In September, the ISRC sponsored a panel discussion hosted and organized by the Agronomy Graduate Student Council on the challenges and benefits of integrating conservation methods into farming practices. The panel included farmer Tim Burrack, Heartland Coop’s Ruth McCabe and Syngenta’s Brett Miller. The panel garnered a lot of interest and made for a lively discussion.
Burrack mentioned the many challenges farmers face when adopting new practices such as financial risks, the cost of special equipment, and certain attitudes, i.e., farmers wanting to continue doing things the way they’ve always been done or simply the fear of trying something new. Miller offered a compromise, “Farmers don’t need to do a bunch of new things. Maybe look at adopting one or two.” McCabe said she has noticed older farmers, rather than younger ones, are more willing to adopt conservation practices. “Older farmers have seen too much soil erosion and recognize the need to try something different, such as implementing no-till and cover crops,” said McCabe. Other points made were that older farmers may find themselves in a better position financially to take more risks when it comes to implementing conservation practices and land tenants may not be willing to take the financial gamble. Additionally, farmers would like to see better designed chemistry that is better for the environment and works the way farmers want.
The ISRC is sponsoring two more departmental seminars this fall. The Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering will host Professor Kaiyu Guan, University of Illinois, on October 28 from 12-1pm via Zoom. He will present on “Advancing Agricultural Research in the Earth System Science Framework.” The Department of Agronomy will host Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig on December 5.
Source : iastate.edu