It is said that 'knowledge is the bedrock of existence'. As such, this blog serves to freely inform the general public about the importance of agriculture. The blog also serves to educate people on the different products that could be used on plants and animals to boost their growth and minimise loss and mortality.
This past Sunday when I picked my oldest son up from his preschool-age class after church, the teacher pulled me aside.
“Your son made me so proud today,” she said.
These are words every mother loves to hear. I was curious about what he’d done in class to make her proud.
She went on to explain. The class had gone out to the playground, but instead of jumping on a swing or climbing up to slide, my son went over to a bare patch of dirt.
“Don’t you want to play on the playground?” his teacher asked.
“I have to finish my work first. I need to plow the field,” was his reply.
She told me he proceeded to visit every bare patch of dirt on the playground to “plow the field.” When he was done, he joined the other kids on the playground.
His teacher wasn’t the only person proud of him that Sunday. He may be only 4 years old, but he’s learning great life lessons growing up on a farm.
Note: The photo above is one I took of his sandbox at home. He had to finish “planting his field” before coming in for dinner.
TRAITS CAN BE WORTH THE MONEY, BUT PROFITABILITY DEPENDS UPON PEST PRESSURE AND OTHER FACTORS.
Farmers quickly gobbled up corn and soybean transgenic traits when federal regulators first approved them in the 1990s. Initially, those traits zapped weeds and insects with nary a hitch.
For the most part, genetically modified traits still work. “Some have struggled with resistance issues, but these traits do what they say they will,” says Joe Lauer, University of Wisconsin (UW) Extension agronomist. “Conversely, they are expensive, but with all the licensing and regulations, companies have to make a buck, too.”
Therein lies the rub. As a rule, traited hybrids cost more money than conventional ones.
SO ARE THEY WORTH IT?
Superficially, the decision seems simple. “Buy the traits you need,” says Lauer.
If you farm in east-central Illinois where corn rootworm can swarm cornfields like flies on a rotting animal carcass, a rootworm trait needs to be part of your rootworm-management program. If resistance to one trait has developed, another trait in a pyramid package will do, coupled with tools like crop rotation and a soil-applied insecticide.
Meanwhile, farmers in northern Wisconsin who rotate alfalfa and soybeans every so often with their corn, where rootworm is seldom a problem, likely don’t need a corn rootworm trait. That’s because by themselves, traits don’t increase yields.
Since corn traits hit the market 20 years ago, U.S. annual corn yield gains have clipped along at around 2 bushels per acre. Compare that with the mid-1950s yield gain from .8 bushels to 1.9 bushels per acre as a result of widespread use of hybrid corn, pesticides like 2,4-D, commercial nitrogen fertilizer, and on-farm mechanization.
Although traits have maintained the annual rate of U.S. corn yield gain, they haven’t increased it, says Bob Nielsen, Purdue University Extension agronomist.
“Current transgenic traits protect yields,” adds Lauer. Sill, yields won’t increase if pests are not present.
Seed price, though, complicates matters. Hybrids with trait packages don’t always cost more than conventional hybrids. Often, though, they do.
“With a $100- to $200-per-bag hybrid difference, I question if you can make up that difference through traits,” says Lauer.
YIELD IMPACT
Lauer bases these findings on the Wisconsin Corn Hybrid Performance Trials dating back to 1973. Each year, this trial tests more than 500 hybrids at 14 sites around Wisconsin with the goal of providing unbiased performance comparisons of hybrid seed corn for the state’s farmers. Lauer began including traited hybrids in the trials when they debuted in 1996. Along with UW agricultural economists Guanming Shi and Jean-Paul Chavas, Lauer conducted a statistical analysis showing that yields of hybrids with genetically modified traits varied widely.
In most cases, higher yields did result with traited hybrids. That was particularly true with European corn borer (ECB)-resistant hybrids. On average, ECB-resistant hybrids outyielded conventional hybrids by more than 6 bushels per acre.
“Hybrids with this trait had no yield drag,” says Lauer. “It (the ECB trait) did well right from the start.”
That’s not the case with corn rootworm traits, though. On average, yields of hybrids with these traits trailed the trial average by 12 bushels per acre.
“As a group, growers need to be careful with rootworm-resistant hybrids,” says Lauer. “Some years they do well, but most years, they don’t.”
Stacked traits helped. One example is a triple stack in which a herbicide-tolerant hybrid is teamed with traits that resist ECB and corn rootworm. In these cases, yields were 2 to 3 bushels per acre higher than those of conventional ones.
Still, that’s good, isn’t it?
On a yield basis, it’s questionable, especially if you’ve paid a hefty premium for the trait package. “Yield increases have been underwhelming,” says Lauer.
