Read Full Transcript
Mike Howell (00:08):
The Dirt with me, Mike Howell, an eKonomics podKast where I present the down-and-dirty agronomic science to help grow crops and bottom lines. Inspired by eKonomics.com, farming’s go-to informational resource, I’m here to break down the latest crop nutrition research, use, and issues, helping farmers make better business decisions through actionable insights. Let’s dig in.
(00:39):
Well, hello again, everyone. Welcome back to The Dirt. We have another exciting episode headed your way today and going to not talk a whole lot about agronomy and soil fertility today. We have a little different area that we want to dive off into, but we’ll hold that off for just a few moments. I want to take just a minute and introduce my two guests with us today. We have Amanda Mitchell and Stacie Yaremko with us today. Ladies, if you will, let’s take just a few minutes and let everybody know who you are and what you’re doing. Amanda, if you will, introduce yourself and tell our listeners a little more about you.
Amanda Mitchell (01:09):
Hi, Mike. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast today. I’m Amanda Mitchell. I grew up in Southwestern Saskatchewan in Canada on a grain farm, so we grow mustard, derm, peas, lentils, sometimes spring wheat, but not canola like most of Saskatchewan growers. We’re kind of in a unique little sector where we grow mustard. And currently, I am a master’s student in soil science at the University of Saskatchewan. I study carbon cycling and carbon stabilization in soils under the supervision of Dr. Bobbi Helgason, who is a soil microbiologist.
Mike Howell (01:47):
Stacie, tell us a little bit more about yourself.
Stacie Yaremko (01:47):
Sure. To start, thanks for having us on the podcast today. Excited to talk about this stuff. I’m an agronomic innovation manager with Nutrien Ag Solutions. Basically, I am a regional agronomist for the Peace Region, so up in the northwest corner of Alberta providing agronomic support to our retail branches up here and our customers. Aside from that, my husband and I are also farming with my family up here. So we grow canola, peas, wheat, barley, oats, and a few acres of some perennial forage as well. I’m also a master’s student at the University of Alberta in soil science working with Dr. Miles Dyck and Dr. Sylvie Quideau. The project is called Coordinated Sulfur and Nitrogen Fertilizer Management for Improved Soil Health, Forage, and Grain Productivity and Quality, and that’s funded jointly by Results Driven Agriculture Research and Fertilizer Canada. My project is sort of a subset of that larger project where we’re studying multi-nutrient fertilizer products containing elemental sulfur and rejuvenating some old forage stands.
Mike Howell (02:43):
Stacie, sulfur is something that we have talked a lot about on The Dirt. We have several episodes talking about sulfur and the different sources and the need for sulfur and why there is such a need for sulfur. But if you would take just a minute and tell us a little more about your research, what are some of your findings and what do you hope growers can get out of this research?
Stacie Yaremko (03:01):
Sure. I guess the main thing in Western Canada, there has historically been quite a lot of research on elemental sulfur because it’s high analysis. So for efficiency purposes, it would be really nice if we could go out with that high analysis elemental sulfur versus a sulfate sulfur product, which is generally going to be lower analysis, so you need to apply more pounds per acre. The challenge with our Western Canadian climate is it can be a little bit cooler and moisture can be a bit unpredictable, which we know are drivers for oxidation of elemental sulfur, so that has been the question mark in the past. However, newer products with elemental sulfur are getting finer particle sizes and there’s lots of marketing claims about synergies between nutrients within those multi-nutrient products as well. So that’s what we’re trying to dig into here to see if maybe we are getting some quicker sulfate release with these newer multi-nutrient fertilizer products and how effective they are at improving yield and quality of these older forage stands.
Mike Howell (03:53):
Okay, sounds like some great research. Amanda, tell us a little more about your project.
