Ep. 10: Soil Health and Sustainability with Britt Beene and Kevin Cochrane

Voiceover (00:06):

Resource Positive Agriculture describes what we all want, a food and farming system, which makes full and responsible use of the natural world. In this podcast, I’ll explore how agriculture can be a force for good on everything from the environment to people and our society.

John Mesko (00:31):

This is John Mesko, and welcome to the Resource Positive Agriculture Podcast. I’m really excited about today’s podcast because with me today, are two gentlemen from Corteva Agrisciences. This organization has stepped up to be a sponsor of the Resource Positive Agriculture Podcast. It’s really exciting to have them on board. Britt Beene is an account manager for Southern Idaho. Welcome, Britt.

Britt Beene (00:56):

Hey, thank you, John. Appreciate being here.

John Mesko (00:58):

We’re glad to have you. And Kevin Cochrane is a retail account manager in the Columbia Basin, Washington, Oregon. Kevin, thank you for coming.

Kevin Cochrane (01:05):

Excited to be here, John. Thank you.

John Mesko (01:06):

It’s really a great opportunity for us to really highlight the membership of PSA. Corteva is a member of PSA and we have members throughout the value chain. We work together to develop a sustainability program that meets the needs of that value chain. Your organization is a contributor to many of the products that are being grown throughout our region and throughout our value chain and throughout the potato industry. So we’re excited to have you be a part of it. In 2023, one of the things that PSA is going to be working on is adding a component of soil health sustainability to our program. Looking at the definition of that for us, how we want to measure that, how we want to report on that to folks who are interested in that aspect of sustainability. And I know that Corteva has been working on soil health for many years, and you’ve got a number of products and particularly around the fumigants. And I’m curious how your organization is developing those and how sustainability is a part of that conversation from within your organization and your product line.

Britt Beene (02:15):

Well sure, John, appreciate you setting that up there. Sustainability is a key to all of us, and it’s really bigger than just sustainability, it’s doing the right thing to produce the healthiest, safest crops we can for the public and doing it in an economical and sustainable way for the farmer as well. And so a lot of things go into that, but when we specifically talk about soil health, I’ll just share, we’re at the Potato Expo right now and I just left the room with a breakout session that was soil health and it was standing room only. So it’s a big topic, not only for companies like Corteva Agriscience but for the farmers, for the processors that take these potatoes and turn them into the things that consumers eat. It’s important to everybody.

(03:01):

Soil health is a big component. And we’ll talk about the specifics maybe a little more here after I kick it over to Kevin, but soil health is a big component to potato producers specifically because there are a lot of things that go on under the soil or in the soil because we’re growing a crop that has grown in the ground.

Kevin Cochrane (03:18):

Yeah, I think that’s a great point, Britt. We have made a pretty concerted effort to involve ourselves as Corteva, not necessarily just in being involved with things like PSA, but with the Soil Health Alliance with Washington State University and some of the work they’re doing. And I think that when you see the people that are getting involved in this, not only companies like Corteva, but processors and people from all different facets of the industry, at really pretty significant investments, it shows you how important it is to each and every one of us. And it’s not just potatoes, by the way. It’s all kinds of commodity groups are involved in this. So this is a topic that I think will continue to be prevalent in our industry, in potatoes, but just in agriculture in general. And it’s something that we need a definition of.

(04:12):

And I’m very excited that PSA is starting to do that because we sit in these meetings as we’ve done at the Potato Expo like we’re out here today and everybody has slightly a different take on it and a different definition of it. And it’s really interesting to hear what everybody’s take and definition is of it. But at the end of the day, they’re all slightly different. And I think that kind of is the issue that we’re trying to address right now. So it’s nice to see that we’re coming together as an industry for a common goal that really will help us to be not only sustainable but financially successful for years and years to come.