Let’s say you have a triple-stack hybrid that gleans a 10-bushel-per-acre corn yield edge over a conventional one. With $3-per-bushel corn, you can pay up to $30 per acre more in seed costs – or $69 a bag. (This assumes one bag plants 2.3 acres.) If seed costs more than that, be wary.
“The bottom line is that if there is a price difference between hybrid A and B that is greater than $75 per bag, be careful about buying the more expensive hybrid,” says Lauer.
REDUCING RISK
There’s more to your seed decision than yields, though. You’d probably have steam churning out of your ears akin to the cartoon character Yosemite Sam if a hybrid that yielded 250 bushels per acre dropped to 100 bushels the next year. That’s another perk of traits, as they can reduce this variability. The UW scientists found that even if transgenes produced only slightly higher yields in hybrids, they lower year-to-year yield variability. In a sense, this mimics a slight yield increase. Shi, Chavas, and Lauer found the downside risk of lower pest pressure mimicked a 0.8- to 4.2-bushel-per-acre yield spike, depending on the hybrid.
“Reducing yield extremes is one route in which transgenics can help,” says Lauer.
Lower variability that translates into more consistent yields between years eases agronomic and economic farm planning.
This variance reduction is most pronounced in low-yielding environments, says Lauer. The UW trials show that grain yield rises among lower yielding hybrids with transgenic traits compared to conventional hybrids.
Thus, the more transgenes a hybrid contains, the lower the variance, he says.
PESTS STILL EXIST
Pest pressure also can determine the trait payoff.
“Last year, we didn’t see a lot of rootworm pressure in the heart of the Corn Belt,” says Jeff Hartz, director of marketing for Wyffels Hybrids. “That can push some growers toward a double-stack trait (herbicide-tolerant and European corn borer-resistant).”
Just don’t get caught. Corn rootworm still lurks in cornfields, and it can slice yields.
In 2016, the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) On-Farm Network found many eastern Iowa fields had high beetle numbers. If eggs laid last summer hatch this year, it could set the stage for infestations. In some fields last summer, beetle numbers were more than seven times the threshold for adult beetle numbers.
Ditto for ECB. Although it’s almost vanished, ECB can overwinter on 200 types of plants.
“It is still there,” says Hartz. In eastern Iowa, there have been cases where ECB has sliced non-GMO yields by 30 to 40 bushels per acre, he says.
Hybrids high in traits like SmartStax, which contains eight herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant traits, will be under scrutiny by farmers for 2017, says Hartz.
“It will be a harder sell in 2017,” he says. “But farmers also have to make sure they don’t cut too many corners.”
In the case of Noah Hultgren and his family, who farm near Raymond in central Minnesota, a diverse rotation (sugar beets-kidney beans-sweet corn-field corn-soybeans) has helped keep insects at bay. “We have not had to face as many issues as some,” he says. “We have had some glyphosate-resistant weeds, though.”
To counter them, the Hultgrens have planted Liberty Link (glufosinate-tolerant) hybrids on some corn acres before planting LibertyLink soybeans for the first time in 2016. In their Roundup Ready sugar beets, they also have resorted to some cultivation and hand weeding due to glyphosate-resistant weeds.
In the more intensive rotations of the Corn Belt, though, resistance has been more severe.
“We’ve considered cutting down or going without traits, but the risk of yield loss is still too great,” says Ron Moore, a Roseville, Illinois, farmer. In his own neighborhood, ECB infestations have occurred in non-ECB-resistant corn and caused yield losses.
Moore’s concern also extends to weeds. In 2017, Moore plans to plant some Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans accompanied by an approved dicamba herbicide formulation.
“We are seeing some herbicide-resistant weeds,” he says. “Preventive treatments that prevent weed escapes are cheaper than rescue treatments. Traits cost money, but the benefits are more than the cost of seed,” he explains.
In some cases, trait use transcends agronomics. “We have producers who have 50,000- to 60,000-acre grain farms in western Canada,” says Jay Bradshaw, president of Syngenta Canada. “They want technology to control disease, weeds, and insects. But when you talk more with them, it is also about time management. There are fewer people available to do on-farm work. Traits can help them manage their farms.”
SEED FIRST
Think of buying seed like buying a pickup. “You have different options, but at the start, you focus on the truck itself,” says Cole Hansen, portfolio marketing leader for Mycogen Seeds. “You can buy all the traits there are, but it won’t mean increased yield without pest pressure. Selecting the correct hybrid for that individual farm is key before addressing pest concerns.”
Low corn and soybean prices have caused seed firms to ramp up offerings of less-expensive seed.
