CTIC elected its 2010-2011 Board of Directors at the 2010 CTIC Winter Board Meeting, held Feb. 3 in Orlando, Fla. Serving as 2010-2011 officers: Timothy J. Healey, Agrotain International, Chair; Harold Reetz, Foundation for Agronomic Research, First Vice Chair; Charlie Schafer, Agri Drain Corporation, Second Vice Chair; Rex Martin, Syngenta America, Treasurer; Karen Scanlon, CTIC, Secretary; Chris Foster, John Deere, Past Chair. Serving as 2010-2011 directors: Neil E. Caskey, Osborn & Barr Communications; Larry Clemens, The Nature Conservancy; Dave Gustafson, Monsanto; Bill Herz, The Fertilizer Institute; Bill Kuckuck, CropLife America; Ron Olson, The Mosaic Company; Jerry Snodgrass, National Association of Conservation Districts; Rod Snyder, National Corn Growers Association; John Redding, National Association of Conservation Districts; and Stephen Timmons, Case IH.

 

Mark your calendar for the CTIC Conservation In Action Tour 2010, set for Aug. 3 in Williamsburg-Richmond, Va. This fourth-annual conservation tour will highlight farms and farmers of east central Virginia. The producers have built successful, profitable farming operations with conservation measures, and they provide their community with valuable ecosystem services. With producers, ag advisors, conservation professionals, private industry and policy makers, we’ll explore and discuss how to recognize, support and pay for agriculture’s ecosystem services.

Don't miss:

The day will end with a steak dinner on the banks of the Pamunkey River, a major tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. Plan to join us on Aug. 2 for a social event the evening before the one-day tour. Lodging and travel details will be available soon on the CTIC Web site, www.ctic.org. To become a valued sponsor of this event, contact CTIC at 765-494-9555.

 

Agricultural biotechnology is a powerful tool for increasing yields, improving crop

quality and characteristics, and facilitating sustainable farming practices such as conservation tillage — all vital to keeping up with the world’s growing demand for food, feed, fuel and fiber.

A new booklet developed by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) — “Facilitating Conservation Farming Practices and Enhancing Environmental Sustainability with Agricultural Biotechnology” — digs deep into the data surrounding the adoption of biotech crops.

Among many important statistics, the document describes:

The new document is the latest in a vast library created by CTIC throughout its 28-year history as a repository for information on conservation farming practices.

“The document really explores the breadth of the environmental benefits of conservation tillage practices, which are facilitated significantly by biotechnology crops,” says Karen A. Scanlon, executive director of CTIC in West Lafayette, Ind. “We’ve been seeing extremely positive and informative data on improvements in soil, water and air quality, including large potential impacts on greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”

The United Soybean Board (USB) funded the paper, which updates a document prepared by CTIC in 2003. Since the original paper was published, studies have explored emerging issues such as the effect of tillage practices on carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas releases, as well as other environmental impacts of conservation farming practices, notes Dr. Rich Joost, Director of Production Research for USB in Chesterfield, Mo.

Collecting data from researchers around the world in a single, concise, readable document provides growers with important talking points about the benefits of their management choices, Joost says – insight that can help other stakeholders understand the dramatic improvements in environmental sustainability and productivity over the past several years.

“The bottom line is growers make decisions that help them do a good job and remain economically successful, but at the same time, they’re also doing things that are good for the environment,” Joost says. “But they don’t always have the information at their fingertips that allows them to communicate those benefits to policy people and neighbors.”

David Wilson, a producer from Lincoln, Ala., who chairs USB’s Sustainability Committee, puts it in personal terms.

“We started no-tilling in 1974, and we did it because the savings in fuel and the savings of horsepower per acre,” he notes, pointing out that the current focus on greenhouse gases highlights an unforeseen benefit of those reductions. “We figure we’re saving approximately four gallons of fuel per acre, and that amounts to about 22 pounds per gallon of carbon that’s not put into the air.”

People both on and off the farm often overlook the environmental benefits of biotech, adds Mike Thede, a Palmer, Neb., grower who heads USB’s Sustainability Initiative.

“Biotechnology has increased the ability of the nation’s fields to be able to continue to produce on a high level, and has reduced the amount of environmentally negative impacts,” he points out. The new document delivers data to support the point, as well as a detailed list of academic references.

The paper, which was reviewed by a multi-disciplinary panel of experts, is available online at www.ctic.org/BiotechSustainability or in hard copy by calling CTIC at 765-494-9555.

The new document complements other elements of USB’s extensive online library of information on agricultural biotechnology, which is accessible at www.unitedsoybean.org/programs/biotechnology.aspx.