Extension's Cover Crops Initiative

Rick Koelsch, Nebraska Extension, March 3, 2015

Is Cover Crops becoming a part of conventional agriculture? The conversations occurring at this year's Commodity Classic might suggest "Yes". The more important question may be "Will Nebraska Extension be a part of this conversation on Cover Crops?"

First, I would like to thank Gary Lesoing and Roger Elmore and the rest of our Cover Crop leadership team for organizing the March 12 professional development session on this topic.  This is an excellent opportunity to get up to speed on the Nebraska specific research and to hear from farmers and natural resource agencies on their needs in Nebraska.  Educators planning to be a part of our Crops/Water and Beef focused educator in the 2020 plan need to seriously consider this professional development.  This is step one of some excellent plans this leadership team has targeted.

Now, back to Commodity Classic.  "Using Cover Crops to Boost Performance and Resilience" was attended by many hundreds of people at this year's Commodity Classic. It was led by a panel of  Nebraska's Keith Berns and two other producers.  One of Keith's messages was to "learn the principles of cover crops and then figure out the methods that work for your farm."  Ray Gasser, SW Iowa producer emphasized the value of cover crops helping improve his operations resiliency to the high intensity rain events.  Steve ??, south central Pennsylvania crop producer emphasized that cover crops were paying for themselves by reducing nutrient leaks, a huge issue in the Chesapeake Basin.  And the Mississippi River Basin is not far behind the challenges experience with farming in the Chesapeake Basin.

"Farmers of the Soil Health Partnership" was the focus of a second farmer panel focused on the National Corn Growers Association led demonstration of cover crops.  The questions was asked how many in attendance planted cover crops this winter to which between a third to half responded positively.  When asked how many had planted cover crops for 3 years or more, very few hands were raised.  Conventional producers are beginning to seriously look at this practice.

Nebraska's Greg Whitmore spoke about his first year in the Soil Health Partnership and his 10+ years growing cover crops. This partnership is recruiting farmers to demonstrate cover crops and host educational events over a 5 year period.  SHP intends to add an additional 30 farmers in 2015 including several from Nebraska.

Should Extension be partnering with SHP to identify additional Nebraska producers and with Greg to help him implement SHP?  The project manager, Dr. Nicolas Goeser would like to visit more with Nebraska Extension on just such a collaboration.  More information can be found by clicking on Soil Health Partnership.  Who in Extension might be interested in learning more?

Is Cover Crops a part of conventional cropping systems future?  The next few years is going to be very telling.  And is Nebraska Extension prepared to participate in this conversation? I trust that March 12 will be a critical starting point for a positive response.

ANR Extension Educators for the 21st Century - Beef

The previous Keeping Up started a discussion around ANR Educators for the 21^st Century.  This blog discusses the critical issues and skill sets for educators delivering transformational education for the beef industry.  Some of the questions that should be considered include: 

• Will some of our educators of the future need to be DVM’s?  Issues related to animal care and health have long been a part of our extension program from a producer perspective.  However, these same topics are increasingly important to the consumer, public policy representatives, and community preparedness planners.  Pre-harvest food safety is also receiving greater emphasis. 

• How does the beef educator of the future respond to the information needs of consumers?  Will beef educators need to invest time in animal agriculture literacy, food safety, or direct marketing from a consumer perspective?  If so, what skill set will be necessary for this group of educators?

• During the 1990’s, the animal industry lost their social license to manage their environmental affairs due to their inattention to this issue. Prescriptive public policy resulted.  In the 2010’s, the animal industry is at risk of losing its social license for managing animal care and growth enhancement technologies. Will Extension need to be actively leading efforts to encourage social responsibility among animal producers?

• Are there entrepreneurial opportunities in beef production?  Direct marketing to consumers and targeted services supporting more traditional production systems may provide future opportunities for young people to enter the beef industry and families to provide opportunities for the next generation.  Will Extension be a pro-active educator on entrepreneurial opportunities in beef production? 

• How will changes in our climate impact beef extension programs of the future?  Range sustainability, alternative feeds, and economics of critical ranching decisions necessary to respond to changes in our climate are a few examples of critical issues being experienced by today's beef producers. 

Below are my thoughts on critical issues for the future of beef systems as well as the skill sets essential for educators to lead educational experiences addressing these issues. I invite faculty to add reactions, suggestions, and modifications to this blog for the ideas presented below.

Table 2.  Potential areas of emphasis, skill sets, and critical issues for Beef Systems Educators.

