi is a graduate of University of Minnesota’s agriculture education program and served as a Minnesota State FFA officer during her high school and college career.

Proving the value of an economics degree, Betty Berning spoke about her role as senior dairy buyer for General Mills.

Berning noted that General Mills’ success has come in part through its excellence in developing partnerships with the spectrum of food processors, but she hopes that the Minnesota-based Fortune 500 company can re-establish close connections with the farm producers who raise the raw feedstocks that become such General Mills products as Yoplait yogurt or Totino’s pizza.

Kristin Weeks Duncanson brought her perspective gained not only from production on her family farm in Mapleton, but also from service in state and national commodity organizations (past president of Minnesota Soybean Growers Association) and her current position as board chairwoman of Minnesota Agri-Growth Council. She told the audience about her work recently as one of 31 advisers to the newly formed AGree Food and Ag Policy Group, an initiative from nine of the world’s leading philanthropic foundations: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

“The AGree Team is working on long term sustainability in food production and the environment around the world,” said Weeks Duncanson. “Through the AGree process you get a view of some of the forces behind the changes we see in ag. By 2050 we need to feed 9 billion-plus people and there’s only so much tillable ground. We have to get better at production, while not leaving behind distressing environmental impacts…there are so many interesting opportunities and challenges ahead of us.”

Rural areas need to prepare to offer solutions for what a growing world population and a growing world middle class wants. Weeks Duncanson noted that by mid-century China will have 300 million middle class people–equivalent to nearly the entire population of the United States. Further, her work with AGree has given her insight into the desire of companies like Walmart to put actual numbers and measures to concepts of sustainability, for everything from electronics products to the milk and cheese in its grocery aisles.

She said farmers need to be aware of Walmart’s process and to contribute information and offer the farm producers’ point of view when they can, knowing that the big retail players like Walmart increasingly call the shots about how food is produced.

Rural areas will need infrastructure to take part in world growth in everything from fish farming, to microbrewing of beer, Weeks Duncanson said. Education is another area that calls for a responsive approach.

“A recent Wall Street Journal article pointed out all the jobs out there going unfilled –welders, painters, carpenters–highly skilled labor. We need to tweak training and education programs to fill those jobs,” said Weeks Duncanson.

The daylong leadership conference included breakout sessions in which the common theme was how to have an impact as a leader–one of the most popular sessions of the day was “How To Be Outrageous” in which Peg Longquist of the University of Minnesota’s Women’s Center shared her infectious message about how to gain the confidence to be leaders for positive change.

MARL Class VI graduates, including four leaders with MCGA connections

The Minnesota Agricultural and Rural Leadership (MARL) program recently graduated its sixth class of mid-career leaders with a concluding weekend seminar and graduation event held in Chaska. The year-and-a-half long seminar series, organized through Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, is considered the most prestigious and rigorous training that focuses on leadership for agriculture.

The thirty two leaders of MARL VI were drawn from across the state and from a number of different agriculture industries. They include four leaders connected to Minnesota Corn Growers Association: farmer/MCGA members Rochelle Krusemark of Trimont, Kirby Hettver of Montevideo and Ian Sandager of Hills, as well as MCGA staffer Elizabeth Tanner, director of advocacy and strategic partnerships.

The group returned from a ten day visit to Morocco earlier in March. This international experience, along with a weeklong experience in Washington, DC, form the highlights of a series of seminars that also take the leaders to locations all around the state of Minnesota, to give them in-depth exposure to the various regions and economic segments of the state.

Three hundred people, including many MARL alumni and agricultural industry leaders, attended the MARL graduation ceremony and dinner, which took place at the Oakridge Conference Center in Chaska.

“MARL has been awesome, I am so grateful for this experience,” said Tanner.

She said the leadership course included tools for self-reflection and measuring progress in areas like emotional intelligence, which is a key skill/knowledge area for any leader.

