URBANDALE,
Iowa - The Iowa Soybean Association’s (ISA) Ag
Technology and Environmental Stewardship Foundation (ATESF) has
received a grant from Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, to continue
coordination of ISA’s environmental programs.
ATESF helps farmers succeed agronomically, economically and environmentally
through a suite of programs that show farmers how to evaluate
and adjust management and conservation practices on farms. Beyond
being effective, the ISA programs must also provide affordable,
broadly-available, and workable solutions for all farming operations.
Roger Wolf, Director of Environmental Programs at the Iowa Soybean
Association says that ISA appreciates the partnership effort from
Pioneer. “Their support will help provide an ongoing, adaptive
management system to farmers, one that is focused on employing
sound research principles and an authentically-scientific approach
to solving problems. It involves learning how to define the best
questions for testing, then using test methods that provide the
most reliable data for verifying results.”
Wolf says this effort is a new kind of approach to getting farmers
to make changes in farming practices. “This isn’t
just another BMP campaign — it’s an ongoing, adaptive
system, focused on employing applied evaluation principles and
a systems approach to solving problems.
Ray Gaessar, Corning farmer and President of both ATESF and the
Iowa Iowa Soybean Association thanked Pioneer Community Investments
for expanding their support. “Pioneer’s steady commitment
to our innovative Environmental Programs helps our producers take
leadership in their watersheds and on their farms. These private
grants are a key element in helping us advance performance-based
agriculture.”
Steve Schaaf, Program Manager for Pioneer, said that the broad
coalition assembled by ISA in their work was a key element in
their decision to support the work. “In making this decision,
we noted the broad range of groups involved, including landowners,
universities and groups such as The Nature Conservancy. This,
and the involvement of willing landowners, should help to ensure
the program’s success.”
For more information on ISA’s environmental programs, go
to www.isafarmnet.com.
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