Amanda Mitchell (03:58):
I’m studying carbon-rich buried surface horizons, which were buried at the bottom of hill slopes in our very hilly terrain in the Great Plains, so it’s pretty common. Tillage and water erosion in the ’50s buried that soil and now there’s a bunch of carbon at about 50 centimeters deep and it’s really stable. This carbon is unique because it is so persistent and there’s such a large store of it, which makes it easier to study than stable carbon in the surface horizons. We’re using this as a bit of a model environment for what carbon stabilization in microsites of microbial activity, where carbon enters in the surface horizon, microorganisms eat that carbon really quickly and turn it over, and then there might not be any more carbon that enters that area and reaches those microbes for who knows how long. So that little pocket there might be stabilized, but we don’t really have a way to study it. That’s why I’m studying buried surface horizons.
(04:55):
And so building on the overall research of why does carbon stay in soils, it becomes bonded to minerals. For some reason, microorganisms can’t seem to access the carbon. That is what I have primarily looked at. So what I’ve been finding is that we’re getting… Those microorganisms have eaten the carbon in those horizons multiple times over and over and over, and some of that carbon has become bonded to clay and silk particles in the soil. Some of it has become aggregated and some of it has kind of just been mind of energy, we think. I’m not quite done my thesis yet, but we think it’s just so challenging for microorganisms to eat.
(05:34):
They’ve created a product where they need an input of energy or something to be able to access it so that’s been really interesting. And it is not directly relevant to a farmer, but in the broader scheme of our idea of understanding and accounting for carbon in our soils, it’s really part of the broader research. And what are we actually looking for when we’re talking about stable carbon? How do we measure it? Are we actually looking at the right things when we are trying to sell carbon credits? So it’s part of that research but not as directly relevant as Stacie’s by any means.
Mike Howell (06:12):
I think that is very relevant. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about carbon credits and who’s going to pay for the carbon credits. That’s a question that I’ve always had. How do we actually measure how much carbon is there and what good we’re getting out of it? So I think this is very relevant research. I think a lot of growers are going to be interested in that. I can’t wait to see your paper when it comes out.
(06:28):
Let’s move on just a little bit. I do understand that both of you recently attended the Canadian Soil Science Society meetings. I have never had the opportunity to make it up to that one. I get to go to the one here in the United States pretty regular. Amanda, if you will, tell us a little bit about the meeting and what happens at the Canadian Society of Soil Science Meetings.
Amanda Mitchell (06:48):
It’s similar to the American Society of Soil Science meetings, where a bunch of researchers come together, they present their recent research. It’s typically unpublished research, so it’s very cutting-edge and it gives you the opportunity to get feedback on your project. A lot of graduate students like myself and Stacie and our peers tend to present and, at least for me, it’s been very valuable to hear what other researchers are talking about and broaden my scope and understanding of what’s going on in the world of academia and where our research is going and what gaps are still left to be solved.
Mike Howell (07:27):
Stacie, anything you want to add to that?
Stacie Yaremko (07:30):
Just some more context, the theme for this year’s conference was soil functions for future generations, and so all of the topics were kind of within that realm, which was really interesting and that plays on my interest with my soil science masters, as well as my work with Nutrien Ag Solutions. For me, working primarily in industry but also being a master student as well, I am remote and I’m not on campus at the University of Alberta, so it was nice to get the opportunity to make those connections with other graduate students and see what everyone else is up to as well.
Mike Howell (07:57):
Well, just in case you missed one of our recent podcasts, I had Dr. Nathan Slaton with the University of Arkansas on and he enlightened me on something. He said that it’s been proven now that if you go to too many of these professional meetings and talk about soil science too much, you end up going bald or going gray. So I just want to give you a little heads up on that, see what’s coming down the road. Stacie, I know you went to a bunch of different sessions while you were there. Did anything stand out? What did you learn while you were there?