Asked about how MARL has shaped and developed his leadership abilities, Ian Sandager said: “MARL has helped me to be able to speak more knowledgeably and to be able to debate and discuss issues respectfully, to see where we can meet in the middle and where we can’t. It’s helped me develop more patience in those situations. I am more passionate about my issues, but at the same time I have been able to increase my ability to speak about them in a respectful manner.”

Sandager went on to describe how knowing yourself more fully gives you the ability to lead more successfully. Just this year he joined the local board of directors for Rock County Corn and Soybean Growers Association.

“The big thing for me about MARL is assertiveness and being self-aware about my emotions,” Sandager said. “Overall I think I have grown quite a bit. The things they have you do, looking at yourself and the different measurements and testing you go through cause you to reflect, and it helps you to improve. It’s been challenging and at times it’s not fun, but I definitely recommend this program to anyone who wants to improve their leadership skills and knowledge base.”

Rochelle Krusemark farms in Trimont with her husband, and they raise corn and soybeans, and contract-finish hogs. Their sons remain involved in farming despite one being a full-time college student and the other pursuing his career as an aerospace engineer.

She found the trip to Morocco to be everything it was advertised as an eye-opening experience of a very different culture and its agriculture industries.

“We saw both sides,” said Krusemark. “We saw the small farmer that brings his produce by donkey and markets it in the open markets in the city, and then there is the other scale where we visited farmers with thousands of acres of peaches, olives, almonds, pears, oranges and lemons. We visited a huge cooler warehouse –an individual farmer had this set up so he could box his produce for shipping.”

Kirby Hettver, 37, is a farmer and ag equipment/seed entrepreneur.

In addition to farming corn, soybeans, alfalfa and small grains with his father and two brothers, Kirby sells after-market planter parts to improve performance, and equipment to manage dust at grain storage facilities, as well as selling seed corn and soybeans.

“The value of this Morocco trip to me was the appreciation of what we have,” said Hettver who represents, with his two brothers, the fifth generation of his family to farm on their land in Montevideo. Hettver said, “The vast contrast between the micro small farms and the large ones in Morocco–it was hard to find average size farms like ours. There were so many obvious differences, from the services available to farmers there, to the social fabric of their society. I came back thankful for what we have in the US. Looking at it from a Moroccan’s perspective, the one word I would use to describe their situation is ‘opportunity.’ There are a lot of positive changes going on for them. We visited a dairy coop where they were feeding calves to harvest weight, coordinating that system and making leaps and bounds in improvements to those coop members. Improvements in technology and efficiency are coming. More products are becoming available to Moroccans, products of a higher, more consistent quality for the Moroccan marketplace…I am excited to watch their progress and see where they are ten, 15 years down the line.”

Hettver, who is involved in his local corn and soybeans association in Chippewa County, hopes to go on to involvement with the organization at the state level.

“From a leadership standpoint the international trip was a culmination of what we learned,” said Hettver. “It put us in an atmosphere very unlike the US–The contrast, the perspective, helps mold your thought process, the way you approach different subjects. I think this process has helped me become a better leader.”

Tanner said that observing the changing political landscape in Morocco at firsthand was its own lesson in leadership. She found the briefing with the US Ambassador’s economic adviser and his agriculture advisor to be incredibly interesting.

“In the Arab Spring, Morocco underwent changes last year–not as revolutionary as in some countries, but still major changes,” Tanner reported. “The constitution was amended this past summer, and one of the most important changes was that the legislature now must have a certain number of women, a certain number of youths represented in Congress. An election was held in November…the new constitution set a minimum of 60 women members and 66 women were elected to parliament–that shows that the changes there are not just superficial. And while we were there, there was a lot going on at the Moroccan embassy. That afternoon, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came into town as part of an international relations event.”

It was also another sign of how deeply the world has changed in the past decade. Clinton attended a groundbreaking for new embassy building in Rabat. It has been completely redesigned and upgraded as part of the continuing security overalls that came in the wake of 9/11 and US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The final meeting in Chaska was a chance for all the MARL leaders to look back and take stock. Krusemark has noticed how her approach to leadership has changed in the past year and a half.