“We have expanded our trait choices, which include lower-priced options,” says Duane Martin, Syngenta commercial traits lead. When pest pressure is high, stacked traits with multiple modes of action are a sound agronomic choice. Where pest pressure is low, though, a single trait can provide the needed protection, he says.
“With margins like they are, I think farm managers can make a difference by employing field-by-field insect infestation history and by putting the best fitting soybean varieties and corn hybrids on those acres,” he adds. “There are cases where growers want to focus more on genetics and less on traits, and vice versa. We want to make sure those choices are available to growers to help make sound and cost-effective trait decisions.”
TRANSGENIC WILD CARD
Transgenes inserted in seed offerings can often be a yield wild card. “There can be a tremendous yield difference when we switch transgenes in and out of a hybrid,” says Joe Lauer, University of Wisconsin Extension agronomist. Swings of 20 bushels per acre or more have occurred either way between conventional and assorted trait packages in Wisconsin Corn Hybrid Performance Trials.
“There will be interaction between transgenes and underlying genetics,” he says. “The point is, there are yield interactions (including yield drag) that go on. Within trait technologies, there are good and bad hybrids. Each hybrid has to stand on its own.”
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS KEY HYBRID SELECTION
Each year, you spend time deciding whether or not to use products promising to coax just a few more bushels per acre out of your corn. Just don’t let these distract you from spending time on the decisions like seed that can literally cost you your family’s farm.
Each year, the Wisconsin Corn Hybrid Performance Trials test more than 500 hybrids at 14 Wisconsin sites with the goal of providing unbiased performance comparisons of hybrid seed corn for the state’s farmers. Year in and year out, there’s a 72-bushel-per-acre difference within relative maturities between top and bottom yielding varieties, says Joe Lauer, University of Wisconsin Extension agronomist.
So how do you sort out the diamonds from the dogs?
“Use independent yield-trial data and multilocation averages to pick hybrids,” says Lauer. Picking multiple locations is more accurate than on-farm trials, he says.
On-farm trials do have merit. A random hybrid pick has a 50:50 chance of beating the trial average. Meanwhile, planting the best hybrids from on-farm trials can beat trial averages 67% of the time.
However, findings in the Wisconsin performance trials show hybrid selection with a multi-location assessment can beat trial averages 71% to 74% of the time. The more locations you have, the better the odds have been of hybrids beating the trial average, he adds.
Gleaning these results can enable you to concentrate on the top-performing hybrids. “Don’t care about all hybrids, just care about the top-yielding top 20%,” he says.
Look at individual hybrids, too, whether or not they are traited. Lauer notes when traited hybrids were first introduced in 1996, their yields eclipsed those of conventional hybrids.
“But in the last three to five years, conventional hybrids have come back,” says Lauer. We still always find conventional hybrids in the top 10 of the same relative maturities.”
Don’t be distracted by a hybrid family. Seed companies will often sell a new hybrid as belonging to an outstanding family. Like your own family members, though, there can be stark differences among them.
“We see a big difference among individual (trait) technology packages within a hybrid family,” he says. “Each one has strengths and weaknesses. Try to measure just genetics. Hybrids within a family are not the same.”
As part of efforts to enhance agricultural productivity in Nigeria, while promoting economic resurgence through the agriculture sector, AgroNigeria is organising the Feed Nigeria Summit.
Addressing journalists at a press conference, the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Richard-Mark Mbaram said the summit under the theme seeks to provide, a homegrown solution to typically localised developmental challenges in the sector.
“The Feed Nigeria Summit is AgroNigeria’s attempt to address the problems and challenges in the Agricultural sector.”
He added that the event will address key national agricultural productivity issues like finance, market access, research, infrastructure, mechanisation, and Information and Communication Technology, while ensuring a mainstreaming of gender and other related issues.
Speaking on the relevance of the Homegrown School Feeding Programme as a driving force to enhancing agricultural productivity, he informed that various dignitaries would be engaged in a plenary session on a sustainability of School Feeding Programme.
Stakeholders at the Press conference were the Managing Director, Hills Harvest Limited, Mr. Deji Rotimi; Mrs. Oby Inuwa of Triton Group; Mrs. Chioma Omolaye representing Geopoll, and the Chief Operations Officer, Cellulant Nigeria Limited, Mr. Sanmi Akinmusire.
Akinmusire noted that the summit would provide a veritable platform to represent the interest of the farmers at the grass root.
The summit with the theme: “Feed Nigeria, to Feed Africa” is scheduled to hold on the Thursday 6th – Friday 7th April, 2017, at the Grande ball room, Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos State
Premier Seeds Nigeria Limited, a producer of a wide range of improved certified agricultural seeds, said it has developed maize and sorghum varieties that are drought resistant.