Stacie Yaremko (08:24):
One of the nice things about the conference was that, although the sessions were kind of concurrent, you could sort of choose your own adventure and pick what jumped out to you the most. The sessions I was mostly drawn to were on practices reducing nitrous oxide emissions. Of course, that’s a very potent greenhouse gas. There’s a lot of public scrutiny and a lot of work being done on that in the industry. Within Nutrien Ag Solutions, I’ve been working on the Sustainable Nitrogen Outcomes project over the last few years since that launched. Of course, that’s a huge part of that project is that nitrous oxide emission piece, so it was really nice to be able to see, like Amanda was saying, the cutting edge research in that space and what practices are making measurable and relevant influence on those emissions.
Mike Howell (09:03):
And Amanda, what about you? What did you learn while you were there?
Amanda Mitchell (09:07):
I was primarily going to soil microbiology sessions and one of my sub-goals of going was to get myself set up for the PhD that I’m going to embark on here in January at the University of Guelph, and that’s going to be in nitrogen cycling and N2O emissions, too. So I went to some of the sessions Stacie was in, but I’m especially interested in understanding more about nitrogen mineralization. I think that’s somewhere where we’re really lacking. We aren’t great at predicting how much nitrogen is going to become plant available during the growing season, so it makes nutrient recommendations challenging, and I think that’s a broad, widespread, pervasive issue. And there was some more research going on and so I was learning about mostly some of the upstream technologies that some of the profs are using to examine this and trying to figure out how this could fit into my future research, because I think this is an area that I would really like to be in and hopefully work on tackling as part of my PhD research.
Mike Howell (10:06):
That sounds great.
(10:09):
How much potassium should you be applying? What’s the best form of nitrogen for sandy soils? Should you be applying sulfur? Sometimes you just got to ask an agronomist. eKonomics has an entire team of agronomists ready to answer all of your questions for free. Find your answers with the Ask an Agronomist feature at nutrien-eKonomics.com.
(10:31):
I guess it’s time now we’ll jump into what we really wanted to talk about. I kept the opportunity to visit with a lot of graduate students in my travels from all over the country, all over the United States, and Canada as well. And you run into some really good graduate students from time to time and you keep your eyes out for them later on and you wonder what happened to them. Sometimes you never see them again. Sometimes they end up being colleagues and co-workers and do a lot of great stuff, but it always makes you wonder what happened to these people down the road.
(10:58):
We all understand that there’s a lot of struggles that come in and life happens and some people just end up not finishing school and take a different path, but I understand both of you have had some difficulties and things you had to overcome while you were working through school and would like to take a few minutes, if you don’t mind, and talk about some of these struggles and how you overcame these and how it made you stronger going forward. Amanda, if you don’t mind starting, tell us a little bit about what happened in your college career and what you had to go through.
Amanda Mitchell (11:26):
My master’s has been full of a lot of not enjoyable life things. Bad things come in threes. I lost my auntie who lived just down the road from me growing up and then I lost my grandpa and then seven months ago my mom passed away. That’s been a really big challenge trying to deal with the grief that comes through with losing that many people that are close to you and especially losing my mom. I’m seven months into losing my mom. I don’t feel like it’s something that I’ve overcame by any means, but I do have to say from being able to reflect on the last seven months, I’ve had an amazing support system. My mom had been my biggest supporter up until she passed and so I was pretty concerned about that, but my friends have showed up unbelievably for me and they show up and they pull me out of the dirt when I fall down and they inspire me to keep going. It’s a good lesson and being really conscious of the people you have around you and it really matters and makes a difference.
(12:23):
I’ve had an amazing supervisor who’s been incredibly compassionate and understanding and supportive and helpful when I did have the capacity to come back and work and get some things done on my thesis. Not everybody has that and, honestly, I don’t know how I would have made it through without it. I’ve learned a lot about myself through this and I’ve definitely feel like I’ve fundamentally shifted and I’ve learned a bit about grief and some habits, like how important exercise is for your mental health, learning how to meditate. The most mind-blowing thing that I ever learned was that your thoughts are separate from you. And if you don’t like what you’re thinking, you actually can choose not to think that.
