No Water Means No Life

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]Kentucky Farm Bureau Water Management Working Group visited Monty’s Research Farm to see crop and soil research.

“There is no life without water.” While the Nobel prize winning scientist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi was the individual to say it, it is the 20-member Kentucky Farm Bureau Water Management Working Group which is tasked with ensuring that this truth does not become a reality in Kentucky. The Water Management Working Group was established by the Kentucky Farm Bureau to develop recommendations to enhance the quality and quantity of water resources accessible for agricultural production in the state.

The Kentucky Farm Bureau Water Management Working Group visited Monty’s Research Farm in Shelbyville, Kentucky on Wednesday, August 19th to see firsthand the crop and soil research that Monty’s is doing to study water management and quality and its impact on crops in Kentucky.

Research Farm-KyWFM copyThe site visit by the Working Group included remarks from Kentucky State Senator Paul Hornback, a long-time supporter of sustainable agriculture in the Southeast region, and Dennis Stephens, President of Monty’s who founded and oversees Monty’s Research Farm. Steve Blanford, NRCS-KY, gave a presentation on soil health and its impact on water management and water quality issues. His presentation included several practical demonstrations including a 6-foot deep pit to see just how the corn and soybean root profiles handled water flow. Tim Brennan from the Farm Foundation gave an overview of the Soil Renaissance project that Monty’s is heavily involved with. Karen Woodrich, NRCS State Conservationist, and Steve Coleman, retired Chairman of the Kentucky Ag Water Quality Authority and Chairman of the Working Group also spoke.

“Our mission at Monty’s Plant Food is to maintain and improve soil health, but this can’t be done without the correct use of water,” said Dennis Stephens, President of Monty’s Plant Food. “We are always studying, learning and testing at Monty’s and therefore, we were happy to have the Kentucky Farm Bureau Water Management Working Group out to our research farm to see the type of work that we are conducting.”

Other organizations represented at the meeting were Ky Department of Agriculture, Ky Division of Water, Governors Office of Ag Policy, University of Kentucky, Ky Association of Conservation Districts, USDA-Rural Development, USDA-Farm Service Agency, interested farmers and Ky Farm Bureau.

“We were excited to host the Kentucky Farm Bureau Water Management Working Group,” continued Stephens, “The more that we can use our research and resources to assist in these statewide and worldwide agricultural issues, the better we can be at fulfilling our mission of developing innovative plant and soil solutions that are productive, economically feasible, environmentally sound and maximize yields.”

For more information about Soil Renaissance, click here. See more photos here.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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