Print This Page2008 Husker Harvest Days
It's a Husker Harvest Out There
Monsanto 2008 R&D Pipeline At a Glance
Discovering. Delivering. Yielding.
When farmers, employees and others think about seeing Monsanto’s product pipeline in the ground, they typically think of the Farm Progress Show, but starting this year we’re providing people another option - Husker Harvest Days.
Husker Harvest Days takes place every fall in Grand Island, Nebraska. Monsanto has exhibited at the show for many years, but the 2008 show, which takes place September 9-11, will be the first to include an extensive plot demonstrating both current and future technologies. Nebraska and the rest of the western Corn Belt will need to play a big role as the company heads toward the goal of doubling our business by 2012, and this display is one way of showing farmers in the region how committed the company is to their success.
“Growers in the western Corn Belt face a lot of challenges, and we’re working on new technologies that are going to help address some of those,” said Andrew Duff, Monsanto corn traits marketing manager and 2008 Husker Harvest Days co-lead. “There’s a real opportunity out there to show growers what we’re doing that’s going to benefit them in the future.”
A Brief Look at Western Corn Belt Challenges
“The western Corn Belt receives less annual rainfall than the other states in the Corn Belt,” said Bob McCauley, Monsanto technology development manager in Nebraska. “Also, our topsoil and subsoils tend to be more porous, so they’re more coarse and have less water-holding capacity than the soils of Iowa and Illinois.”
Because Nebraska has sufficient water supplies from aquifers, rivers and lakes, farmers implement irrigation practices to use water from these locations for their crops. Not only is this expensive, but it is also putting stress on the environment.
“We’ve had about seven years of drought, which has caused the aquifers and lakes to go down,” said Bob McCauley, Monsanto technology development manager in Nebraska. “That means there’s less water available for farmers to use for irrigation. Also, people have started worrying about running out of water, so they’ve put restraints on growers for water use.”
In light of the existing situation, future technologies such as drought-tolerant and nitrogen use efficiency crops can help save farmers in the western Corn Belt time and money, in addition to reducing agriculture’s impact on the environment.
A Peek at the 2008 Discovery Tour
“Our Discovery Tour plot is about showing farmers what products are available today and how those are beneficial to growers in the western Corn Belt,” Duff said. “But it’s also about showcasing future technologies.”
“It’s not a big area, but there’s a lot of stuff crowded into it,” added McCauley. The plot is only one-third of an acre, but that didn’t stop McCauley from showcasing several of the technologies farmers are going to want to see.
In addition to various agronomic demonstrations, the plot includes advances in corn and soybean breeding, drought-tolerant corn, Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans, YieldGard VT Triple Pro corn, SmartStax corn, Vistive III soybeans, omega-3 soybeans, dicamba-tolerant soybeans, Roundup Ready canola, Roundup Ready Flex cotton and others.
“We want to give growers an idea of the breadth of research we’re involved in,” said McCauley. “We’re doing a lot in corn and soybeans, but that’s not all we do. We’re involved in a lot of different crops, and we want to showcase that to our customers.”
While the plot may only be one-third of an acre, it’s not an easy thing to create.
“I was warned it was going to be a lot of work, and it has been,” commented McCauley. “The biggest hassle we had was our spring weather. Our challenges have been the same challenges the growers in the community have had.”
McCauley has been blogging his experience in creating the Discovery Tour plot at Husker Harvest Days.