(13:05):
Somebody once told me that and told me that eventually you learn how to miss them. It’s been pretty life-changing for sure, but a good support system really does make all of the difference and you have to consciously cultivate that around you when times are good, to be able to have that when times are bad. Hopefully you guys don’t have the same struggles that I had, but you get through and you figure it out and you come out on the other side. At the end of the day, you make it through.
Mike Howell (13:34):
Amanda, I can’t imagine going through everything that you went through here in the last few months. Amanda, you went through a lot of things that would just about make anybody quit whatever project they were working on, but I can’t imagine how you dealt with all of that stuff, but you did mention several things that got me to thinking. We did a series about mental health and one of the things that they pointed out in that was the need to have a support group. Now, this doesn’t necessarily need to be cheerleaders, somebody that’s going to tell you exactly what you want to hear, but somebody that could walk a mile in your shoes and let you know what you need to hear at that time. And I think that’s important for anybody no matter what they’re doing, to have a group of people around them that you can turn to when you need some help with something.
(14:13):
That can be physical help, getting something accomplished, or help getting through something that’s just got you weighed down and overburdened during that time. You also mentioned that you’re probably not quite over the passing of your mother. I’ve heard a lot of people say that’s something you never get over. You just learned to deal with it. I hear people say that it’s going to take a while to get over that. I can’t talk about that from experience. Fortunately, both of my parents are still with us, but I know that day’s going to come. Stacie, let’s talk about your situation a little bit. I know you had a little different challenge that you had to go through.
Stacie Yaremko (14:44):
My struggles kind of pale in comparison to the magnitude of Amanda’s losses, but my first child… My daughter was born during the second year of my master’s program, so she’s one and a half now. And in Canada, we get either 12 or 18 months of maternity leave. I took 12 months and I had this misguided belief that if I was not working and I was home with my baby, I’d get all this work done on my master’s while she was napping and it would all be great. People with kids can probably guess already that’s not really how it played out. In the early stages when she was a really small baby, I was giving myself lots of time and grace and not really working on my master’s as much, but that happens to be when she was the sleepiest and I probably could have got the most work done. Because when she got mobile and more interactive, everything went sideways.
(15:29):
I do have a good support system. My husband has been really supportive and hands-on with her and takes a lot of the responsibilities off my plate, but it’s still not easy adapting to life with a new baby. I was able to carve out time here and there to get a little bit of work done. My supervisors were really, really supportive and great with flexible deadlines and accommodating that change in my life, so that was amazing. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to keep trudging along if it wasn’t for that.
Mike Howell (15:55):
I definitely know what you mean, having the little ones come along. I have seven of my own and everybody says, “Well, wait until they get to walking and that’ll make it easier.” That only makes it worse because you can’t pin them down then, you can’t tell what they’re fixing to get into. They get mobile and it gets a whole lot worse, but wouldn’t trade them for anything. But that’s a totally different set of circumstances and I’ve been there as well. You try to get one thing done and there’s somebody else needing your attention at that time and it’s really hard to get it done. I don’t talk about it a whole lot, but when I was working on my master’s degree, I had a little bit of issues as well.
(16:28):
I was getting close to the end trying to work on my thesis and get ready for that and my dad had an accident. He had a cow that ran over him and he was totally paralyzed for a little over a week and finally slowly started getting that back, but I ended up having to take off of work and quit working on school and be there to help him. He couldn’t do anything for himself and I spent three or four months just being a nurse to him, trying to get him back on his feet again. Fortunately, he came through that and he’s back going again strong now, but things happen and we have to learn to overcome those. Stacie, what would you tell people that may be in a tough situation right now that may be listening to this podcast? What advice can you give them about sticking with it and trying to reach your goal?
