Credit: United States Department of Agriculture | Original press release here.
(Washington DC, June 1, 2021) – Agricultural producers who have coverage under most crop insurance policies are eligible for a premium benefit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) if they planted cover crops during this crop year. The Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP), offered nationally by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), helps farmers maintain their cover crop systems, despite the financial challenges posted by the pandemic.
The PCCP is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, a bundle of programs to bring financial assistance to farmers, ranchers, and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions.
“Cultivating cover crops requires a sustained, long-term investment, and the economic challenges of the pandemic made it financially challenging for many producers to maintain cover crop systems,” said RMA Acting Administrator Richard Flournoy. “Producers use cover crops to improve soil health and grain other agronomic benefits, and this program will reduce producers’ overall premium bill to help ensure producers can continue this climates-smart agricultural practice.”
Read the full article to understand the premium benefit, program details, cover crop conservation practice standard, and more.
Credit: My Maryland Farmers | Original article here.
For Maryland farmer William (Billy) Jeanes, the goal is not just to get the highest yield of crops, the goal is to protect the land that’s been in his family since the 1700s.
The land that Jeanes, along with his father, and generations before them owned is now known as Dividing Farm. The 1,100 acres along the Chesapeake Bay in Earleville has been owned and/or farmed in some way by their ancestors since 1750. Beyond raising row crops such as soybeans, corn, and wheat, Dividing Farm also has a trucking operation that transports mushroom compost – helping others farm in environmentally responsible ways, as well.
Many modern farms, including Jeanes’s, have integrated the use of satellites and in-tractor computers to implement farming practices referred to as “Precision Agriculture.” These tools help farmers collect data from the field to plant seeds and apply nutrients and crop protection products in the most efficient and effective way possible, thereby eliminating added environmental concern for consumers and added expense for farmers.
“The cost of getting into Precision Ag can be astronomical, but I actually do it for the savings. And of course, you’re also doing the right thing as a steward of the land,” said Jeanes. “Not only does it reduce the amount of inputs you are using, such as fertilizer, but it also saves man-hours too, allowing me more time with my family. Everything you do is more exact, without you having to think about it yourself.”
One area where Jeanes excels in Precision Ag is by using the 4Rs of nutrient stewardship:
Right Source – The right source matches fertilizer analysis to crop needs, to ensure the plant receives a balanced supply of essential nutrients.
Right Rate – The right rate matches the amount of fertilizer to crop needs, by assessing and making decisions based on soil nutrient supply and plant demand.
Right Time – The right time makes nutrients available when crops need them, by assessing and making decisions based on the dynamics of crop uptake, soil supply, and nutrient loss risks.
Right Place – The right place applies and keeps nutrients where crops can use them, to meet site-specific crop needs and limit potential losses from the field.
The guiding principles of the 4Rs are that the practices maximize the economic benefit to the farmer and consumer while minimizing the impacts of nutrients on the environment. The use of 4R practices has been growing across the Chesapeake Bay region as farmers work to protect water quality. Homeowners can also apply the same 4Rs to their lawns and gardens. Consumers and farmers alike want to be sure not only their food supply – and fruits of their labor – is safe, but so are the delicate ecosystems that may be nearby. Farmers throughout the nation follow these practices for the same reasons.
Matthew Farace, a Certified Crop Adviser and the Applied Technology and Communications Lead at Willard Agri-Service, echoes the sentiment. Although it is an investment to transition to Precision Ag farming, it can keep inputs and their costs lower, while year after year improving the different areas or “zones” of a field and boosting the overall efficiency of the land. Willard Agri-Service, a liquid fertilizer company, has evolved over the years building a team of trusted advisers to farmers who work with the Delaware-Maryland 4R Alliance to advance agriculture and the environment.
“Mr. Jeanes and farmers like him are really on the forefront of technology in this industry,” said Farace. “The biggest thing someone in my role does is help farmers with planning throughout the growing season, from taking soil samples, to writing custom planting or fertilizer application prescriptions. Farmers can get down to a precise level on application based on the data we analyze, such as yield, nutrient levels, rates, and timing. Farms can drastically reduce input loss and over-application by using these various tools, which is huge when you consider the notion of all farms across the country using Precision Ag technology. Recently we have seen how even small changes can affect the food supply – good or bad, during the pandemic. By using all, or even some of these tools, farmers can provide a much more plentiful and safe food supply moving forward,” he said.
“We usually use 10 x 10 or 30 x 30-foot grids when creating a planting or fertilizer prescription. The software lays the field out in a grid then overlays historical yield data to show each individual grid block and whether it was a high or low yielding area based on a scale. Then I combine the individual ranges into usually three areas and you can see actual “zones” develop. So, it takes a 50-acre field and cuts it down to three zones that are all managed differently. One could allocate additional inputs to higher-yielding zones, and reduce them to lower-yielding zones, allowing for more efficient application,” said Farace.