John Mesko (04:48):

Well, you really make a good point, Kevin. And I think when we look at our program where we’re talking about carbon and water and soil health, crop health, even biodiversity, and all other related matters, it all kind of hinges on soil health. I mean, if the soil is healthy, there’s a better chance we’re going to have a healthy crop and we’re going to have cleaner water and we’re going to be more efficient in using that water. We’re going to be sequestering carbon. So all of this, soil health is kind of the hub where we talk about sustainability. Everything’s connected in one way or another.

Britt Beene (05:24):

I agree, John. And as we think about this topic and specifically look at some of the things that potato farmers think about every day, we talked about everything going on under the ground with a potato crop. There’s an above-ground portion of the crop, there’s a below-ground portion. Obviously, the money is below ground, what we’re harvesting. When we think about some of the things we’ve done over our careers, Kevin and I, we’ve been around for a while where we’ve seen the transitions already start to happen, where we start to measure some of these things in the soil, whether it’s nematode activity or disease activity. We’ve maybe lost some of the tools in the past that we’ve used in potatoes and other crops, crop protection products, or we maybe have some threats or some long-term trends that say those tools may not be around much longer in the same way they were.

(06:14):

But at the same time, we want to keep our toolbox full for the farmer. They need options. If I think about growing up, John, when I was a young man in Central California, a lot of the farmers around where I grew up had plows and they used plows. And I know you’re from the Midwest and people used even more of them there. You saw plows all the time. Now you don’t see as many plows, but from time to time, they’re still needed. There’s still a valuable tool when used in the right spot. So when we think about something like fumigants, which are imperative to potato production as we know it today. We know that we don’t want to lose those tools, but we want to try to have other tools that can be a substitute, and sometimes a replacement. And so that’s what we’re excited about at Corteva, talking about some of these products we have that may be a great fit and a tool for these potato farmers moving forward.

John Mesko (07:04):

So what I hear you saying is, it’s not a cookie-cutter approach. There’s no one way to do this. Every field is going to be produced slightly differently depending on the needs, depending on the other issues going on there as some of the things we mentioned, water and carbon, and those other things. And so it really is not a recipe, it’s more of a thinking person’s way to go about production so that we’re using the right tool at the right time and in the right amount and placement.

Kevin Cochrane (07:36):

Right. I mean, I remember when I first started in the industry approximately 15 years ago, and at that time, variable rate fertilizer was kind of a big deal, but nobody really talked about soil health. In fact, in an industry where we use buzzwords a lot, that was not even on the radar. Now it is the buzzword probably, right? So we’ve transitioned from doing simple things like just trying to be more efficient with our resources to actually diving into why we’re trying to be more efficient with these resources. And that means to me, we have an end goal as a result of that. I think a lot of times we just did it before because it sounded good, or maybe there was a financial savings to it or something like that. You could put it to the bottom line, you might say. Now, I think that a lot of the stakeholders in the industry realize that this is something that we must do to be able to produce at levels that we’re getting used to.

(08:38):

And frankly speaking, it’s interesting, listening to some of the processors and some of the other people at this event here talk about it, because we’re not… Efficiency is the name of the game, I guess what I’m saying. So it was interesting to me that especially from an end product goal, you might say, usually we don’t talk about tonnage, for example. We talk about quality a lot when it comes to potatoes, but now we’ve sat in some meetings here, Britt and I here, and they’re talking about, “How do we produce more tons per acre in addition to keeping quality?” So it’s just very interesting how we’ve transitioned from, “Hey, this is something that’s kind of neat,” to, “This is something we must tackle or we probably will find ourselves in a real bad way here soon.”

John Mesko (09:25):

Yeah, you’re absolutely right. With all the impacts globally on food production. We have greater demand, always. Always greater demand. And we have more pressure put on the environment, mainly through climate change, and this results in greater demand. So you’re absolutely right, and efficiency is a key component of sustainability. And technology moves us forward. Technology moves us forward and makes it so that we can produce in a manner that is in harmony and should be in harmony.