Stacie Yaremko (17:10):
I would say if you’re thinking about quitting, you’re definitely not alone. I would think the majority of people have probably thought about quitting once or twice or maybe more times. A mentor in my career, Lyle Cowell, he’s been a guest on the podcast before. I’ve reached out to him with my struggles across the duration of my program and he just says, “Don’t quit. And everybody thinks about quitting at least once. That’s not unique to you. Just keep going,” so I guess that would be my advice. Think about why you started, why this seemed like a good idea in the first place, and let that kind of carry you through. But I mean, beyond that, do things that fill your cup so that you can keep going. It’s hard when you’re under time constraints and you’ve got competing priorities to take that time for yourself, whether that’s hanging out with friends or doing a hobby that rejuvenates you, but carving out that time will make it easier to continue on the other priorities as well. Although it seems like you’re taking time away from those things on the to-do list, it’ll ultimately help you check off those boxes.
Mike Howell (18:07):
Okay. Amanda, what about you? Any advice you would give somebody that may be going through a difficult time?
Amanda Mitchell (18:13):
I really agree with what Stacie has to say. Actually, that was pretty much most of the notes that I had written down when I was thinking about this podcast and I really want to stress that why point. What is your why? Why are you doing this? Why are you here? How do you want to contribute to the world? Is this it? Being really clear on what you’re doing and why you’re here really does make a difference and it gets you out of bed in the morning, clear goals on how to move forward. And I think, at least for me, on days when I felt like I was carrying around 20 pounds of bricks everywhere I went, finding a small task that you can start with and check off to get yourself into work really made a difference for me. Sitting down is the hardest part, but once you’re engaged, it’s easier to remember what excited you about this.
(19:02):
I’ve also started writing down things that really excite me about the work I’m doing. So for me, the overall idea of my research is what inspires me to keep going. That inspiration and that excitement towards work definitely doesn’t carry on through every task, but as long as there’s something that you can go back to that can keep you engaged, it makes it a lot easier. You got to make sure that you don’t get so burnt out that you lose that. Like Stacie said, doing those external activities that you actually enjoy even though it’s taking time away in the long run really does help you. I think Stacie’s very wise on this. I really agree with what she had to say.
Mike Howell (19:44):
Hey, guys, Mike here. And I want to personally thank you for listening to today’s episode. If you like the show and want to continue hearing it, please like, subscribe, share, and rate it. The future of The Dirt depends on your support. We’ve got plenty of big things coming up this season, so as always, stay tuned.
(20:06):
Ladies, I know you’ve both had a lot of challenges and it would’ve been really easy for you to quit. I hope you can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and it’s going to be worth it in the end, sticking to it and accomplishing these goals that you’ve set for yourself. I’ve seen way too many people that just give up and quit along the way and they always seem to regret that later on. It may not happen in the first couple of years, but the further you go in your careers, there’s always going to be, “What if I had finished that? What if I had done something a little different?” So I want to commend each of you for not giving up and sticking to it. We’re getting close to the end on this podcast. I want to give each of you a chance if there’s something that you want to leave our listeners with before we sign off. Amanda, anything else you want to add?
Amanda Mitchell (20:47):
I would like to add, just stick with it. Everybody goes through struggles. Not everybody’s struggles will be as hard as yours, but at the end of the day, if you stick with it and get through it, you’re going to be really proud of yourself. And every time you keep that commitment to yourself, you build trust. And every hurdle you go over, the next one seems a little bit easier. You look back and go, “Well, I made it through that really hard thing. I can make it through this.” And as time goes on, there’s more hard things you’ve been through and your capacity and what you believe that you can make it through just increases. I think that, especially when you’re young, I’m hoping at least helps you later on in life when there’s other challenges that arise.
Mike Howell (21:34):
And Stacie, what about you? Anything you want to leave our listeners with?