“In the Eastern seaboard, we have some of the strictest regulations in the country, but by using these tools, we are meeting them,” said Jeanes. “We KNOW we are doing the best to produce each and every kernel and to preserve the land for future generations.”
Queenstown, MD (August 27, 2020) – The Delaware-Maryland 4R Alliance held their 4th annual and first evet virtual 4R Technology Field Day on August 25th. This online event reached over 200 participants and provided continuing education credits for agricultural technical service providers. The DE-MD 4R Alliance is a collaboration between agribusinesses, farmers, government agencies, conservation groups, and scientists. The alliance is working to ensure through education and outreach that every nutrient application in Delaware and Maryland will be made according to the 4R’s: right source, right rate, right time, and right place. The DE-MD 4R Alliance would like to thank the sponsors for their support of the event including: The Fertilizer Institute, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, Corteva AgriScience, Environmental Tillage Systems, Mosaic, and the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Council.
The program began at 9:00 AM with Mike Twining, Willard Agri-Service Director of Sales and Marketing covering the basics of nitrogen-modeling including, Willard’s in-season nutrient decision support tool, Eco-N. This tool allows farmers to make adaptive management decisions for nitrogen application based on real time data. Willard models crop growth to understand the crop’s nutrient demand while modeling soil mineralization and nitrogen loss to understand the available soil nitrogen supply and application needs.
Growmark FS’s Todd Hunsicker, MiField Specialist, then covered the intensification of soil sampling. Todd explained the difference between zone and grid soil sampling. Producers and their advisors can determine the appropriate scale and areas through SSURGO maps, EC mapping, yield data, and/or field imagery. Growmark FS has an automated soil sampler, known as the Falcon, that Todd shared information on. By providing a strong soil sample profile, farmers can receive a comprehensive cropping plan to get a maximum return with minimum input.
Sally Flis, Senior Director of Agronomy for the Fertilizer Institute shared results from a few of the twelve 4R Cost Case Studies conducted by TFI which can be found at 4RFarming.org. These studies collect farm and/or field data for four years, look at the cost and equipment associated with fertilizer application, the fertilizer cost, as well as the equipment cost, time, and fuel. Farming practices are grouped as basic intermediate, and advanced. It has been found, through research, that an intermediate level of practice implementation, nitrogen balance is reduced by 33% which is equal to a 7% nitrogen oxide emissions.
Following Sally, Kelly Herbick, North Atlantic Area Digital Services Manager, with Corteva AgriScience and Pioneer Seeds presented on “Using Variable Rate Nutrient Management to Your Advantage.” Kelly compared a flat rate and variable rate fertility programs, explaining that through a variable rate program, producers can adjust rates in certain areas on a sub field level, synchronizing the field with overall yield goals. By utilizing Granular’s program, a custom Maryland calculator was created to allow agronomists to write phosphorus, potassium, and lime recommendations that are in compliant with the nutrient management guidelines.
Wrapping up the online event, Mark Williams, USDA ARS Research Agricultural Engineer, talked about phosphorus placement in case studies across Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania looking at broadcasting, incorporating, and injecting. Mark began explaining the different types of phosphorus (P); fertilizer P and legacy P. Fertilizer P is recently applied and has an acute risk for loss during a storm event, while legacy P is soil phosphorus and has a chronic risk of loss over time.
The recorded event will be shared on the Mid Atlantic 4R’s website and YouTube channel once available. Credits will not be available for those who did not attend the live event. The DE-MD 4R Alliance is thankful for their event sponsors and presenters for their time and dedication to the 4R’s. Thank you to all those who tuned in!
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The Delaware-Maryland 4R Alliance is a collaboration between agribusinesses, farmers, government agencies, conservation groups and scientists. We’re working to ensure that every nutrient application on Delaware and Maryland farms is consistent with the 4Rs – the right nutrient source, applied at the right rate, at the right time, in the right place. We are focused on increasing implementation of 4R practices to benefit the economic, environmental and social well-being of our region and our farmers. The DE-MD 4R Alliance was founded by the Nature Conservancy and the Delaware-Maryland Agribusiness Association in 2015. Check out our website and like our Facebook Page.
In this week’s Ag Decisions section of the Delmarva Farmer, the Delaware-Maryland 4R Alliance offered an overview on grid soil sampling and zone soil sampling. If you’re considering adopting this strategy on some of your acreage next year, here are some resources to get you started. (Here’s a link to the text of the article, in case you missed it!)
In this week’s Ag Decisions section of the Delmarva Farmer, the Delaware-Maryland 4R Alliance offered an overview on grid soil sampling and zone soil sampling. If you’re considering adopting this strategy on some of your acreage next year, here are some resources to get you started. (