Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Missouri Corn Talk, your go to weekly agriculture podcast delivering fast, reliable updates on market development efforts, ethanol demand and the issues shaping today's corn industry. I'm your host, David Geiger. Harvest is getting started in parts of Missouri. For many growers, that means the focus is shifting to getting the crop out of the field. But it's also a good time to start thinking about next year and what this year's farm data can tell you about your operation. Joining us today is Landon Anderson, precision Conservation management specialist serving north central Missouri. Landon works with growers to analyze their farm data and identify opportunities to improve profitability while making sound conservation decisions. Landon, thanks so much for joining us. And let's talk about PCM and the way it impacts profitability. Can you tell me about that relationship between inputs, management practices and returns?
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Absolutely, David, and thank you. Appreciate you having me. Appreciate the opportunity to talk a little about pcm. So exactly what you just said in a nutshell is one of the main categories that we're looking at with pcm. So inputs have never been higher and it's important to make the best use of every input that we're putting into our field. So what does that look like as far as our best management practices and our passes over the field? And what PCM is doing is we're looking at those inputs going into the field, we're looking at how the practices or the passes on that field is utilizing those inputs and then the return on that investment of the passover of the field, of the input going into it, and also the system the farmer is working in. So we're using a more comprehensive approach to help farmers get a return on investment of their time and also of the money that's going, going into that particular crop or that field. We do that on a field by field basis. So that's not just, oh well, here's kind of a general idea of what we're doing. No, farmers actually share with us the passes over every field and we plug that into a data platform that's taken millions of dollars and several years to produce. And what we're able to do is help farmers on a field by field basis see what practices are working the best, which fields are the most profitable, which fields are the least profitable, and then they can compare that to others in their area.
So no one knows who's in the program. We're not going to ever share that information with anyone else. But what you can see is in a 20 mile radius of your farm, what practices are the most profitable and you can Kind of get a sense of how folks are farming. That's the most profitable and the least profitable. So you can see that on your own operation. And then you can also see that over the region we're looking at things like tillage, cover crops, nitrogen management. And then on a broader scale, we're just looking at the cost of those passes over the field and also the inputs again going into that crop. And we're trying to help guys get a sense of, okay, well that cost is a little bit higher. You really paying that for, you know, that for your nitrogen or that for your herbicide? We don't collect cost data. What we do is with those passes over the field, we'll collect, you know, maybe what herbicides going into that field and what rate of fertilizer is being applied. And we'll use university data to get a sense of how much money is, is going into those practices.
And we do that so that we can compare practice to practice. Not, you know, this guy got his herbicide for less than this other guy. And what we're able to do is, is concentrate on, on practice and the return of that practice to help farmers make the best decision on their time in their money going into that crop.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: Is harvest a good time to get started on this?
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Every year that a farmer is in the program is one more year of data that they get back. So someone that enrolls this year is going to get another year of data back rather than waiting for next year. So what that means is you can make decisions for management practices faster and you can also see how your fields stack up to one another and to other farmers with another year of data in place. So I, I would encourage farmers if they're interested. This program is free. My position is grant funded. We also use some checkoff dollars for some incidentals of the program. We're pretty serious about how we use farmers money and want to make sure that we give them the best value back that we can.
There's no advantage in waiting. We actually Give farmers a$750 thank you Signup bonus so you can get information faster the faster you sign up. Now I wouldn't tell guys to part their combine on a nice fall day and give me a call and have me, you know, come out and sit down at the table. But I would say if there's a rainy day or here before harvest gets started, if somebody has time, reach out, let me know. And even after harvest, if we get things in place, I can come out after harvest and we can get things in the system. Before the enrollment season ends here for pcm. And I also let folks know enrollment is pretty quick. We can get most farmers enrolled in an hour to an hour and a half. And with that, there's. There's a lot of benefits that come from pcm, incentive programs, connection with just other experts in the field. And it oftentimes saves farmers time to have me working with them as a specialist, because hour, an hour and a half to sign up, we come out, we deliver your wrap. But the information that they get back in their report, the resource analysis and assessment report, and also me working with them and incentive programs and things like that, most farmers often find that they're saving a lot of time because they have a free resource available to them. And they can also see exactly what's happening on their farm in an organized and specific way that otherwise they wouldn't get.
[00:05:22] Speaker A: Landon, let's take a look at the whole picture. The program considers a lot of different practices. How do you help farmers use their data while allowing them to not only benefit from it, but stay in the driver's seat?