Stacie Yaremko (21:36):
I guess I would say it’s important to stick to it, but it’s also okay to change course if that’s what feels right. I feel like when we’re little kids, the jobs are like fireman, veterinarian, police officer, and then you go out in the world and you learn about all these other jobs that are out there. And then I found when I went to university, it was really eye-opening just to learn how many different niches there are within different fields. There’s so many things out there. And if you’re going through your program and thinking, “Hey, maybe this is more at my alley,” I think it’s maybe okay to change course. I would also say that… This is advice from my mom as I was growing up, is that no education is ever wasted. Even if you don’t think it’s going to be directly applicable to your career going forward, there’s going to be bits and pieces and learnings that you can carry forward, so that’s my advice towards sticking to it. It’s not going to be a waste. If you can power through it, you will find ways to apply that information and your experience gained in that program, for sure.
Mike Howell (22:29):
Well, ladies, I appreciate both of you taking time to visit with us today and talk about these difficult situations. I’m sure it’s going to benefit you in the long run for going through these hard times. Listeners, we want to thank you for tuning in today. I want to invite you to stay tuned for segment two here in just a few moments.
(22:47):
Hey, listeners, this is Mike Howell and I just wanted to say thank you for your support of The Dirt as we approach our 100th episode. Whether you’re just tuning in for the first time or you’ve been with us since day one, we couldn’t do this without you. I also want to invite everyone to come by Booth 460 at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa on August the 27th at 11:00 AM. We’re going to be recording our 100th episode live on location that day. We’ve got some great guests lined up for this 100th episode that you don’t want to miss. We can’t wait to see you there.
(23:24):
Listeners, welcome back for segment two. As you know, we’re doing a tour around the country looking at different research farms. Today I happen to be in Champaign, Illinois. I’m here at the University of Illinois here for the Nitrogen Use Efficiency Conference and been here a couple of days and really enjoyed my visit. I’m joined here today by Darin Joos. Darin, welcome to The Dirt. And if you will, tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what you do here with the university.
Darin Joos (23:49):
Yeah. Again, this is Darin Joos, University of Illinois. I’m a research agronomist here at the university. I’ve been here for about 30 years, starting as a graduate student. Know a little bit about the place. I ran the Variety Testing or they called in the south OVT for 20-some years and then recently transitioned into the research station manager here at the Urbana-Champaign campus. Kind of a fun transition from a lot of traveling around the state to seeing a lot of different counties to being right here in Champaign County and get to stay home a lot more. It’s kind of a fun transition, do a little more farming like I’ve always wanted to do.
Mike Howell (24:27):
Well, Darin, I had a few minutes of time this afternoon before we got together and I kind of drove around and it’s quite an impressive facility. I’m seeing all kind of row crop research going on. It looks like there’s a swine unit right up the road. It looks like a sheep and cattle unit on down the road a little bit. Tell us a little bit about what all is going on here. Am I correct, this is the South Farm with the university?
Darin Joos (24:47):
Yeah, that’s the generic term. We call ourselves the CSREC, so the Crop Science Research and Education Center. Our component, the crops component, comprises about 1,500 acres of mainly row crops. We do, as you can imagine, a lot of fertility work, breeding work. There’s entomology and pathologists on staff doing research here. And then just to kind of speak as an overview of the farms in general, our animal sciences group has another 2,000 acres that they have a dairy, they have beef cattle unit, they have a chicken poultry unit. All that is run by a different individual but same kind of duties, just way more involved. And then our vet med group has a small sheep herd that they maintain at their facility that’s right next to ours. There’s also ABE, which is Agricultural and Biological Engineering, and they have a farm but they do work with different equipment and technologies. Right now, that’s absorbed in robots and drone type work right now. So that’s kind of overview of the university’s research farms in general. Like I said, there’s a swine farm as well.
Mike Howell (25:50):
Darin, how long has the farm been here? I know the university’s been here quite a while.
Darin Joos (25:54):
That’s a good question. It’s 18-something. I think it’s ’65, I believe. We’re coming up on the 150-year anniversary of our Morrow Plots, which is the oldest continuous research plots in the US. I think in 2026 is 150 years and that’s the jewel of the campus as far as agriculture is concerned. A lot of visitors to that every year. It’s currently being managed by our soil scientist, Andrew Margenot.
