Truterra created a specialized agronomy network to provide technical expertise to ag retailers and farmers moving toward conservation management systems.
Jason Strand, an agronomist based in North Dakota and one of the experts on the new network, said the network is an extension of the Truterra program.
“It’s a resource for growers or agronomists, or retail if they have growers that are interested or have questions,” Strand said.
Truterra is the sustainability solutions business and subsidiary of Land O’Lakes, which is one of America’s largest farmer-owned co-operatives.
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Strand said a goal of regenerative agriculture practices is to reduce inputs, so some retailers have been hesitant to promote these practices.
“For Land O’Lakes and Truterra it’s more of a big picture. As a retailer you can sell a grower as much chemical or fertilizer crop inputs as you want, and he might not be there next year, or in two years or in five years,” Strand said.
“These types of programs are for the retailer to really make a friendship or a bond with these growers that they already work with.”
When farmers buy products, they can typically get support from product reps or the retailers, but it can be much more difficult to find expert support for regenerative agriculture practices.
“When you buy fertilizer from a rep or retailer, they’re not going to come out and examine your soil and tell you what it’s doing. They might take some soil samples to see how much they can sell you but they’re not going to explain what’s going on in the soil,” Strand said.
With Truterra’s specialized agronomy network, farmers and retailers can contact the experts to try to work through some of the problems they have.
From compaction, to when to terminate a cover crop or plant a relay crop, Strand said the network can help members understand what is happening in their soil, and how the strategies of regenerative ag can help them.
There are no longer any Truterra enabled retailers in Canada.
