CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE, ETHANOL MAY HOLD BIG REWARDS
Everyone knows that accidents can be costly, not only in terms of time and money but in terms of health. One simple act of carelessness can lead to a debilitating injury or even worse, death. Don’t let it happen at your farm or ranch. Take the steps necessary on and off the field to keep your workplace safe
• Create a list of safety rules for every aspect of your business and take the time to enforce them.
• Use quality equipment, inspect it regularly and make all necessary repairs in a timely fashion.
• Look for quality products and use them as recommended by the manufacturers.
• Purchase the appropriate safety gear and require your employees to use it.
• Post appropriate caution signs on machinery and equipment.
• Insist that children stay out of the workplace and off equipment.
• Keep an eye on workers and allow any that are too tired, stressed or ill to work to go home.
• Have emergency plans in place, practice them often with your employees and stay informed!
Climate-smart agriculture, ethanol may hold big rewards ............................................... 4
Courtesy / American Coalition for Ethanol
The Dakota Ethanol plant at Wentworth, South Dakota, was built with investments from corn growers. It now is part of a research project on to help farmers reduce their carbon intensity score.
Jeff Beach / Agweek
Ron Alverson of South Dakota speaks Thursday, Aug. 24, in Minneapolis at the American Coalition for Ethanol conference in Minneapolis.
As harvest approaches, some elds feeling stress due to drought ....................................................7
Everyone knows that accidents can be costly, not only in terms of time and money but in terms of health. One simple act of carelessness can lead to a debilitating injury or even worse, death. Don’t let it happen at your farm or ranch. Take the steps necessary on and off the field to keep your workplace safe
Fly-in Flower farm bringing ag & aviation together .........................................................12
Soil Health School.......................................................14
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• Create a list of safety rules for every aspect of your business and take the time to enforce them.
• Use quality equipment, inspect it regularly and make all necessary repairs in a timely fashion.
Publisher JONI HARMS• Look for quality products and use them as recommended by the manufacturers.
Editor LUKE HAGEN
• Purchase the appropriate safety gear and require your employees to use it.
Advertising Director
LORIE HANSEN
Layout Designer JEN PHILLIPS
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MINNEAPOLIS — The ethanol industry’s desire to crack low-carbon fuel markets is creating new opportunities for farmers to get paid to change the way they grow corn.
“At the end of the day, there’s serious money to be made with these climate-smart practices,” said Brian Jennings, the CEO of the American Coalition for Ethanol.
Jennings said even small changes on tillage and nitrogen use can help ethanol plants tap into markets with a low-carbon fuel standard, such as California. In such markets, ethanol plants can get a premium price that can be passed on to farmers, if the farmers have adequately documented those changes.
Quantifying carbon-reducing practices has become a major focus of the ethanol industry.
“In the last couple of years especially, we’ve really transitioned from maybe a BTU producing industry to one that has to be a low-carbon BTU producing industry, said Ron Alverson, a Chester, South Dakota, farmer and an early adopter of what are now referred to as climate-smart agricultural practices.
At the recent American Coalition for Ethanol conference in Minneapolis, tools for calculating the carbon intensity, or CI score, were a primary focus. That includes a free calculator at the ACE website, ethanol.org.
The same conference also honored Alverson for his contributions to the ethanol industry, giving him the Merle Anderson award, named for a farmer from Climax, Minnesota, who helped organize the American Coalition for Ethanol. The award is the group’s highest honor.
“There’s no one in the corn or ethanol industries
that has done more than Ron Alverson to help farmers and ethanol producers to understand that there’s money to be made by taking action to reduce your carbon intensity,”Jennings said.
“I think this industry has been reluctant at first to look at some of the climate policies coming down the pike, and understandably so, fearing that it could cause more costs for them than any benefits or opportunities,” Jenning said. But he added that Alverson has dug into the science behind what farming practices affect a CI score.
“He’s worked with the scientists at Argonne National Laboratories, within the Department of Energy on the GREET model (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation) which is the global gold standard for measuring and quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from all sorts of transportation fuels,” Jennings said.
The award was from the ethanol industry, but Alverson said growing corn is really at the root of it all.
“I was really passionate about corn way before I was about ethanol, so I helped start the South Dakota Corn Growers Association way back in 1987,” he said.
But when ethanol came along in the 1990s, he and other growers in Lake County put together a plan to form a plant of their own, which is Dakota Ethanol at Wentworth, South Dakota.
