FOCUS on Agriculture

Dr. Mike Canady is a scientist with a background in plant breeding who is currently director of agronomy for specialty crops at Verdesian Life Sciences.  In this conversation, we learn about how farmers can help plants use nutrients more efficiently.  We also discuss the use of biostimulants to enhance plant production.

To learn more about these types of products, you can visit the Verdesian Life Sciences website at http://vlsci.com/ or contact Mike directly: [email protected].

Dr. Sarah Klopatek is a sustainability and cattle systems scientist at UC Davis.  As a scientist, she explains why it is often difficult to reduce complex questions to a simple answer, leading to her statement, "myopia is the death of sustainability."  Her most recent publication explores the differences in nutritional profiles in beef from cattle raised in a variety of grain- and grass-fed systems.  In our fascinating conversation she explains these differences, as well as the environmental impact of the production systems.

To learn more about Dr. K's work, you can follow her on Twitter @DrBeefBabe or connect on LinkedIn.   

"Before John Deere, Ford, and International Harvester became icons of American business, they were competitors in a forgotten battle for the farm.  From 1908 to 1928, against the backdrop of a world war and economic depression, these brands were engaged in a race to introduce the tractor and revolutionize farming."

Neil Dahlstrom is the author of The John Deere Story: A Biography of Plowmakers John and Charles Deere, and Lincoln’s Wrath: Fierce Mobs, Brilliant Scoundrels, and a President’s Mission to Destroy the Press. Since the release of these two books he’s built a career in corporate archives, agricultural and brand history. Today, Neil is the Manager of Archives and History at John Deere.  

Neil has appeared on The History Channel, NatGEO, PBS, and Book TV. He’s a member of the Kitchen Cabinet, the Food and Agriculture Advisory Board of The Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and was recently chair of the Society of American Archivists Business Archives Section and the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board.  Listen to this episode in which he discusses the little-remembered story described in his latest book, Tractor Wars: John Deere, Henry Ford, International Harvester, and the Birth of American Agriculture.

You can learn more about this book, as well as Neil's other works at his website, www.neildahlstrom.com.  Follow him on Twitter @neil_dahlstrom or connect on Facebook @authorneildahlstrom.  His books are available through Amazon or other booksellers.

Bret Sill grows diverse crops including alfalfa, corn, wheat, garlic, carrots, walnuts and almonds with his family on their farm which is over 100 years old.  In this episode we discuss the similarities and differences between raising almonds and other crops.  Bret also explains the incorporation of cover crops into his operation and we discuss the annual migration of thousands of honey bee hives into California almond orchards during bloom.

You can learn more about Bret's farm at www.sillproperties.com and follow him on Instagram and Facebook: @sillproperties.

Due to a variety of factors, 2021 and 2022 have seen significant increases in both commodity prices and farm input costs.  In this episode, we discuss this market volatility with ag economist Dr. Paul Mitchell, who also offers advice for farmers to maintain or even increase profit margins in a challenging marketing environment.

Dr. Mitchell is director of the Renk Agribusiness Institute at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. His research focuses on the economics of crop production, emphasizing pest management and risk management for commodity crops, and specialty crop economics.  You can learn more about Dr. Mitchell on his web page: https://aae.wisc.edu/pdmitchell/.  His extension page has resources to help with farmer decisions: https://aae.wisc.edu/pdmitchell/extension/.  If you are interested in learning more about the Renk Agribusiness Institute, please visit: https://renk.aae.wisc.edu/

Randy Oliver sees beekeeping through the eyes of a biologist, building a small commercial beekeeping enterprise in the foothills of Northern California. His sons now manage around 1500 colonies for migratory pollination, and produce queens, nucs, and honey, freeing Randy to engage full-time in beekeeper-funded research projects. Randy analyzes and digests the scientific research, and is in touch with beekeepers and researchers from all over the world, in order to not only broaden his own depth of knowledge, but to figure out best management practices for beekeepers everywhere, which he then happily shares through his various articles in bee magazines, his speaking engagements, and on his website ScientificBeekeeping.com.

Listen to this fascinating episode to learn more about Randy's research and for tips on conducting good research.

For additional bee-related conversations, check out the following previous episodes:

Episode 1: Jerry Hayes - Bees and Production Ag

Episode 27: Jamie Ellis - The Role of Honey Bees in Agriculture

Episode 52: Tammy Horn Potter - Bees in America, Part I

Episode 53: Tammy Horn Potter - Bees in America Part II

Corn Rootworm is the most important insect pest facing corn growers in the United States.  Each year, around $2 billion is spent to manage this problem.  In this episode Preston and I discuss the latest development in the battle against the pest.

To learn more about corn rootworm, you can listen to an earlier episode in which we learned about its biology: https://anchor.fm/focusonagriculture/episodes/Episode-6-Joe-Spencer---Rootworm--the-Billion-Dollar-Bug-e4tgpk.  If you are wondering about the 2022 outlook for the insect, watch this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/-NHRqqogFNs.  You can learn more about SmartStax Pro® on the Bayer website.

We love to interact with listeners and appreciate feedback on this and other episodes.  Please reach out to us on Twitter: @NWILTDR & @prestoschrader.

Over the past several years, farmers in the Midwest have been planting a greater portion of their soybean crop increasingly early each year.  In this episode, Preston and Jason discuss the results of their own research on the risks and benefits of this trend.

Although we plan to return to our normal format of interviewing guest experts on ag topics in a couple of episodes, we would love feedback on the discussions of our own research.  Please contact us through the feedback link on your podcast platform or on Twitter (Jason - @NWILTDR, Preston - @prestoschrader).  Jason and Preston also share their research throughout the year on Twitter, including extensive updates on early planted soybeans.

Fertilizer is the most expensive input that farmers use to produce crops.  The rapidly increasing price of fertilizer in 2020 and 2021 has put additional pressure on producers.  In this conversation with Megan Dwyer, nutrient loss reduction manager for the Illinois Corn Growers Association, we discuss strategies that growers can implement to more efficiently utilize these products.

To interact with Megan, follow her on Twitter: @farmin88.  More information about the topics discussed can also be found at the Illinois Corn Growers website: https://www.ilcorn.org/

There are several organizations that partner with farmers to implement nutrient loss reduction strategies:

American Farmland Trust: https://farmland.org/

Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership: https://ilsustainableag.org/

The Nature Conservancy: https://www.nature.org/en-us/

Precision Conservation Management: https://www.precisionconservation.org/

Georgia gets a lot of press as The Peach State, but in this episode we learn that it is not even in the top 3 states for peach production.  Listen in to learn where it falls in the rankings.

Ksenija Gasic is a peach breeder at Clemson University and the president of the National Association of Plant Breeders.  In this episode she describes the challenges facing peach producers and how scientists such as herself are combatting those problems with traditional plant breeding and modern technology.  For further information on her research, you can visit https://www.clemson.edu/cafls/gasic/index.html or email her at [email protected].

If you are interested in further exploration of the subject of plant breeding or the genetic improvement of fruit crops, check out these related episodes:

Episode 57: Neal Carter - RNAi Technology and the Development of the Arctic Apple

Episode 16: Tom Floyd - The History of Plant Breeding Part I

Episode 17: Tom Floyd - The History of Plant Breeding Part II

Episode 18: Devin Nichols - The History of Plant Breeding Part III