Ag News for America
By definition sustainability is the ability to be supported, upheld, or confirmed. For Indiana farmer Brent Bible it has a slightly different meaning. Bible is a partner at Stillwater Farms, located south of Lafayette. During last week’s BASF Agricultural Media Summit panel he said sustainable practices are vital to the future of the agriculture industry.
So what does sustainability mean to him – as a farmer?
AUDIO: Brent Bible – Sustainability and the farmer (3:00mp3)
The agriculture industry has to do more with less. That’s one of the main issues being addressed at this week’s conference. Nevin McDougall, Senior Vice President of Crop Protection for BASF says finding the key to sustainability isn’t going to happen overnight. “It’s those day-to-day improvements we make, either in our business or on the farm that allows us to get more with less energy, less water, and less nutrients,” he says. “From my perspective it really is a journey – and every day that we can make an improvement and with every new product we can make another improvement – it is a success in itself.”
McDougall tells Brownfield looking ahead to the future areas like water, soil, and nutrient management are going to be vital to the continued success of the agriculture industry. “All of those areas are going to become much more important in identifying new solutions so that we can become better stewards and managers of those scarce resources,” he says.
Which McDougall notes means expanding BASF’s research in the future.
AUDIO: Nevin McDougall, BASF (3:52mp3)
Dr. Jeff Armstrong, Dean of the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources says the difficulty, is not defining sustainability in agriculture, the difficulty is when economics and social issues butt heads. At the recent BASF Media Summit in Chicago Dr. Armstrong talked about taking a holistic approach.
AUDIO: Dr. Jeff Armstrong, Michigan State University (3:00 MP3)
One of the participates in a panel discussion dealing with sustainability in agriculture at the Ag Media Summit, hosted by BASF last week in Chicago was Mike Geske, a corn farmer from the Bootheel of Missouri. Geske says one concern is how sustainability is defined. The wrong definition he says, could limit a farmers ability to access technology.
Paul Rea, Vice President of BASF U.S. Crop Operations tells Brownfield that according to a new survey conducted by BASF, when it comes to sound agricultural practices, there’s more trust and optimism than what some would want you to believe.
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