A decade of data from the Precision Conservation Management program showed that farmers are highly consistent in their practices from year to year, and this consistency impacts agricultural conservation efforts.
Illinois Corn Growers Association Water Quality Specialist Laura Gentry says that while farming practices vary widely from one operation to the next, individual farmers rarely deviate once they find a system that works. Gentry says this operational consistency dictates how advocates must approach conservation.
“What it means is that when you ask a farmer to do something differently, you’d better have a good reason to ask them to do it. You’d better be able to prove to them that it could be a good management change for them. And asking them, we do this all the time, we say, ‘Just do it on one field, just try this on one field.’ Especially for nitrogen management, that is a very unlikely thing. It seems that they are not very likely to do that.”
Again, Gentry notes, farmers are unlikely to test a new nitrogen management strategy on a single field. However, she says they remain open to evaluating other specific conservation practices on a limited basis.
“They will look at cover crops from field to field. We might not say try this on one field for nitrogen management, we could say it for cover crops, and they would be more likely to try that.”
Gentry and University of Illinois Agricultural Economist Gary Schnitkey will outline these findings and discuss current nitrogen pricing during a free FarmdocDAILY webinar on Tuesday, April 7, at 11:00 AM Central.