“I really appreciate MCGA’s support of the MARL program,” said Krusemark. “Until you participate in it, you don’t realize the benefits. My husband says he can see the change in me–personally, I have become more discerning. Many of us that are leaders tend to be analytical, and often we see things in a black and white way. I am a former educator. I was in special education, so I appreciate diversity, and I always have, but being among the MARL leaders, which is such a diverse group, I appreciate diversity even more. Everyone has something different to offer, brings up things you never would have thought of. Another side benefit that I have loved is that we get to talk specifically about ag production when we get together. What’s working and what isn’t on our own farms, whether it’s the sprayer nozzles we just started using or tile drainage set up we have.”

Sandager said it was fascinating to see in Morocco an extremely different culture and geography and yet to see past those differences to commonalities between the two countries’ agriculture systems.

“At the most basic level, they face are the same issues we do,” said Sandager. “They need to find markets for their production. They’re trying to get the most money for their buck. Water is a big issue. A couple of farms we visited were converting to drip irrigation, which is much more efficient because less water is lost in evaporation. The thing is, because the government is subsidizing the change, everyone is going that way, and that’s led to an overall increase in water use–and that’s a scarce resource for them.”

Sandager also enjoyed learning about one of Morocco’s major industries–it’s second in the world in olive oil production. Sandager enjoyed learning about how the national school of agriculture collaborates with private industry to solve problems and continue to strengthen the quality of production, the consistency of the product and the Morocco’s position in the world market.

“We did some learning before the trip in Windom about different cultures, trying to recognize the differences and yet still being able to work together,” said Sandager. “You are forced to adapt or get left behind. You realize that people are different from you and you respect that and try to understand that, understand where they are coming from when they talk about an issue.”

Sandager, whose uncle Gene “Pucky” Sandager, is a past president of MCGA, looks forward to participating in the state level of farm organizations.

“I want to get involved in voicing the issues and having an impact on the things that are affecting agriculture and our way of life,” Sandager said.

Farmers and water quality in Minnesota: “On the right track and ready to take it to the next level”

 Written by Jonathan Eisenthal

A packed auditorium in Morton last Wednesday demonstrated that farmers, and the crop consultants and farm businesses that serve them, are interested in water quality. University researchers and agriculture agency workers made a good showing as well, all enthusiastic about farmer interest in managing nutrients and soil to help achieve cleaner water.

It was the 2012 Nutrient Management & Efficiency Conference, organized by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and sponsored by MDA, Minnesota Ag Water Resource Center, University of Minnesota Extension, USDA-NRCS, Minnesota Corn Growers, Minnesota Soybean Growers, Minnesota Crop Production Retailers, Minnesota Independent Crop Consultants, Agrium, Mosaic, and Nutra-Flo.

“Farmers in Minnesota are on the right track when it comes to nutrient management and water quality, and we’re ready to take it to the next level,” said farmer Doug Albin, who raises corn, soybeans and alfalfa in Clarkfield, Yellow Medicine County. He was one of several hundred farmers in the audience. The daylong seminar offered a mixture of reports on research and assessments of what is happening on the farm. Albin said the overall effect left him feeling energized about farming and hopeful about the future.

A series of presenters from academia and private industry offered the latest information about keeping nutrients and soil in place, and helping crops optimize use of these inputs through techniques like banded placement, and stabilizers that act like a kind of time-release to “meter out the nutrients just at the right time so plants can use them,” Albin said.

“We’re showing our interest in this kind of practical approach,” said Albin. “We can improve our operations and improve the bottom line and help the environment at the same time.”

In the morning, Warren Formo, director of Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center, offered a review of all the research aimed at assessing the farm impact on water quality, and improving water quality results. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring crop consultants and farmers conducting a conversation about innovative techniques for improving nutrient management. The afternoon featured three different sessions: nutrient management, nutrient use efficiency and water quality.