[00:05:33] Speaker B: So anything that a farmer is doing, he never has to change. Say that somebody is tilling a sea slope here in Missouri. They don't have to change that. I would tell them that, you know, mulberry plowing that slope probably is not going to be a good thing. That's what our information is going to share with them. But ultimately, they're still in the driver's seat. They don't ever have to change that. But what they will see is they'll see the profitability of that field. They'll see the estimated soil loss of that field. And whenever they see that, they'll probably say, wow, I'm losing 30 tons of soil. I probably don't want to till that slope anymore. That's an extreme example. But farmers are able to make the decisions that that fits for their farm that they think is best and that they're comfortable with. We share data with them.
But I've always thought of it like this, David. If I push someone into doing something that they're not comfortable with and it doesn't work out, and if something. If someone isn't comfortable with something, it's probably not going to work out. They're never going to want to do it again. So we've moved backwards in profitability, we've moved backwards in conservation, and there's no point in doing it. No one knows the farm better than the farmer himself or herself. So there's no point in pushing people to do something that they're not comfortable with. Now, as they see data, as they hear more about how something may or may not work, they may be more apt to want to adopt that practice on their farm. So we put conservation and profitability on equal podiums, if you will, on equal levels. We want to make sure that farmers stay profitable while implementing some of these practices, and we also want to make sure that the land stays good so that they can continue to be profitable. So conservation has to work with profitability, and profitability has to work with conservation. They should be one in and of themselves. We see that not all farms are are wins on every conservation practice. That's why we tailor these approaches to each field and to each farmer. And the farmer always stays in the driver's seat.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: What are some additional opportunities PCM helps with beyond farm data? Are there incentives or cost shares that incorporates?
[00:07:31] Speaker B: A big part of my job is being in touch with the incentive programs available to farmers in Missouri. This year going into next year has been the CRC LMU program.
Also, Farmers for Soil Health has been great. Any local soil and water district money. And then also nrcs, eqip, csp. If there are private programs, definitely trying to share those in other states. PCM has direct incentive dollars connected with precision conservation management. We're still forming those partnerships in Missouri. So that's not available yet, but we do anticipate it being available in the future. We're not sure when that will be, but we do anticipate it being available in the future. On top of that, to kind of answer the question in a broader sense, precision conservation management was born out of the nutrient loss reduction strategy in Illinois. And basically what that strategy says is we need to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen loss into the Gulf of America by, by 2035 and by 2045. And what PCM does is we're looking at all of these practices for the specific farmer, and then we're also looking at how we can improve water quality on a larger scale based on these practices that farmers are implementing.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: Let's talk about participation. Landon, what's the best way to get in and where do folks go to find more information?
[00:08:44] Speaker B: So if you go to www.PrecisionConservation.org, you'll be able to look at our program online. You'll be able to start an enrollment. You can also just give me a call. My number is 636-208-3198. Ultimately, whether you start online or you just give me a call, I'm going to reach out to you to get Enrolled again, usually an hour to an hour and a half. We put field borders in, we collect field passes over over your fields and you're in the system. So in an hour, hour and a half, if we get together and we get to work, we can be done. You can be enrolled in the program and you can get the benefits of this program. So I work on the farm. I've also worked at retail locations. I'm very aware that farmers are busy and there are certain times of the year not to bother farmers and there are times that you might be a little more available.
And I try to keep that in mind and try to take as little time as possible from the farmer to give them as much value as possible. And I can be used in a lot of different ways. My background is in agronomy. Now working in conserv, I would consider myself to be a conservation agronomist. And if there's anything that I can help, soil tests, weed problems, things like that, definitely happy to talk about that as well. A lot of people like that. We're a nonprofit, so you can ask me questions and I'm not going to sell you anything. I don't have anything to sell. So a free resource from the Missouri Corn Growers and happy to help however we can. Enrollment is as quick as anything else that I've seen as well.
[00:10:04] Speaker A: Landon Anderson is a precision conservation management specialist. Thanks so much for joining us today.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: Thank you so much, David. Appreciate the time to be able to share a little bit.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: Harvest is a busy time, but it's also an opportunity to start looking ahead. PCM gives growers a way to take the information already being generated on their farm and turn it into something useful in order to improve profitability and make informed decisions for the future. Again, if you farm in north central Missouri and want to learn more, you can contact our PCM specialist, Landon Anderson or visit precisionconservation.org thanks for listening to this week's Missouri Corn Talk made possible by the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council and the Missouri Corn Growers Association. I'm David Geiger. To stay up to date on today's corn industry, visit mocorn.org or follow on our social channels.
