Iowa farmers looking for ways to improve profitability may have another opportunity through sustainability programs that reward management decisions already happening in many corn and soybean systems.
Sally Fliss with Nutrien says the company’s FarmSmart programs are built around helping growers get paid for practices tied to nitrogen efficiency, cover crops, no till, and other regenerative management tools.
In corn, she says one program focuses on nitrogen management, helping growers reduce application rates through a combination of products and decision tools while earning payments tied to emissions reductions achieved in the field.
On the soybean side, Nutrien is working with Bunge on a regenerative bean program that rewards growers for practices such as cover crops, no till, and nutrient management. Those soybeans can then be marketed to downstream customers looking for lower-carbon feed, oil, and meal supplies.
Fliss says that return on investment is critical because even when a practice makes agronomic sense, farmers still take on risk when changing management systems.
She says the enrollment process is straightforward, but it does require strong recordkeeping from the day after the previous crop is harvested through the harvest of the current crop. That includes planting, fertilizer applications, pesticide passes, tillage, and final yield data.
That management data can provide value well beyond program enrollment, helping farmers improve future decision-making while also documenting outcomes that downstream buyers want to purchase.
Fliss says that same field-level data may soon become even more valuable as the industry prepares for the implementation of the federal 45Z clean fuel production credit. Nutrien is preparing systems that can help growers calculate carbon intensity scores and establish the chain of custody needed to connect grain back to the ethanol plant.
The goal is to help return part of that lower carbon fuel value back to farmers as new programs become available.
For Iowa growers already using conservation practices, that could create an additional revenue stream beyond traditional grain marketing, especially as ethanol producers place more emphasis on low-carbon feedstock sourcing.