Prof. George Rehm, director of Minnesota Discovery Farms program, was able to share the first year’s results in this farmer-driven quest for information about how soil and nutrients flow over the land. So far, eight farms have joined the program with sets up monitoring equipment to measure the levels and the movement of nitrogen, phosphorous and soil particles on their farm fields.

“This was very good basic information for producers that laid out the concerns about nutrient use and water quality and what we are doing to address those concerns,” said Tim Radatz, a research specialist for the Minnesota and Wisconsin Discovery Farmers projects.

Minnesota Discovery Farms has eight participating farms located in Chisago, Goodhue, Stearns, Blue Earth, Wright, Renville and Kandiyohi counties.

Rehm discussed first year data from three farms, in the Chisago, Goodhue and Stearns locations.

“The timing of runoff for this past year happened mostly during the snowmelt period in spring, because we had such a large snowpack,” said Radatz. “The sediment loss numbers were pretty low, which is a function of good management practices that reduced losses. Later in summer and the fall, the weather dried up so much there wasn’t enough rain to generate runoff. It’s important to stress these are one year results, and we need multiple years to really show what is happening.”

Minnesota Discovery Farms is hoping all eight cooperators will choose to stay in the program. Its application process ends March 1, and the program could add two or more locations. Ultimately, they would like to reach between 12 to 15 locations, to give a good representation of the diverse agricultural regions in the state.

(Go to www.mawrc.org to read the 2011 Minnesota Discovery Farms Annual Report, or to apply to join the Minnesota Discovery Farms network as a cooperator).

Other highlights in the water quality discussion included Brad Carlson’s overview of nutrient and soil loss and preventive approaches, as well as Jeff Strock’s review of results with an innovative approach called conservation drainage.

“Brad Carlson gave a good overview of the concerns with nitrogen, pesticides and soil erosion, as well as ways to limit losses out of tile drainage systems,” said Radatz. “Nitrogen and nitrate loss through the tile lines is a concern for local waters, but even more so for the Gulf of Mexico because it plays a role in the hypoxia issues they are dealing with. Surface water runoff is where we see phosphorous loss into streams and lakes, and that is what drives growth of algae in our lakes.”

Among the most promising ways to limit loss of soil and nutrients is the conversion of open tile intakes to French drains–the intake is placed several feet below the surface of the field and a funnel area is created out of pea rock, which effectively shuts soil out of the tile line.

“The research shows French drains are effective for removing sediment compared to open intakes,” said Radatz.

Jeff Strock, an expert with the University of Minnesota Department of Soil, Water and Climate talked about conservation drainage and water quality benefits for tile drainage. Strock has managed research into this method for a number of years at the Southwest Research and Outreach Station in Lamberton.

“There was good discussion about continuing the research to find out how effective these techniques are,” said Radatz. He explained, “Conservation drainage uses gate-type structures that can be put on tile outlets. The gates have baffles that can be raised or lowered to keep the water table higher in the non-growing season, but then lower the water table when is time to plant and raise crops. The baffles can be used to do a kind of sub-irrigation where the farm operator can manipulate the water table to allow roots access to soil moisture without getting drowned….It’s a new concept. Farmers are becoming more aware of it, but it is very new. We have four or five years of data. Farmers would like more info about how it is going to work, how it will affect their operations in particular. It’s also important to realize that this conservation drainage isn’t effective on highly sloped fields—it requires fields with less than one percent of slope.”

Other concepts like terraces, grassed waterways and the creation of holding pools with metered drainage can effectively address more hilly crop land.

“It was a good day,” said Albin. “The positive attitude that farmers have got about farming and about making conservation an everyday part of the farm is really great to see. The conference was a day for enthusiasm for agriculture. Farmers are coming in and finding out that what we are doing is okay, but maybe we can do it even better. Crop consultants and agency people heard from the farmers, yes, we want to do these things, but don’t stand in our way–create a system that makes it easy for farmers to participate and do what’s right for their farm and for the environment.”