Iowa Confluence Tour on the Blair Farm

We had another wonderful tour out to our place.  This was the Iowa Confluence Tour.  Again, we were talking about the Nutrient Reduction Strategy in Iowa, and its impacts on our farm.  We talked about some of the same things we talked about on the Environmental Discovery Tour.  We were able to talk about some of the stuff that we are currently doing with nutrient placement, timing, rates, and tillage.


Something else we focused on was adaptive management.  As farmers, we have a large impact on the land, water, and air.  We have to continually learn and grow in order to improve.  This includes conservation along with technology, crop varieties, equipment, and etc.  In order to improve we need to try new things.  One thing we do is tests, or trials, on our own farm.  When we learn something one year, we try it again, and in more places the next.  This way we can figure out if it is more profitable, more efficient, and better for our farm. 

If the Nutrient Reduction Strategy is regulated by the government, we will be limited on what we can do.  We need the ability to learn and the ability to continually improve on our farm. 
 

Iowa Soybean Association Environmental Discovery Tour

Happy Veterans Day!  I am thankful for all of those who have served, and who are serving for our freedom.

Harvest is complete!!!  Corn was finished up on November 3rd.  However, just because harvest is over, does not mean that we are ‘done.’  It actually means that the next crop year has just begun!  Now that our 2013 crop is officially harvested, we now start preparations for our 2014 crop. We've put on manure for fertilizer and tillage has begun. 

                                        Strip Tillage

                 Strip Tillage

Disk Ripping

In late October we were able to be a part of the Iowa Soybean Association Environmental Discovery Tour. This tour was presented by the Iowa Soybean Association and Agriculture's Clean Water Alliance.  This tour included about 50 politicians, reporters and city officials.  The idea was to get these participants out to a real farm to see what tools we have been using to protect water quality by using some tools that are part of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. It was a wonderful tour! For this group to take their entire day to meet and visit with us about our farm shows me that they too, are committed to protecting water quality. 

Our focus of the tour was to show how manure and the Iowa Soybean Association's On-Farm Network ® correlate to water quality on our farm.  We enjoy doing tours like this we want to tell our story. Plus, we can get a better idea of what concerns consumers (or in this instance - Water Quality Experts and Legislators) might have. 

We believe it's important that we take the "voluntary" approach to the Nutrient Reduction Strategy seriously.  Now is the time to figure out and to show that we care about water quality and we are committed to this strategy.  However, this is also a time to step up and work together with all point and nonpoint sources to reduce nutrients in our waters.  We feel that if water quality is not improved in the state within a few years the voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy will become a mandatory Nutrient Reduction Strategy through legislation. This is a very important opportunity for farmers to show that we don't need legislation to make changes, and that we are willing to help improve water quality.   

Some of the highlights from our part of the tour included:

• We have moved to no till and reduced tillage to help protect soil from erosion as well as increase soil health.
• We test the nutrients in the manure and the soil to prevent over application.
• We use cover crops to limit nutrient runoff and leaching.
• We focus on the right rate, right timing, right placement and right source of nutrients.
• We use technology to plan our nutrient applications, to apply those nutrients, and to evaluate those decisions. 
• Manure is not a ‘waste’ product.  It is a fertilizer that we use and is carefully planned and placed for the crop needs. 
• Our operation is constantly changing as we learn about how we affect water quality and what we can do to help protect it. 
• A large part of what we do on our farm is evaluating our current farming practices and looking for ways to improve upon it. 

Below are some articles about the tour :)

Iowa Soybean Association:  Environmental Discovery Tour

The Daily Freeman - Journal:  Taking a one-water approach

DTN Progressive Farmer:  Discovering Conservation 

Brownfield:  Tour examines Iowa farmers' efforts to improve environment

Soyfoods Council Tour at the Blair Farm

We had a WONDERFUL tour out on our farm the other day. The Soyfoods Council had a group of dietitians, bloggers, authors, editors, and consumers from across the U.S. come to our farm! It was awesome to have people come and ask us questions about our farm.  I was honored to get to have them here.  I have a lot of respect for the people that came. It was really great to know that they want to learn where their food is coming from.  Another cool part of the tour was when they got a ride in our Caterpillar tractor.  AJ had it set up with auto steer to drive around the farm yard. 

Our main points we felt we wanted to give were the fact that technology really changes the way we farm. GPS helps us to precisely place fertilizer, spray chemical, and reduce compaction (by keeping the wheel tracks in the same place each time we go across a field). GPS also allows us to keep records for reference and documentation. This is important for us to learn from year to year of what has worked and what hasn't worked out in the field (by the use of yield maps, aerial photos, etc.). We don't just slather the farm in chemical or fertilizer. We need to understand where we place inputs and what the results are.

Another important point that we wanted to make was about the choices we get to make. The tour group went to a presentation on the science of GMOs before coming to our farm. On our farm, we grow both GMO and non-GMO crops. There is a market for both. There is a lot of controversy over GMO vs. non-GMO.  Farmers prefer to choose what works best on their farm.  We have the choice to use different types of tillage, different types of seed, different types of housing for our livestock, and the list goes on!

What questions do you have about agriculture?

The following photos are courtesy of Matthew Wilde, Senior Writer, Iowa Soybean Association.