It’s no surprise that America’s farmers represent a diverse group, especially when it comes to their adoption of sustainable farming practices.
We are living in a world where increasing incomes and populations are going to require farmers to be even more productive, growing more food on less land and using fewer resources while conserving soil, water and air quality.
New research from Farm Futures reveals that farmers can combine both profits and conservation. Its recent survey of more than 1,000 farmers found that those on the cutting edge of conservation were more profitable than other producers.
According to the survey, farmers fall into five groups depending on their practices and profits.
- Green & Gold (4 percent): These farmers represent a small minority of farmers and are the most conservation-minded growers. They use the most sustainable practices.
- Big & Brown (17 percent): Farmers who farm an average of more than 3,600 acres are in this group. While they earn good incomes, their return on equity is below average. They are large enough to adopt site-specific technology, but haven’t utilized applications and their conservation efforts fall short of average.
- Black & Red (16 percent): These farmers are no more advanced in conservation issues than the “Green and Gold” group, but they have found the “sweet spot” of profitability. They are larger than average, but smaller than the “Big & Brown” group because they haven’t bought as much land, which helps to keep their debt levels under control.
- Green & Gray (7 percent): The adoption of this group’s sustainable practices is more than the “Green and Gold” group, but their demographics contradict the difficulty of being an innovator. While they farm larger than average acres, their size falls short of the most profitable group.
- Average Joes (56 percent): These farmers’ conservation efforts are typical and their ability to progress is limited. They are smaller, less profitable and older than the average grower surveyed, which appears to limit their willingness to adopt newer and greener technology and practices.
Results from the survey reveal that high-profit farms generally are more engaged in planning, which helps translate conservation efforts into profitability.
The “Green & Gold” farmers are far more likely to have written plans for conservation, pesticide use, nutrient management and wildlife management, as well as standard operating procedures for all farm operations. These practices can help midsize and smaller farmers stay competitive and green.
To view how you compare to other farmers and to determine what type of farmer you are, visit FarmFutures.com.
What do you think of these survey results? For those of you who are farmers, what type do you think you are?
Photo obtained from: johnpaulus.com
It seems that everyone’s eating it now. It went from being a relatively unknown food item to a popular appetizer and snack option at the dinner table.
Edamame (pronounced ed-ah-mommy), literally meaning, “twig bean,” is a food dish made from immature soybeans. The soybeans are boiled or steamed, prepared with salt and eaten as finger food after splitting the pod and eating the beans inside. It’s a favorite in Asian cuisine.
Edamame Facts (Farm World)
- Introduced nationally in the 1930s as a value-added crop to address food scarcity
- It has been estimated that the U.S. could produce 32,000 acres of the crop to meet demand domestically
- National production is limited to fewer than 5,000 acres nationwide, mostly in Ohio, Kentucky, California, Illinois and Indiana
- Net returns can average $400 to $1,300 per acre in the U.S.
- 90 to 120-day growing season
- Rotational crop
Though in “infant stages” in the U.S., as quoted in a recent Ohio’s Country Journal story, a new herbicide designed specifically for edamame gives the crop significant yield potential.
Dual Magnum has recently been approved as the registered herbicide for edamame.
“Although soybean dominates the Midwest agricultural landscape, nearly all of the edamame we consume is imported from Asia,” said Marty Williams, a weed scientist with USDA-ARS and the University of Illinois. “One of the reasons why this occurs is because there have been few pesticides registered for use on edamame, limiting domestic, commercial production.”
As consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious, edamame production is foreseen as very profitable for American soybean farmers.
There are multiple nutritional advantages to eating edamame – carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients, particularly folic acid, manganese and vitamin K – are just a few.
Because of edamame’s increasing popularity, and because 90 percent of domestic edamame consumption is from Asian-imported edamame, New Jersey’s Rutgers University is home to a research project working to advance the yield rates of U.S. edamame.
The “IR-4 Project” is a cooperative program of the USDA and the SAES, with the principle goal of developing data to support and expedite regulatory clearances of newer, reduced risk pest-control products for specialty crop growers.
Pest management tools are needed to maintain a safe and dependable supply of fruits and vegetables, while allowing U.S. crop producers to compete in global markets.
“I have received a large number of calls requesting pest control products for this commodity throughout the past year, probably more than I have received for any other commodity in the past 20 years,” said IR-4 Project’s associate director Dan Kunkel. “Fortunately, data from other legume crops can be used to support registrations on edamame and therefore, a number of new uses have been added to product labels recently, or should be available soon to address grower needs.”
As edamame becomes more recognized and requested by the public, it will be interesting to note the change of production rates in Ohio and nationally.
Have you eaten edamame? Do you know an edamame farmer? If you farm, have you ever thought about growing edamame?
Photo obtained from: coloraddict.com
It’s no surprise that America’s farmers represent a diverse group, especially when it comes to their adoption of sustainable farming practices.
