U.S. farmers harvested nearly 3.3 million acres of certified organic field crops in 2019, driven by 14% more organic field crop operations, according to Mercaris, a market data service and online trading platform for organic, non-GMO and certified agricultural commodities.
There’s a big push right now for “regenerative” or “sustainable agriculture” practices. With little or no perceived value to their production though, growers are unlikely to change their cropping practices. Some in the sustainable ag space, however, say that certain sustainable practices can provide increased productivity, including crop yields and return per acre.
Every season farmers face a suite of production and conservation decisions, including crop and variety selection, fertilizer use, conservation strategies, and timing and intensity of tillage and irrigation. These decisions are informed by factors such as agricultural policy and technology availability.
According to the Annual Acreage Report, conducted by Mercaris, farmers will harvest 3.1 million acres of U.S. land certified for organic field crop production, an increase of 7% over 2018.
Even before the 2018 harvest is completed, industry forecasters are looking ahead to cropping acres for 2019. And it appears we’ll be looking at a flip-flop of what we saw this past year, which should serve as a heads up for farm equipment manufacturers and dealers.
Test plots comparing GMO and non-GMO seed, others assessing the potential of single seed sowing of grain crops, and demonstrations of equipment will be among the activities at the new Horsch demo farm that opens this month with its first practical field days.
Since the early 1970s the practice of no-till cropping has steadily grown and is expected to maintain its steady expansion through at least the next decade, according to Frank Lessiter.
John Miller, chief executive officer of Valley Truck & Tractor, understands the most pressing matters affecting the ag industry in California. He discuses how regulation and water management are the most influential to those in this field.
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The announcement of a partnership between New Holland and Bluewhite was one of the big precision stories of the summer. West Coast New Holland dealers now have the rights to sell, distribute and service Bluewhite’s aftermarket autonomy kits.