Kevin Cochrane (10:00):

Right. I mean, at the end of the day, I was just having a conversation actually with one of the hotel staff here at the Gaylord where we’re staying, and she was kind of picking my brain about why we’re here and obviously a little surprised that there was actually a National Potato Expo and things like that. And the thought that I wanted to leave her with is that farmers in general, not just potato farmers, but in general, farmers are true stewards of the environment. If that soil is not producing for us or in a state that is potentially productive for us, we have nothing, because we make our living from the ground. So at the end of the day, if we don’t protect that environment, you might say, then we’ve got a lot bigger problems to worry about. I mean, we’re not going to be in business.

John Mesko (10:46):

Yes, yes, absolutely. We’ll get back to our conversation in a minute, but for now, let’s hear from our sponsor Corteva Agrisciences.

(10:59):

Corteva Agriscience cares about potato producer sustainability and is proud to partner with PSA to advance sustainable practices in the potato industry. Corteva provides farmers with proven IPM-friendly products like Delegate WG Insecticide, which targets Colorado potato beetle, potato psyllids, and worm species. Soon Corteva will launch Salibro Nematicide, which will provide an in-season alternative to fumigants for potato growers, giving them more flexibility on the farm. Corteva is excited to partner with farmers as we meet the challenges and opportunities of the future together. For more information on Corteva products, contact your local retailer or visit corteva.us.

Britt Beene (11:46):

Thinking about where we’re at in this discussion, John, what really comes out to Kevin and I as we talk with farmer customers we call on, as we talk with people in the retail ag channel that sell crop inputs to farmers, it comes down to more management. When we have more management, we’re using tools that are newer tools, but they’re also very specific in what they can do. And so they’re not maybe the broad spectrum type of tools that I grew up with in crop protection.

(12:16):

So some of the newer tools we can talk about, we have one that’s a couple of years out from registration for potato growers, but it’s out there and we’re talking about it now, it’s Salibro. It’s an in-furrow nematicide that we can apply at planting with the potatoes. And we think about potatoes in Southern Idaho where I’m at, or in the Columbia Basin where Kevin is, we know that nematodes are a consistent threat. And we know that in some situations, even today where we’re at right now, they’re not always able to use the fumigants they need to use because of supply or availability, because of pricing, because of fumigant management plans, and some other regulatory issues. And simply because of flexibility where they have to put on fumigants a lot of the time in the fall and then plant the crop in the spring.

(13:01):

Well, I can tell you in 2020, I talked to farmers that took the ground that was fumigated in the fall and basically knocked down the beds, and instead of growing potatoes, they grew grain because of the COVID conditions. Well, they were thinking a lot about flexibility in 2020. And it’s interesting to think about as we come out with new products like Salibro that are, let’s say, a smaller environmental footprint than a fumigant, just to put it in a way that everybody can understand it. We know that we need more management. They’re not going to be easier to use, it’s going to take more management from the agronomists, from the farmers, from everybody involved, but they’re a really valuable tool as we look at topics like soil health, as we look at topics like sustainability, and as we look at topics like stewardship.

Kevin Cochrane (13:47):

I think something that we want to make clear Britt and me, and from Corteva in general, is that we don’t want to lose tools like fumigants, but we also see a world in the relatively near future where that just might not be an option. And so we feel the need to prepare today for that world when those are not options. And one of the shifts I’ve seen from when I first started approximately 15 years ago is, when we used to talk about soil-applied products, specifically anything that had to do with nematodes, it was, “How did it kill that nematode? How effective was it in killing that nematode?” And we still talk about that, because that’s important, it’s paramount. But we’re also talking about now, “Does that product, like Salibro for example, have an impact on the beneficial nematodes that might be living in that soil environment as well?”

