Author Archives: Lynn Laws

About Lynn Laws

Communications Specialist for the Sustainable Corn project, an innovative research project in the US Corn-belt. Through research, education, outreach and partnerships with farmers, our team of scientists, from 10 universities in the upper Midwest, seeks to identify and advance farmer practices and public policies that increase Midwestern crop resilience and adaptability to a warming climate, while minimizing environmental impacts and maintaining or increasing farm profits.

What would the return of El Niño mean for Midwestern farmers?

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Check out Jim Angel’s article regarding predictions of the possible return of El Niño this summer and what it could mean for the Midwest, on his blog at The Climate Observer.

Want to know more about climate patterns like this? U2U is in the final stages of developing a farmer-decision tool called Climate Patterns Viewer. It will provide a series of simple maps showing the impact of global climate patterns like El Niño on Midwestern temperature, precipitation and corn yields. They expect to release it this summer. If you are interested in testing this tool please contact Melissa Widhalm at mwidhalm at purdue dot edu.

State Nutrient Reduction Strategy: Information Midwestern Farmers Can Use

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Dick Sloan, an Iowa farmer in Buchanan County, recently wrote to his local newspaper to bring attention to the portion of Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy that provides tables that assist farmers in making nutrient management decisions. Table 2, for example, on page 6 of the strategy shows the potential impact of certain practices, like cover crops, on reducing nitrate loss and on corn yield based on literature review.  Farmers can see which practices have been shown to be most effective. His article can be found at http://thegazette.com/2014/02/02/good-options-to-choose-from/.  The document to which he refers – Iowa’s nutrient reduction strategy – can be found online at http://www.nutrientstrategy.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/documents/NRS2-130529.pdf.

Corn Belt Farmer Perspectives on Climate and Ag Summarized in New Report

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New Report!

New Report!

A new report on farmer perspectives on climate and agriculture, gathered in a 2012 survey of nearly 5000 farmers from 11 Corn Belt states, presents survey results by watershed. The survey was conducted in partnership with the Useful to Usable (U2U) project (www.AgClimate4U.org), another USDA-funded climate and agriculture project. The watersheds that were surveyed account for more than half of all US corn and soybean production. Farmers selected for the survey were those who grew corn and who had more than $100,000 in gross farm income in 2011; these larger-scale farmers cultivate approximately 80 percent of the farmland in the region.

The farmer survey data have been compiled in a “statistical atlas” that contains tables that present the data and maps that show the geographical distribution of survey results across the Corn Belt. Data presented include: Continue reading →

Scientists Team Up to Keep Nitrates on Fields

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Matthew Helmers is an associate professor of agriculture and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University and a Principal Investigator with the Sustainable Corn project. He is working with teams of scientists who are field testing promising strategies to keep nitrogen fertilizer on farm fields, using a systems approach. The following is a news release about some of his findings…

AMES, Iowa – Keeping nitrogen fertilizer on farm fields, to support optimum crop growth, and out of streams and rivers is no simple formula. It’s complex.

“Think ‘writing a novel’ versus ‘writing a recipe,’” said Matthew Helmers, an associate professor of agriculture and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University, where he is working with teams of scientists who are field testing promising strategies, using a systems approach. Continue reading →

Revised Corn Field-Guide Reduces Uncertainty

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AMES, Iowa — Identifying pests, diseases, disorders and developmental stages in Midwestern corn crops just became easier. New and larger color photographs, updated information on plant diseases and crop production, and additional topics are included in the second edition of Iowa State University’s popular Corn Field Guide, now available for purchase online at https://store.extension.iastate.edu/. Continue reading →

Corn and Soybean Development in Illinois

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Late planting and weather that continues to be cooler than normal has many wondering if the corn and soybean crops will reach maturity and harvest moisture within a reasonable time this fall. Emerson Nafziger, Principal Investigator on the Sustainable Corn project and Professor in Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois, offers his assessment in The Bulletin.

Drought of 2012-13 – Over or Not?

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABy Dennis Todey, State Climatologist, South Dakota… The answer to this question is largely a matter of location. For much of the eastern Corn Belt late season precipitation in the fall of 2012 reduced the impact of drought issues. Continuation of precipitation throughout the winter and into early spring has eliminated drought status on the US Drought Monitor and is creating wet conditions in locations along with flooding in some locations. In the central Corn Belt, the additional precipitation in the winter and early spring has reduced drought levels to slightly dry or moderate drought conditions. Western and northern parts of the Corn Belt still have large areas of D2-D4 drought conditions because of Continue reading →