Ducks Unlimited Pushes Winter Wheat

One of the booths at this year s Ag Expo is a showcase of a rather unusual collaboration As Dan Erdmann reports a well-known wildlife group and a major chemical company are pushing a plan they say will help wildlife habitat in the state Dan Erdmann KX News It s a relatively new partnership but for both parties involved there s nothing but opportunity on the horizon Dr Geoff Kneen VP - Bayer CropScience andamp quot I think this is the first I know of where a crop science company has collaborated with a conservation company and I think there are benefits which will acrew to both partners andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Those partners include Bayer CropScience and andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t ducks-unlimitedandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt Ducks Unlimitedandamp lt aandamp gt who ve teamed up for a project called andamp quot Winter Cereals Sustainability in Action andamp quot The purpose of the project is to expand the practice of growing winter cereals in the region while at the same time enhancing waterfowl and other wildlife habitat P Blake Vander Vorst Ducks Unlimited andamp quot The fact that the winter andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t wheatandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt wheatandamp lt aandamp gt is seeded in September of the year and the waterfowl nest in the spring of the year we don t have any disturbance in the field and so our nest success goes up substantially andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Bayer CropScience VP Dr Geoff Kneen and Ducks Unlimited Agronomist Blake Vander Vorst have been promoting the program at this year s Ag Expo Bayer CropScience will make a commitment of 20 million dollars over five years to conduct research and development on new crop breeds new ag practices and also measure environmental benefits So far they ve received a lot of positive feedback but they say their toughest critic is the farmer himself P Blake Vander Vorst Ducks Unlimited andamp quot We all know that if the grower isn t profitable he s probably not going to adopt the crop So we understand that s part of the sustainability aspect is profitability andamp quot Dr Geoff Kneen VP - Bayer CropScience andamp quot The incentive would enable them to buy Bayer CropScience products so that approach to incentivize growers has worked very well and we want to carry that forward now into a bigger project andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News A project they feel is truly beneficial to both organizations Dr Geoff Kneen VP - Bayer CropScience andamp quot For Ducks Unlimited this is a real opportunity to be able to promote the population of ducks For Bayer CropScience we also see some business opportunity because historically winter wheat has yielded 10 to 30 percent higher than spring wheat andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News And they re out to prove many others stand to benefit from the program as well Dr Geoff Kneen VP - Bayer CropScience andamp quot I think this project demonstrates the co-existence of profitable andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t agricultureandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt Agricultureandamp lt aandamp gt and environmental conservation andamp quot P Blake Vander Vorst Ducks Unlimited andamp quot It s not only a benefit to agriculture but it s also a benefit to the environment and to the community as a whole andamp quot Dan Erdmann KX News Both organizations hope those benefits continue to grow along with their relationship for years to come Dan Erdmann KX News