(14:41):

So we’ve really seen a shift not only with our products, but really in the industry of, we need to find ways to manage this pest, but we need to do so in a way that leaves our soil in what we would call probably a sustainable manner so that we can then plant into that field and know that we have the right organisms in there to create a bumper crop of whatever it might be.

John Mesko (15:04):

So let me ask you this. When you talk about the use of Salibro and incorporating that into a production system with an eye towards sustainability, I’m just curious, what other suites of practices enhance the effectiveness or should be… How is it part of a holistic view of sustainable products and practices? 

Britt Beene (15:34):

Sure, sure. And that’s a good way to look at it, holistic because it is a program approach. And that goes back to the part we were talking about earlier about more management. So Salibro is one piece of the puzzle, and there are a lot of other products out there that can be valuable as well. Some are Corteva Agriscience products and some are not. And so when we think about our portfolio specifically, we have a traditional product that’s been around for a lot of years in potato acres. A lot of potato farmers are familiar with it. It’s Vydate C-LV. It’s a nematicide and insecticide, and it can be used in-season similar to Salibro, from planting all the way through to 14 days before harvest. So having in-season tools to manage the pests, I would say is what really kind of sets apart a product like Salibro or Vydate versus a product that’s maybe a fumigant-based nematode management product or disease management product.

(16:25):

The other thing I would add to Kevin’s point is killing bugs, killing weeds, and killing nematodes is really important, but growing a healthy crop is even more important, and having healthy soil is a really valuable part of that. So when we think about some of the products that are coming out now from Corteva and other companies. Corteva, we just bought a couple of biological companies. One was Stoller, we’re in the process of that transaction coming through. Another one is Symborg, it’s out in the newspapers. Those are very biologically active products and companies that those folks have. Those are all geared at growing a healthier crop, not necessarily just killing a bug or killing a weed or killing a nematode.

John Mesko (17:07):

For lack of a better description, maybe increasing the immune system of the growing crop?

Britt Beene (17:13):

Right, the resiliency. We’ve heard the word resiliency thrown around the last couple of days a lot from different levels and different people. And essentially what we’re trying to do is make things healthier and grow better. And a crop that’s healthy is the cheapest fertilizer and the cheapest pesticide that a farmer can have. And so we’re looking at products in the pipeline now that we’re selling or moving forward with at Corteva, but we’re also looking at developmental products, and we have just as much interest as a potato farmer does in finding these solutions.

John Mesko (17:42):

And when you think about the holistic approach to using products to control nematodes, but also to improve the health of the crop, how about management practices, and cultural practices? What’s the conversation around cover crops? And I know for potato farmers in some places they’re incorporating them really well and in other places, the thought process or the mindset is, “Well, we can’t do that.” And obviously, with reduced tillage as another contributor to soil health, that’s something that’s really challenging for potato farmers, but we have a whole rotation involved. So tell me about crop rotation, biodiversity, and cover crops. How did that impact the things that you’re trying to bring about in the crop?

Kevin Cochrane (18:29):

I think that’s something, speaking from the perspective of the Columbia Basin, it’s something that we do pretty regularly. But as a former retailer and now on this side of the business as a supplier or manufacturer, I remember having conversations ten years ago with people that were interested in cover cropping for various reasons. And in our area, a lot of it has to do with wind erosion. And we really frankly, don’t have a choice sometimes. Light soils, high winds, and the wintertime, spells disaster. But some of the choices that the growers are making were crops that might even harbor or increase nematodes. So it’s important from the perspective of soil health, I guess you would say, to choose wisely and selectively in what you’re doing, not only in your cover crops but like you mentioned, your rotational crops, because Britt was kind of alluding to the systems approach that we’re going to have to tackle this with. We would love to come out with the next-

John Mesko (19:29):

Silver bullet.