“This was really spurred by the development of the ethanol industry and Minnesota,” Alverson said. “We looked over across the border and saw all these plants springing up and said, ‘You know, we should try to do that in our backyard, too.’”
While things have not always been rosy for the ethanol industry, the investment has paid off.
“If we could improve the corn basis in our area, … you know, maybe 5 to 10 cents a bushel, we can make this thing work,” Alverson recalled. “Well, you look back on history, it’s been fantastic.”
Another development in the ethanol industry is the push for carbon capture and storage from ethanol plants.
Dakota Ethanol is one of the plants to sign on to the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project. Alverson said he did not expect the controversy that has come to surround the Summit pipeline and similar projects.
When some counties in South Dakota passed ordinances to put a moratorium on pipelines or
restrict where the pipeline might run, Summit sued those counties, and Alverson was willing to attach his name to the lawsuits as a Dakota Ethanol founder and corn grower.
Summit is still trying to obtain route permits in the five states where it would run, with hearings set to begin in South Dakota in midSeptember.
Some landowners have been vocal in their opposition to the project, which would capitalize on federal tax credits that encourage carbon capture and storage and help open up the clean fuel markets, like California.
Alverson said he went to California as early as 2012 to pitch the efforts of Lake County farmers to store carbon in the soil as a way to get a premium for fuel from Dakota Ethanol. That effort failed, but he said they were encouraged to look into carbon capture and sequestration.
“One of the parting things they said in the last meeting we had, ‘You guys should really do CCS. You’ve got this carbon, really pure carbon stream coming off your fermentation vessels and you need to sequester that and that’ll reduce your CI 25 to 30 points. And we would love to have that low carbon ethanol in California.’ So that planted that seed,” Alverson said.
But without the right geology to sequester the carbon emissions near their own plant, that means a pipeline to an area with the right geology, which in Summit’s case is western North Dakota.
So what would he say to landowners resistant to the pipeline?
In the last couple of years especially, we’ve really transitioned from maybe a BTU producing industry to one that has to be a low-carbon BTU producing industry costs, have forced some people out of business.
“I would tell them ‘I completely understand your reluctance on this because it seems like if there are benefits, you might not get any. But think of the big picture and you know, think of the example of the ethanol industry and what’s that done to corn prices? And what’s that done to all grain prosperity across the upper Midwest. So this pipeline could kind of be the same kind of a thing,’” he said.
The pipeline projects have drawn opposition from environmental groups too, but Alverson says it benefits the whole planet.
“If you really think that climate change is going to be a big problem in your future, you should be for this,” he said.
Alverson said his interest in corn and soil health was inspired by a challenge from professor at South Dakota State University.
A few years later, after returning to the farm, he thought about his old professor, who said farmland in the area had lost half its organic matter since the ground was first broken by the plow. The challenge was to build it back up.
“We changed dramatically,” said Alverson, an early adopter of reduced tillage practices and growing more corn.
The farm’s change began in 1983, and he says he has the data to document his climate-smart farming practices.
“We’ve been monitoring that soil carbon in the same exact spots for the last 40 some years. And we’ve just about doubled our soil organic matter. So it can be done. We know it can be done,”
Alverson said. “We’re living proof of it and we got all these soil test records to prove that. Now Alverson is helping lead the way forward on helping farmers reduce their carbon intensity score, the new focus of the ethanol industry, Alverson is part of a new project in a seven-
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“I think that’s a really good way forward for corn and the ethanol industry,” Alverson said.
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Corn stalks stand tall has they dry out and
Monday, Sept. 5, 2023, near Dimock.
By Erik Kaufman Mitchell Republic
MITCHELL — After timely rains fell in and around the Mitchell area in early July, farmers were feeling optimistic.
The precipitation had broken a recent dry spell and producers around South Dakota were breathing a sigh of relief that their crops were getting a boost after dry conditions began to inspire worry. If rains continued to fall in a timely manner the rest of the summer, there was a good chance to see high yields and good crop quality.
But as is often the case in South Dakota, the rains that followed the rest of the summer were spotty at best, dousing some fields and completely skipping others. Now as harvest looms on the horizon, agriculture experts are saying harvest yields could vary widely depending on location and luck.
“It’s taking its toll,” David Klingberg, executive director for the Farm Service Agency offices for Davison and Hanson counties in Mitchell, told the Mitchell Republic. “The crops are not as far along as we
would have liked them to be with this heat and dryness.”
