Certified Crop Advisor North American Board Meeting September 16, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Certified Crop Advisor North American Board Meeting September 16, 2014 Sacramento, CA Jane Petzoldt, Project Coordinator Mark Adelsperger, Resource Management Specialist Kip Studer, CCA, TSP, Resource Management Planner Dr. Thomas Green, CCA, TSP, President and Cofounder IPM Institute of North America 2012, 2009 US EPA Sustained Excellence in IPM Award 2009, 2008, 2005, 2004 National Champion, US EPA Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program 2005 Children’s Environmental Health Recognition Award, US EPA Office of Children’s Health Protection www.partnershipfarm.org 1

Le Leveragin ing marketpla lace power to o im improve hea ealt lth, en envir ironment and ec economic ics Check Strip Eighth International IPM Symposium BMP Strips March 2015, Salt Lake City www.ipminstitute.org 2

Sustainability Dri rivers Customers choosing green 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Tried new Stopped Recommend Believe Will pay Would buy buying healthier more Source: http://www.contextmarketing.com/sources/feb28-2010/cm-ethicalfood-cover.pdf 3

Food/Bev Supply Chain Impacts 4 Source: http://www.greenbiz.com/research/report/2013/02/state-green-business-report-2013

Ag retailers as leaders • Iowa Clean Water Alliance • Illinois Keep it for the Crop • 4R Certification www.partnershipfarm.org 5

Objective Identify, increase acres of ag retail products and services that cut P losses in the Sandusky River Watershed. www.partnershipfarm.org 6

Products and services 1. Searched John Crumrine’s toolbox of BMPs for P-loss reduction. • Priority opportunities: Cover crops Soil testing Grid/zone sampling Variable rate P application Apply for following crop only Apply in rooting zone • Other BMPs ag retailers can do relatively inexpensively: Notify after P application so farmers can cover Comply with 590 setbacks Calibrate equipment annually Don’t apply to frozen ground or in advance of rainfall Notify farmers of issues they may be unaware of: tile blowouts gullies filter strips and waterways in need of repair www.partnershipfarm.org 7

Products and services? • Products/services with more research needed: Liquid P applications Foliar P applications Controlled release P formulations P-max, Avail Nutrient Management Conservation Activity Plans EQIP 590 Nutrient Management Plans • Services requiring additional revenue: Shift P application timing closer to crop need Stratified soil sampling 2. Surveyed ag retailers to develop a baseline of acres per year. www.partnershipfarm.org 8

Resources to increase acres Agronomist Handbook 1) Agronomist/Farmer Factsheets Variable rate, strip tillage, cover crops, CAP 104, P-loss hotspots, NRCS funding 2) Sample CAP 104 with cover sheet 3) CAP 104 Initial Application www.partnershipfarm.org 9

Resources continued 4) 4R Wallet Card www.partnershipfarm.org 10

Estimating P loss reductions Nutrient Loss Reduction Calculator outputs: • HRU and SRW-wide P-loss reduction estimates Cover crops Soil tests to apply at Tri-State Recommendations Custom banding VRT Apply in rooting zone Apply for following crop Grid sampling Comply with setbacks New features and updates: • Profit margin estimates for retailers • Updated P-loss reduction estimates – Total P and DRP www.partnershipfarm.org 11

P Loss Reduction Calculator www.partnershipfarm.org 12

Projecting P-loss reductions: Total P and DRP Total P Load Reduction by BMP - Average Growth DRP Load Reduction by BMP - Average Growth 700,000 * 7,000,000 * 600,000 6,000,000 500,000 5,000,000 Lbs total P Grid Sampling Grid Sampling 400,000 Lbs DRP 4,000,000 Soil Testing Soil Testing Strip Tillage 300,000 Strip Tillage 3,000,000 Variable Rate Variable Rate 200,000 2,000,000 Cover Crops Cover Crops 1,000,000 100,000 - - * IJC WLEB Total P Target for 2022 * IJC WLEB Total P Target for 2022 for all P sources: 7,054,792 lbs for all DRP sources: 661,386 lbs www.partnershipfarm.org 13

Projecting retailer revenue Ag Retailer Profit Margins by BMP - Average Growth $25,000,000 $20,000,000 Ag retailer profit margin Grid Sampling $15,000,000 Soil Testing Strip Tillage $10,000,000 Variable Rate Cover Crops $5,000,000 $0 2011-12 2012-13 2016 2019 2022 www.partnershipfarm.org 14

NRCS Programs First Streamlined TSP Training Workshop in Ohio  NRCS Training - Conservation Planning & Nutrient Management  OSU Ext. Training – Manure Management Planner Software 43 CCA Participants  31 new TSPs certified for CAP 104.  25 employed by ag retailers. Trainee support  Sample CAP 104 Plan.  Email every two weeks with updates, resources.  Technical assistance with RUSLE2, MMP, MapWindows GIS and numerous other questions.  Marketing: press releases, articles, radio shows, mailings. www.partnershipfarm.org 15

Sample plan Original plan was submitted in November, 2013 to OH, MI, IN, approved July 2014. Plan meets NRCS requirements  Does plan meeting the needs of farmers? Retailers?  Planning software not compatible with ag retailer software.  What is role of CAP 104 vs. 590? www.partnershipfarm.org 16

Ideas New Working Group? • Ag retailers, NRCS, SWCDs, state lead agency collaboration • Improve planning tools, plans, participation in NRCS programs • Identify additional priority opportunities to evaluate, e.g., liquid P • Network with KIC 2025, Agriculture’s Clean Water Alliance www.partnershipfarm.org 17

Ideas Strip Till Co-op Feasibility • New 16-row equipment covers 200-240 acres/day; allows for GPS/RTK precision planting. • Work with two ag retail outlets to purchase equipment, track economic outcomes. Software Tool • Deliver site-specific data from ag retailer software to CAP 104/590 plan template; 4R Certification reports • Real time product/service/BMP/P-loss reduction data collection; roll up by retailer, industry, watershed. • Improve triple bottom line for social, economic and environmental outcomes www.partnershipfarm.org 18

Ideas Disproportionality, addressing P-loss hotspots: • 20% of farmers/farms/acres account for 80% of water quality impacts (Nowak et al. 2006). www.partnershipfarm.org 19

Pilot? Use latest technology to ID hotspots, follow up with landowners: - How many hot spots per square mile? - What are the P-loss contributions? - What % of hotspots can be remediated, P-loss reduction achieved, and at what return on investment? www.partnershipfarm.org 20

IPM? - Similar potential for ag retailers to reduce pesticide impacts, improve yields and quality with scouting, weather monitoring, equipment calibration. - Independent consultants limited in number. - Specialty CCA credential for IPM? Specialty crops? - ipmprime.com estimates site-specific pesticide risk, documents risk reduction. Shows enormous progress in risk reduction in US ag since FQPA! www.partnershipfarm.org 21

THANK YOU! A project of the IPM Institute of North America with collaborators and funders www.partnershipfarm.org 22