Video highlights sustainability practices on MN corn farm
On a hot, sunny day last July, Nick Peterson stood in the shade on his Central Minnesota farm and explained to Doni and Ellie from Twin Cities Road Crew how he practices sustainability in his operation.
He and his brother Ryan strip-till their corn and soybeans, he said, helping reduce compaction and erosion. They also use precision agriculture technology to fine-tune seed, fertilizer, and spraying applications, maximizing input-use efficiency and reducing costs.
Nick also explained the suite of voluntary practices used by corn farmers to increase sustainability, such as cover crops and extended crop rotations, while noting that not all practices are feasible on all farms.
“The solutions are never one size fits all,” he said. “Each farm has different soil and field characteristics, and we’re working to manage those variables.”
The interaction was among several included in a new video, made by Twin Cities Road Crew, showing the conservation practices implemented by Minnesota’s family corn farmers. Nick also explained his farming background and highlighted the crops and livestock he and Ryan raise on their farm, which was started by his great-great grandfather in 1884. Additionally, he noted how Minnesota Corn supports the next generation of farmers, increases awareness of biofuels, and invests in research and educational opportunities to implement conservation practices.
“Farmers are very innovative,” Nick said. “I expect we’ll continue to try new practices, new ideas all while trying to improve some of these practices that we’re already using and fine-tuning. The overall goal is to produce more with less.”
The video follows the release of Minnesota Corn’s inaugural Sustainability Report 2024, which details the investments to date in projects and programs that comprise the three pillars of sustainability: People, Planet, Profit. The report establishes a baseline for tracking progress in the years to come. Future versions of this report will build on this baseline and include an action plan and associated metrics to track Minnesota Corn’s continued progress in its sustainability journey. Watch videos highlighting the People, Planet, and Profit pillars of sustainability here.
It also follows a legislative session in which grassroots leaders with the Minnesota Corn Growers Association successfully advocated for more resources to allow family farmers to implement conservation practices that work best for their operations. Read more about the 2024 legislative session here.
Additionally, it follows a winter in which Minnesota Corn allocated $2.3 million to 34 university-level research projects focused on production stewardship and new uses for corn and corn coproducts. Each year, Minnesota Corn invests in research projects on farms and in labs across the state that increase the sustainability, productivity, and efficiency of corn production and develop new uses for corn to drive market demand. Learn more about these investments on Minnesota Corn’s research page or in our 2024 Research Brochure.
Across Minnesota, family corn farmers like Nick proactively and voluntarily implement conservation practices that work best for respective operations. Practices vary from farm to farm; what works for one grower might not work for his or her neighbor. But farmers across the state consistently work to increase efficiency while producing an abundant and sustainable corn crop.
Learn more about Minnesota Corn’s sustainability efforts at mncorn.org.