The Mitchell area has seen 14.49 inches of precipitation to this point this year, which is down from the normal precipitation of 16.26 inches usually seen by this time this year, according to the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls. Davison County entered D1 drought conditions April 25 and was in D2 drought conditions from June 6 to July 18.
Where moisture has been low, heat has been high. Mitchell was 5.2 degrees warmer than average in May and 5.1 degrees warmer than average in June. July actually saw a cool-off to 2.1 degrees below normal before spiking again to 1.5 degrees warmer than usual in August. And though it is a small sample size, the first five days of September have seen an average high temperature of 82.4 degrees, which is considerably higher than the 63.4 degree average normally seen.
It’s taken a toll on corn and soybean conditions, according to the latest
FIELDS: Page 10
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From
USDA Crop Progress and Condition Report.
According to the latest report, corn conditions throughout the state rate at 12% excellent, 42% good, 32% fair, 10% poor and 4% very poor. In terms of topsoil moisture, reports indicate that 7% report a surplus, 57% report adequate, 28% report short and 8% report very short. Subsoil moisture measurements are similar, with 6% reporting a surplus, 50% reporting as adequate, 35% reporting short and 9% reporting very short.
The shortfall in precipitation came at an important time in crop development, Klingberg said, and is likely to impact at least some producers as they look toward harvest in the upcoming weeks.
“I don’t think the corn will fill nearly as well as if we had gotten more moisture and less heat. Guys are expecting it to be fairly rough,” Klingberg said. “The soybeans could be little BBs and the corn could be lightweight.”
Results are not expected to be uniform, he said. Even early rains in 2023 were hit and miss depending on the location of each field. Some farmers who drew good rains had neighbors down the road who saw much less precipitation.
Jeff Burg, who farms near Wessington Springs and represents District 7 with the South Dakota Corn Growers Association, said good fortune and cultivation practices could be a big factor this year in crop quality and quantity. No-till methods, drought-resistant seed hybrids and use of cover crops may have helped some farmers conserve the moisture they did get.
“It’s going to be highly variable depending on cultivation practices. We were working toward a pretty good crop until the last few weeks, but I’d call it an average crop, not below average,” Burg said.
Based on his observations, he is hoping for corn yields around 150 to 200 bushels per acre, and soybean yields in the 40 bushels to 60 bushels per acre range.
Burg said he expected better yields and crop conditions farther northwest in the Miller and Faulkton areas, where early rains were relatively steady and gave fields a good moisture base to work with as temperatures rose over the summer.
“You get northwest of here up toward Miller, they started out a lot wetter. They’ll have a bumper crop there and up in the Faulkton area. I talked to several (farmers in that area), and they have a big one,” Burg said.
Southwest of Mitchell, where early summer rains were much more irregular, is a somewhat different story. Mike Miller, who farms near Freeman, said he’s seeing rougher conditions in his field than some of his fellow producers in other areas.
“Everything is drying down prematurely. It’s going to hurt test weights on corn, and the beans are already suffering. Beans need rain in August and they’re just not getting it,” Miller said. “If we had gotten an inch or two in August then the beans could have survived this heat.”
Still, he feels the corn crop should be relatively good despite the poor weather conditions.
“The corn crop for us is going to be pretty good, but if we could get some rain I’d take it because if your beans are not brown I think it’s going to help them,” Miller said.
From Page 10
Burg agreed that the corn is most likely as good as it will get before harvest, but there are benefits to late growing season rains outside the big crops of corn and soybeans. Those looking to plant winter wheat and rye could stand a shot of moisture before planting, as long as it doesn’t muck up the fields and slow down harvest work.
As dry as it is in some places, however, it would take a lot of rain to interfere with harvest, which should be starting later this month or early October, depending on conditions and location.
“You’d have to get a lot to slow anybody down,” Burg said.
The National Weather Service said
temperatures should ease off in the upcoming weeks, with slightly increased chances for precipitation coming in mid-September.
Klingberg said farmers are also contemplating other moves as the growing season winds down. Because of the conditions, emergency haying is in effect for Davison and Hanson counties, allowing producers to bale hay on Conservation Reserve Program land. Klingberg said producers should check with their local Farm Service Agency office for details, as the program has variations from county to county.
Regardless, harvest is on the horizon, and Klingberg said he expected machinery to get underway soon.
“They’re looking to start pretty soon,” Klingberg said.