Kevin Cochrane (19:30):

Silver bullet, but that’s just not realistic. And people have been trying to do that for years and unfortunately can’t do it. And I just don’t think that’s the reality. So I think, we as an industry, we all kind of have to take a step back and say, “You know what? Yeah, we’ve been planting sedan grass for years and it’s been a great cover crop, but maybe this variety of sedan grass is something that has actually added to our nematode counts at the end of the day and putting more pressure on the fumigant type products or things like that.” Or maybe even sometimes creating a necessity to use those products where we wouldn’t have had to before.

(20:01):

So it’s kind of that old adage of when the son takes over for the dad or the granddad of the farm, just because you’ve been doing it for 50 years and it’s worked, doesn’t mean there isn’t maybe a better way to look at it. And frankly speaking, I think in a lot of these times, we’re going to have to really take a serious, humble ourselves a little bit, and take a serious look at that, because we won’t be able to just address it with chemicals we have been in the past.

John Mesko (20:28):

Well, I can tell you from our perspective at Potato Sustainability Alliance, when we talk about sustainability, potatoes have a unique story. We till the ground twice to get the crop out, it’s a challenge. The crop quality matters so much more in potatoes than many other agricultural products, but it’s also a crop that is almost universally grown in rotation. Those rotational crops often have very positive sustainability stories to tell. And one of the things that we want to look at as an organization is, how we tell the full story of potatoes including telling the rotation.

(21:07):

So over a five-year period or a six-year period, or maybe there are two crops of potatoes and several other crops mixed in, what impacts the sustainability of the farm or the region? How does that impact water, and soil health? Because oftentimes, depending on the growing season, if we look at one year, we don’t know what we’re going to get. We just finished a six-month-long conversation on water use efficiency, water use, and water quality. Well, some years it rains like crazy, and some years it doesn’t. Some years we use more irrigation, and some years less. And so to take a snapshot of one year, particularly on the issue of sustainability, is really a challenge.

Britt Beene (21:53):

That brings up a great point, John. It really is, we’re on a path. And we hear the word term continuous improvement a lot. And I can look back over my career over a couple of decades and see there are still plows around, but there are fewer of them. Well, I can think of a lot of other things too, that farmers are doing way better than they did 15, 20, or 30 years ago. And we maybe haven’t promoted or talked about some of those things we’re doing right, enough. What’s really neat about the Potato Sustainability Alliance, John, and being in the room a few times at your meetings is just having all these different people there and having all the input from the farmer’s perspective, from allied companies, from the processing folks.

(22:36):

And really for me, as somebody in the industry who’s sitting in the back room listening to these meetings, I’m trying to pick up best practices and think about where things are. And I had somebody explain to me the other day because there was a hockey game on and everybody was cheering about it. A lot of Canadians here at the Potato Expo, and they’re big hockey fans, and I thought about what somebody told me the other day. He said, “You skate to where the puck’s going to be, not to where the puck is.” And so that’s that continuous improvement and kind of knowing where we’re headed. And part of PSA, I think the value I get from it, and the value Corteva gets from it, is seeing these people in the room listening to their stories, hearing about the best management practices they’ve used to solve the problems they’ve had. There’s a lot of power in that.

John Mesko (23:21):

I agree. And the diversity of opinion, the diversity of expertise, and background are really key. And I want to touch on this, I’m not even sure if this fits in here, but you brought up the plow and it reminded me of something. But it’s interesting that this past summer I saw a news release that John Deere is no longer selling moldboard plows, and no longer producing moldboard plows. And I got to thinking about this. The moldboard plow was a single piece of equipment. It was before any crop protection. It was before anything else. It was a scratch-and-dig existence prior to that. Moldboard plow changed the way we produced food in the United States and globally. And so in a very short period of time, I think maybe 160 years, 170 years that the John Deere plow has been produced, we have gone from a product that not only changed the productive capacity and the way food is produced but launched the largest equipment manufacturer in the world.