Focused Educator Title	Critical Issues	Skill Set
Animal/Range Science	Genetic advancement of beef herd Feed alternatives and cost. Sustainable management of range and pasture. Systems based decisions for management of reproductive herd. Agricultural water quality issues associated with confined and pasture feeding. Quality assurance principles for protecting animal well-being and quality of meat product.	Animal and/or range science skills
Veterinary science	Animal health Quality assurance principles for protecting animal well-being and quality of meat product. Pre-harvest management of e coli and other pathogenic organisms. Animal agro-security - Rural community planning for protection of animal and people health from animal and zoonotic disease.	Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Economic risk management	Management of beef production costs and risk including volatile conditions such as climate, feed cost, and commodity price. Land issues (rental rates, ownership transition) Adding new profit centers through entrepreneurial approaches and accessing of high value markets. Economics of alternative feeds including winter grazing of cattle on corn residues. Farm Bill understanding and participation.	Agricultural economics Business planning, development, and marketing
Consumer Issues	Animal agriculture literacy. Animal care and well being Food safety including use of feed additives such as antibiotics and growth promotants. Alternative production systems. Environmental stewardship Direct marketing – producer to consumer.	Animal science. Communications, marketing, and media competencies.

ANR Extension Educators for the 21st Century - Crops

For Extension field faculty to be seen as leaders and as experts in agricultural and natural resource issues, what are the critical issues to which faculty must be responsive? And what are the skill sets essential for Extension Educators to successfully respond to these issues? These are questions currently being discussed among the ANR program leaders in the north central region as well as our own Extension Leadership Team.

Over the next three Keeping Up articles, I would like to encourage your participation in a discussion of these questions. This article shares some thoughts relative Extension Educators for Cropping Systems issues. Beef Systems and Community Natural Resource discussions will follow.

Below I share a set of critical issues for the future of crop production (local foods will be addressed in a future Keeping Up) as well as my thoughts and questions relative to the skill sets essential for educators to lead educational experiences addressing these issues. I invite faculty to add reactions, suggestions, and modifications to this blog for the ideas presented below.

Table 1. Potential areas of emphasis, critical issues, and skill sets needed by cropping system Extension educators.

 

Critical Issues	Skill Set and Questions about Future Skill Needs
Program Area:  Cropping Systems
a.  Productivity of cropping systems – Can productivity advances match population growth and food demand? b.  Efficient natural resource use.  What is the water, land, and energy footprint of our cropping systems?  How do we improve the efficiency of natural resource use? c.  Crop protection.  Are we able to improve the stewardship and longevity of new seed technologies?  What are the human food safety, worker health and water quality implications of crop protection products and technologies? d.  Agronomic and cultural practices – What are the technologies and management practices that provide the best opportunity for success of a, b, and c above? e.  Site specific management – how can we improved measurement and information processing technologies to best address a, b, and c above?	Educational, professional development, experiences that lead to integrated understanding and diagnostic capability for crop protection, fertility, and soil health. Spatial data integration into cropping decisions. Are graduates of Doctor of Plant Health an example of an educational experience providing the integrated skill set for Cropping Systems educators? Should we hire educators with educational /experience focused in single aspect of crop production (entomology, soil science, pathology)? If we hire individuals with a more narrowly targeted skill set, what professional development is needed to be successful in cropping systems education among clientele?
Program Area:  Farm & Risk Management
a.  How do we best measure the performance and sustainability of cropping systems in the 21st Century?  (a, b, and c under cropping systems). b.  Adding new profit centers and other entrepreneurial approaches within farm. c.  Management of cropping systems production costs and risk under  volatile conditions (e.g. climate and commodity price). d.  Land issues (ownership transition, rental rates). e.  Access to high value markets including foreign markets.	Agricultural and resources economics skill set as it relates to measuring performance and sustainability (not just economics), risk management, markets including foreign markets, and farm policy. As society expects new accountability and performance measures, what skill set will best help us develop and apply these measures?
Program Area:  Agricultural Water, Climate, and Natural Resources
a.  Water use in irrigated agriculture and cultural practices for conserving water in irrigated and rain fed agriculture. b.  Efficient natural resource use.  What is the water, land, and energy footprint of our cropping systems?  How do we improve the efficiency of natural resource use?  How do we measure cropping systems footprint? c.  Climate variability and drought - Adaptation of existing and alternative cropping systems to changing weather and climatic conditions. d.  Agricultural water quality issues (crop protection products, nutrients, pathogens, emerging contaminants).	Skill set targeting water science, natural resources management, and climate science as it relates to cropping systems.   Do we hire a unique skill set for our educators who will lead education on water and other natural resource issues or is this knowledge an expectation of our existing cropping systems?