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Hundreds of people came to this week’s U-Pick flower event at Fleurish Flower Farm in Elk Point, South Dakota. However, they didn’t all drive there, some visitors arrived from the sky.
Several planes lined the runway during the event on Sunday, Aug. 27.
Travis and Lisa Meyer flew in with their Piper Cherokee 180 airplane from Wayne, Nebraska, to pick flowers.
“People that have planes want to fly, they want to go out and see things and do things and having an event like this at such a great location and facility, this is wonderful,” Travis said.
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pilot and so he really enjoys that part of the flower farm, that he can do that,” said Christy Heckathorn, owner of Fleurish Flower Farm.
The grass runway brings diversification to the farm.
“I think it’s really important to be diversified so you are not counting on just one type of customer,” Heckathorn said. “The fact that we do have the grass runway here, it’s extremely specialized and it’s not something that just anybody could do ... so the fact that we can offer that to people, I think just kind of makes the flower farm even more special.”
The event brings the aviation and farming communities together.
“The aviation community really is a family atmosphere and from what I am seeing here the flower, the agriculture, farming, everybody is a family and I know in the agricultural world you see it,” Travis said.
And it’s a way to combine Christy’s love of flowers with her husband Chad’s love of airplanes into one event.
“It’s really nice that we can combine kind of our two loves together, his being aviation and mine growing flowers, so I think the fact that he can introduce people in the aviation industry to flowers is just really kind of fun because pilots are always looking for somewhere unique and special to fly to and I am not really sure if there is another flower farm that has a runway like this on it, so it’s definitely kind of a neat combination,” Heckathorn said. Travis encourages other pilots to check out the farm.
“Come out, stop by, it’s not that far really from anywhere, Tea, South Dakota is very busy airport, we are just south of there. Not very far. In a flight, it’s 15–20-minute flight. Come on down, check them out, and it will be well worth your trip,” Travis said.
If you are interested in flying into a you-pick event, reach out to Fleurish Flower Farm and they will provide you with the coordinates and flight information.
By Ariana Schumacher Agweek
GARRETSON, S.D. — The South Dakota
Ariana Schumacher / Agweek
Around 40 producers attended the Soil Health School
Soil Health Coalition hosted their eighth annual Soil Health School on the farms of Anthony Bly and Bruce Carlson near Garretson, South Dakota, at the end of August. The event consisted of classroom conversations and in-field demonstrations about all topics surrounding soil health management.
This was Jesse Devine’s second time attending the Soil Health School. The
farmer from Yankton, South Dakota, has been working to integrate soil health practices throughout his operation.
“It’s a similar course as last year, but man there is still things that refresh my memory from last year, things I forgot and things I am relearning. Even if I have heard something a hundred times, there’s always something to learn from it,” Devine said.
Devine, who farms in Yankton, South Dakota, along with working a full-time job, has been working to integrate soil
health practices throughout his operation.
“It just seemed like we were hitting a roadblock with production with the quote-on-quote conventional methods,” Devine said. “The expense, the intensity. Trying to find a maybe little bit better mouse trap to get a little bit more production and quite frankly to save time with full-time jobs. We don’t have a whole lot of time to spend days upon days in the tractor making multiple passes and feeding cattle. If we can let our crops do that for us, hey perfect,” Devine said.
The Soil Health School is open to 30 to 40 producers each year and covers a wide variety of soil health topics.
“We just cover about everything you can think of from soil health. We go over how soil functions, why it’s important to have soil functioning, how to keep it functioning, and then we also go through livestock demonstrations and how you can utilize livestock on your operation,” said Shawn Freeland, chairman of the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition.
This event brings new ideas and refreshes some
old techniques for South Dakota producers.
“Just seeing if there’s a better mouse trap, a different method, Devine said. “I am always trying to do something different. It kind of flies in the face of everything we used to do where it was always the same year after year, now we challenge ourselves to try to find a new method, a new way to make things better.”
“What we like to do is just plant the seed and there’s five soil health principles, if we can get them to start with one or two and then understand how important the rest of those principles are and
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hopefully they start to integrate those into their operations,” said Freeland. “It changes the way you think, it changes your family dynamic and your profitability, your bottom line, and in this day and age with the expense of different things, different inputs on a farm and ranch, these principles can really help the bottom line.”
The South Dakota Soil Health Coalition will be hosting their Soil Health Conference on January 23-24, 2024, in Rapid City.
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