Mr. Afolabi Samson, the company’s Research and Development Manager, who spoke exclusively with our reporter, said the special varieties can do well in those areas with low rain fall.
“For the North Eastern part of the country where drought is a problem, we have maize and sorghum varieties that are drought tolerant and resistant that can do well in those areas,” he said.
“For the tropical rain forest down south, where there is long term rainfall, we also have varieties that are adapted to rain forest that can do well in those areas too,’’ he said.
Mr. Afolabi said they have a department in charge of research and development that develops all the varieties they have. He noted that they have a quality control team and quality control laboratory which tests the varieties before they are sent out.
In terms of certification, Mr. Afolabi explained that seeds production in Nigeria is being monitored by the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD).
“They monitor all our seed production and we cannot sell any seed unless they certify that these seeds have met the standard that is required for seed production that is why we refer to seeds that we sell to farmers certified seeds”.
Mr. Afolabi added that they sell seeds through Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs), through NGOs like FAO, AGRA and also through the Government Enhancement Scheme (GES) of the Federal Government.
Another platform for selling seeds according to Mr. Afolabi is through village stock or shop.
He noted their seeds are specifically bred in consideration of the ecology of the area that the seeds are going to be grown, adding that they also look at abiotic stresses.
“We have varieties that are striga resistant, and those that are downy mildew resistant,” Mr. Afolabi affirmed.
Climate projections for West Africa has indicated that crop yields and grass for livestock grazing are likely to decline in the future.
But a new study in the journal Global Environmental Change shows that when ineffective institutions and political instability limit investment in agriculture climate change would have greater impacts on regional food security.
West Africa is a major producer of crops such as cassava, millet, and sorghum but in the future, regional production may not be able to meet the growing demand for food and livestock feed.
“How and to what extent the region’s agricultural sector develops in the future will have profound implications for the livelihoods of millions of people,” says IIASA researcher Amanda Palazzo, who led the study.
“How and to what extent the region’s agricultural sector develops in the future will have profound implications for the livelihoods of millions of people,” says IIASA researcher Amanda Palazzo, who led the study.
“In some ways, West Africa is at the mercy of changes in the rest of the world–there is not much that people can do to stop global change on a local level. Our study shows that indeed, socioeconomic development and climate change in the rest of the world will affect West Africa.”
But that doesn’t mean that policymakers are powerless to avoid the impacts,” says Ms Palazzo.
“We found that food security in the region could improve even under the threat of climate change if the region takes a coordinated and long-term approach to investment and development.”
In particular, the study finds that investments in agriculture, specifically to improve crop yields, could lead to greater food production but also to an expansion of agricultural area into forest and other natural lands within West Africa.
However, regional productivity gains in the agriculture sector could help to reduce the global burden on land for agricultural production, in some cases, sparing three times as much land outside the region for each hectare of land converted to agriculture within the region.
The study also shows that which people in the region make the decisions in managing resources, directing investments, and prioritizing market access, will be a key driver for the economic growth, and, therefore the food security, of the region.
In a process led by the CGIAR program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Palazzo and colleagues from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI) worked closely with local experts to develop plausible futures for the region.
Then they linked the scenarios with the new global socioeconomic projections developed for climate change research–the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) –and adapted them to provide specific information for West Africa.
In order to create scenarios that would be useful for regional planning, the researchers conducted extensive meetings with policymakers, farmers, and other stakeholders to gain an understanding of the many factors driving agricultural production in the region.
The study resulted in a package of scenarios specifically designed for West Africa, up to the year 2050, where climate change is considered an unavoidable outside force that looms in each scenario.
The scenarios provide descriptions of potential future developments, including narratives as well as quantitative projections for factors such as population, economic growth, deforestation, land use, food production, and trade.
The scenarios have already proved useful to policymakers because they offer multiple, challenging future worlds in which they can test draft plans and policies.
“This is quite unique. Often, the process ends after stakeholders and modelers finish envisioning scenarios through words and numbers. However, we design processes that allow policymakers to identify actions that are necessary to avoid potential problems or actions to take that have a good chance of yielding desirable results in all potential futures,” says Joost Vervoort, the scenarios officer for CCAFS and a senior researcher at the ECI, a study coauthor.
In 2015, policymakers used the scenarios to test and examine Burkina Faso’s National Plan for the Rural Sector (PNSR), which led to 22 policy recommendations.
In 2016, versions of the scenarios were used to examine Ghana’s National Livestock Policy. These processes relied on model-based quantitative scenarios, to give policymakers insights into the development of the agriculture sector and measure the trade-offs between regional development, food security, and the environment.
