Iowa needs regenerative farming

When I went to work for the National Corn Growers Association in 2002, I first started to hear a comment: "If you haven't been on a corn farm in the past five years, you haven't been on a corn farm." That's even more true today than it was then — and will be equally true 20 years from now.

Iowa's farmers lead the nation in production of corn and hogs. The technology they use allows them to produce more food, fuel, and feed with fewer inputs than even just a few years ago.

There are buzzwords around the way farmers work — some call good practices "sustainable" or "regenerative" agriculture. Farmers just call it farming, as they try every year to produce more, use less, and take care of the environment. That doesn't mean agriculture is perfect. But the commitment farmers make is that they will continue to improve while still producing food for a nation and world that need it.

Here's an example. Tilling — the practice of turning over cropland soil to prepare the ground for cultivation — has played a role in farming for thousands of years. But in recent decades, farmers have been moving away from the practice. That's because tilling also depletes the soil of nutrients, destroys biodiversity, and releases carbon dioxide stored in the ground and in vegetal roots.

A growing percentage of Iowa farmers now use some sort of conservation tillage, which reduces runoff and trips across the field. With less tillage, farmers sequester carbon from the air and trap it in the soil, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Conservation tillage also helps nurture biodiversity to promote healthier soil, which in turn holds more water than nutrient-poor soil — making cropland less vulnerable to drought and better equipped to withstand heavy rains and flooding.

Likewise, modern farmers are relying more on the use of animal manure, cover crops, and continuous crop rotation to improve soil conditions. Many use data analytics to maximize yields while implementing these practices. And by using satellite GPR technology, farmers can precisely apply only the crop nutrients and chemicals needed by the crop.

To be sure, transforming farm practices can be time-consuming and costly, and often involves some risk as farmers seek new solutions for growing productivity and addressing environmental concerns. A variety of government programs and private-sector companies are stepping in to build awareness and aid in this crucial ongoing transition.

New partnership programs with the U.S. Department of Agriculture can help manage risk. Last year, for instance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new commitment of $325 million for agricultural projects intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, part of the agency's Climate-Smart Commodities initiative.

Here in Iowa, funds from this program are going to the Dalla Terra Ranch Foundation near Earlham, the Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa State University, Practical Farmers of Iowa, and many other farms and institutions.

On the private sector side, companies are increasingly making the tools of regenerative agriculture available to farmers. Corteva Agriscience supplies seeds that grow more nutritious crops. BASF and Envu provide strains that can better resist disease. And Syngenta, maker of the popular Cropwise digital farm-management platform, sponsors the World Food Prize. Held in Des Moines every year, the prize honors someone who has advanced the quality, quantity, or availability of food worldwide. Last year, it went to farmer-turned-NASA-scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig, for her work on the interaction between climate and food systems.

Advances in farming will be critical to feeding a growing global population while protecting the environment. A recent U.N. report states that the adoption of leading-edge farming techniques across Africa could increase crop yields by 13% by 2040. Some studies put that figure as high as 40%.

Iowa farmers are showing that by embracing technology and committing to continual improvement, they can be an example for not just the United States, but the world.

Jon Doggett is the former CEO of the National Corn Growers Association, where he worked for over 20 years.

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