Mike Howell (26:19):
I got to go buy those plots today. Never have had the opportunity to go buy those, but it’s quite impressive to see that. I know there’s a lot of significant research that’s come out of those over the years. Darin, the farm’s been here for quite a while. We know about the Morrow Plots. What else is going on here? Are there any significant contributions that the farm has made to agriculture?
Darin Joos (26:37):
Over the years, probably the largest contribution has been in soil fertility. There’s been a lot of nitrogen recommendations come out of the university. Phosphorus recommendations are still being used out of the university. Actually, they’re in the process of updating those right now. We’re doing a lot of drawdown work to get stuff down low so we can start looking at how to… If the current climate conditions have changed potassium uptake or phosphorus uptake, so a lot of that work’s come out of here. Had a large sweet corn breeding unit at one time. It’s not so much anymore, but there was a lot of sweet corn varieties that come out of the University of Illinois. It was somewhat known for that, but now it’s all industry hybrids and done in industry.
(27:15):
About 20 years ago, I think, BP invested in energy farm here and then in Davis, California. When that big funding to build it went away, we inherited the energy farms. There’s a 350-acre farm straight east of our farms here that has a lot of work with energy crops, mainly miscanthus. And then over on that farm is a project called RIPE, which has to do with improving photosynthesis on a whole. They have a lot of neat equipment and experiments over there, concerning how plants absorb light and how their efficiencies are doing it with a lot of overhead camera and imaging going on. I mean, they even have… Just like they have in NFL stadiums, they have a sky cam over four acres of ground that they can fly their cameras and take images as the plants are growing through the season to look at nitrogen use efficiency and light use and all kinds of different metrics that they want to measure. A lot of stuff for the future, for sure.
Mike Howell (28:13):
Quite impressive stuff and I’ve never ceased to be amazed at the technology that’s coming out these days. Darin, you kind of led into my next question and it’s something I’ve been asking all my guests. I grew up on one of these research farms and I’ve seen the changes over the years. I know how things have to change and adapt to the change in agriculture. I heard this week about how the farm has changed and expanded over the years, but driving in today, I can’t help but notice all the houses right up next to the farm, just right across the road. I know that’s a challenge in doing research with all the guests you must have coming in here, but urban sprawl is a big issue. We’ve got all the new technology coming. What’s going to have to change with the farm to keep up with the changing pace of agriculture? Where do you see the farm in the next 50 years?
Darin Joos (28:55):
That’s a good question. Not necessarily in my area of expertise, but I’d speak to the encroachment of urban sprawl on our farms. It definitely is really a problem for the animal science group with the normal smells of an animal science farm, but we still deal with it with… They complain about the dryer bins running. They complain about sometimes just the overall look of our farm, but we try to make things agreeable and be as cooperative as we can with the public. I think it’s the best way. It’s one unique thing about our campus versus many other land-grant universities is that our farm is on campus. So our researchers can come from our main facility down to here and do research basically in their car or on a bike, and students have great access to our facilities. So that’s a really nice aspect of University of Illinois here is their proximity.
(29:41):
I think agriculture is keeping up with all the different technologies we’re taking advantage of with the auto steer and the imaging. All the imaging work, I think, is going to really lead to more automation in our industry and that’s all gets done first here. And then the companies then use that information to try to incorporate it into their equipment. It does a pretty good job of keeping up, but obviously sometimes they might lag a little bit, but as the industry sees they need to change, they definitely do change when that needs to be done.
Mike Howell (30:11):
Dan, we sure appreciate you taking time to visit with us today. I know you still have a lot to do to today. Corns out here trying to get ready to harvest before very long. In my part of the world, I think the combines are already running today. I’ve seen a little bit harvested already, so quite a difference when we come this far north. But we appreciate you visiting with us today. Listeners, we hope you’ve enjoyed this segment. And as always, if you need any more information on anything we’ve talked about today, you can visit our website. That’s nutrien-eKonomics.com. Until next time, this has been Mike Howell with the Dirt.