Kevin Cochrane (24:29):

There’s one in the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

John Mesko (24:31):

Exactly. So that product is now obsolete to the point where this behemoth equipment company is no longer making it. So what has happened during that time that has allowed this completely full circle to where we thought the best way, or maybe at the time it was the best way to produce, is to wipe out the prairie, wipe out the existing crop, forget about biodiversity, forget about cover crops. We’re just going to do clean tillage. And that’s what we did. Now, to your point, Britt, the technology, the products that are available, the toolbox, Kevin, that you mentioned, is now in place to where we don’t have to use that tool. There are alternatives. And you’re right, it is used in areas, places where it makes sense, but obviously for John Deere to discontinue the production of it, that’s a pretty clear indicator that there are other alternatives.

Kevin Cochrane (25:24):

Well, there’s just something, I’d say coming off a family farm, wheat farm, there’s just something that’s sexy, you could say about turnover dirt, right? I mean, the first thing you want to do in the spring is get out there and get on the plow or the disc and you feel like you’re getting something accomplished.

John Mesko (25:41):

Well, I got to tell you, when I was a kid, what I liked about it was the smell that the John Deere 3020 made when it was lugging four sixteens uphill. The smell of the engine, the sound, and the smell of the soil being turned. Yeah, I’m with you, it was great. That’s part of the fun of agriculture.

Kevin Cochrane (26:01):

But I would say to your point of what’s the change? This goes back to telling our story. Farmers are some of the most adaptable people on the planet because guess who we’re dealing with? Mother Nature, and she gets her way no matter what. So we have to, as an ag industry, find different and better ways to do it as the environment changes, as the need or production levels per acre obviously have changed much 10, 20, 30, 50, a hundred-fold over that time period. So I think to answer that question is that, like we always have as an industry, we are not afraid to say, “There might be a better way to do this,” or “There has to be a better way to do this.” So that would be my take on it.

Britt Beene (26:47):

And I’d add to that discussion about the improvements and the continuous things. Sometimes new things are uncomfortable for us. Our company is getting into some of the biological products. That’s a little new for people like me and Kevin that have dealt with what we call crop protection products for the last couple of decades. But that is where things are headed. And we know that some of those products are going to be a great fit. It’s going to be a little more work to figure them out. It’s going to be more work for us, more work for the farmer, and everybody involved. But there’s definitely a reason and there’s definitely a reward for going down that path.

John Mesko (27:23):

Well, I think that builds a lot of credibility. I think it builds credibility for Corteva to have that approach that says, “We don’t have the silver bullet. We’re going to diversify our offerings to provide a toolbox for farmers to use. We are going to adapt and evolve what we’re doing. We’re going to look at biologicals.” I can remember back in the day, the precursor to Corteva and a company that I worked for, would not have considered biologicals. And so I think smart leadership, genuine leadership that says, “We’re going to do what is best for our company, what’s best for our clients, what’s best for agriculture in general. And that includes environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and so forth.” So it has been a pleasure to talk with you both. It is really exciting to have your partnership on the podcast. And I want to thank you for coming in to talk with us today.

Kevin Cochrane (28:20):

Absolutely. Thanks for the chance.

Britt Beene (28:22):

Thank you, John. We appreciate PSA, and Corteva is excited to be a part of PSA as we move forward.

John Mesko (28:28):

Well, we certainly feel likewise and thank you. This is John Mesko with the Resource Positive Agriculture Podcast. My guests today have been Britt Beene, Strategic Account Manager for Corteva Agriscience out of Southern Idaho. And Kevin Cochran, a retail account manager for Corteva out of the Columbia Basin of Washington, Oregon. Thank you both once again, appreciate you being here. Stay positive.

Voiceover (28:55):

Thanks for tuning in to today’s episode. To hear more podcasts like this, please rate, review, and subscribe to Resource Positive Agriculture. We want to hear from you. Remember to visit potatosustainability.org for show notes from this episode, leave your feedback, and to learn more about how PSA is collaborating for potato sustainability. Thank you and remember, stay positive.