Woods End Labs, LLC Awarded USDA Project to Assess Climate Benefits of Perennial Grasses in CRP Lands
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oods End Laboratories LLC (“Woods End”) is a recipient of a USDA research award intended to perform integrated soil sampling, analysis and reporting of the carbon status of US CRP lands. The project principal investigator is Bruno Basso Ph.D. whose lab at Michigan State University (MSU) is a pioneer of geo-spatial methodologies to discern spatial and temporal stability zones affecting farm soil productivity. The Award Team will fully utilize Woods End’s expanded capabilities as a joint venture company of Deveron Corp. and A&L Canada Laboratories Inc. and will identify and sample soils at 600 CRP grassland sites across the country. The project is a part of the USDA investment of $10 million in new initiatives to sample, measure, and monitor soil carbon on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres to better quantify the climate out-
comes of the program: https://www.fsa. usda.gov/news-room/news-releases/2021/ usda-launches-first-phase-of-soil-carbon-monitoring-efforts-through-conservation-reserve-program-initiative. The project is linked to recent updates by USDA of the Climate-Smart Practice Incentive. This aims to increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. www.fsa.usda.gov/news-room/ news-releases/2021/usda-expands-and-renewsconservation-reserve-program-in-effort-toboost-enrollment-and-address-climate-change Woods End Labs recently demonstrated it’s new, expanded capabilities in the joint venture by integrating sampling and lab analysis for a MSU-funded 10-farm study across the Midwest. The researchers identified four spatial stability zones reflecting long-term farm productivity and closely examined topsoil and subsoil samples within each zone for soil health results. This research revealed that key soil health indicators developed since 1985 at Woods End Laboratories combined with newer microbiome methods developed by A&L Canada Laboratories Inc., correlated well with the historical field stabilities generated with the MSU mapping techniques. Prelim findings of the study will be presented by Dr. Basso (MSU) & Dr. Brinton (Woods End) at upcoming ASA-CSSA-SSSA Int’l Annual Meetings in Salt Lake City, UT Nov 7-10
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NOVEMBER 2021
Reasons for Optimism As U.S. Agriculture Heads Into 2022 by Donald Stotts / TSCRA Update
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gricultural producers are certain to face challenges as they plan for 2022, but there are reasons to be optimistic about the U.S. farm and ranch situation as a whole, said Rob Fox, director of Cobank’s Knowledge Exchange Division. Fox discussed his outlook at Oklahoma State University Extension’s 2021 Rural Economic Outlook Conference in October, where he addressed the longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shrinking labor force, drought impacts on cattle supplies, packer concentration, poultry profitability, views on policy he has seen in evidence coming out of Washington, D.C. and more. “Commodity prices across the board are doing pretty well, particularly the grains and especially cotton,” Fox said. “Cattle prices could be a bit better, but they’re not terrible. The most obvious challenges are some key risks on the crop inputs side.” Among the challenges listed by Fox: ЇЇ There are going to be shortages of chemicals and fertilizer because of plant shutdowns and logistical issues. ЇЇ Fertilizer prices are going to be higher the remainder of this year and into 2022. ЇЇ Supply chain issues will continue to plague producers for the foreseeable future. “Tractor repair parts, blades for equipment, forage choppers, pesticides and herbicides; you name it, there are going to be delays and shortages,” Fox said. “As a former dairy farmer, I can attest a producer can be in big trouble if a piece of equipment goes out. To combat this, keep more spare parts on hand, if possible, and stick to a well-designed maintenance schedule.” Trent Milacek, OSU Extension area agricultural economics specialist, agreed with Fox and recommends Oklahoma producers take all possible steps to ensure they have a plan in place for several months or more to lessen the negative effects of potential challenges. “Get your fertilizer supplies purchased, even if you have to keep them in a shed,” Milacek said. “Take advantage of current good crop prices; forward contract, look at futures prices, lock in what you can. There
