On January 29, 2025, members of the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association joined the organization’s staff and board members for the Association’s 122nd Annual Meeting.
Cover Crops—Fundamentals and More
The program began with an informative panel discussion on the topic Cover Crops—Fundamentals and More. Four panelists fielded questions from the moderator, MCIA President/CEO Fawad Shah, and from attendees. Alex Udermann, of Meadowbrook Farm in Sartell, described a cautious, patient, and practical approach toward adoption of regenerative farming practices. It took four to five years to see convincing improvement in soil health on his farm, but, he said, “We didn’t spend any money those five years unless we saw the benefits.” Alex endorses the use of cover crops as part of a broader strategy, including no-till, plant diversity, integrated livestock, manure, and compost. “You can’t just do a cover crops and get the success we have,” he said. “We have to do all five soil health principles to get the success we want to see. So we can’t just pick one and expect great results.”
Courtney Cheever, of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Minnesota, discussed how cover crops can help manage erosion by protecting the soil. Forming a buffer, cover crops allow rainwater to infiltrate soil that is more permeable rather than running off and degrading exposed soil surfaces. Also, “they help suppress the weeds because when you harvest that crop and then you plant a cover crop in there—the intent is—there’s not a whole lot of room for competition, so the weeds won’t grow.” Another benefit of cover crops, as a component of no-till farming, is a reduction in pests through improved soil health. To growers who are interested in financial incentives, NRCS offers two programs, the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). “Both of those can provide financial assistance to plant cover crops,” Courtney said.
Michael Merriman, Seed and Biotechnology Supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, stated the purpose of governmental regulation of cover crops: to protect the consumer and to maintain a fair marketplace. He cautioned growers to understand the difference between seed and grain, “Anything that’s been labeled as feed, as grain, is not seed. It hasn’t been tested. You don’t know what’s in it. You don’t know if there’s noxious weeds. You don’t know what variety it is.” “There’s a lot of unknowns there. So, the consumer is not being protected.” Fielding a question about who is culpable when dishonest transactions occur, he answered, “It’s definitely an illegal practice to be selling grain if you know that the customers are going to be buying it and planting it.”
Matthew Kelley, Product Manager/Buyer for Forages and Covers at Agassiz Seed & Supply, spoke about how he works with customers to match the goal they are trying to achieve—erosion management, nutrient cycling, forage—to the most appropriate cover crop for that purpose. He and Courtney Cheever both confirmed that the use of cover crops is increasing. “The most common cover crop right now in Minnesota is winter rye grain,” Matt said. “It’s an over-wintering annual and, and it is planted extensively across Minnesota.”
Creating Opportunities for Farmers and Businesses
Then, Mitch Hunter, PhD, Co-Director of the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota, addressed the topic Creating Opportunities for Farmers and Businesses. Professor Hunter provided an overview of the Forever Green Initiative’s work. It is developing “continuous living cover” solutions to the pervasive problems of the soil and water degradation that result from common agricultural practices that rely on annual crops and leave soil uncovered for several months after harvest.
Professor Hunter emphasized that the Forever Green Initiative takes a comprehensive approach to its work. The University of Minnesota’s research and development work is crucial, but it is only one part. They see their work as building value chains. The university has a commercialization team that works with industry, and Forever Greens works “with a broad group of people across the private sector, the public sector, NGOs, etcetera, to change our policy landscape, the economic and cultural conditions that allow us to make a big change and bring a new crop into the marketplace.”
In his talk, Professor Hunter focused on the intermediate wheatgrass Kernza and the oil seeds winter camelina and pennycress, three of the fifteen crops that Forever Green is developing. Each holds out economic promise for farmers and ag-related businesses.
Kernza is the first perennial grain in the marketplace. It is performing well among organic consumers. “On the other hand, the conventional market is struggling,” said Hunter, due to consumer price-sensitivity. Kernza has a comparatively higher price than other grains on the market. What are Kernza’s selling points? For consumers, it tastes good. For soil health, it has a “deep, dense, perennial root system.” Compared to corn, “Kernza takes less fertilizer, but it’s also incredibly efficient at ensuring that that fertilizer doesn’t move through the rooting zone and into the groundwater or other waterways,” asserted Hunter. The result is a “90 plus percent reduction in potential nitrate leaching.” The story of Kernza will continue as the plant is further developed by the University and as processors innovate.
Professor Hunter turned next to the winter oil seeds: winter camelina and pennycress. Both are extremely winter hardy. They keep the soil covered. Even when fertilized, they “keep the soil water nitrate level below the drinking water standard.” They have high yield potential and high oil content. There are many potential markets for these crops, but currently the greatest interest is in low carbon fuels, especially for use in the aviation industry. One big success: “We did have a flight to come out of MSP airport, fueled by oil . . . fuel that was made from the oil grown in this pilot” program, explained Hunter. “But it really was just a proof of concept, and there’s a lot more work that needs” to be done to scale up. Other markets include heart-healthy food oils and high-protein livestock feed.
“To really scale, we need to be growing these with soybeans,” said Hunter. However, farmers would need to adapt to a new relay cropping system to grow winter camelina in concert with soybeans. An even greater potential could be reached if winter oil seeds could be grown following grain corn—eight million acres could be planted in the state. Other challenges remain. The crops have not fared well in wet growing conditions. More breeding needs to be done to continue to improve the agronomic characteristics of these crops, reduce residue, increase yields, and advance flowering.
Professor Hunter concluded with a look toward the future, “There are other perennial grains in our portfolio that we’re developing. We’re hopeful that some of those can kind of leapfrog and learn from all the learnings that we’ve had over the 10 years with Kernza and come online a little bit quicker, with a fewer of the liabilities, but that all remains to be seen.”
US Identity Preserved Program
Next up was Shane Frederick, Manager of Special Programs with Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA). He addressed the topic US Identity Preserved Program: Global Impact. Members of his organization are mostly U.S. food processors whose products are destined for export markets. SSGA helps its members to coordinate transportation and connects them with farmers and to other businesses in the ag value chain. SSGA also plays a role in the promotion of its members’ products abroad.
Shane spoke to the importance of the U.S. Identity Preserved brand, launched in 2021, in promoting U.S.-grown soybeans to markets in Asia, whether to mature markets like Japan and Korea, or to developing markets like those in Southeast Asia which have growing middle classes that are eager to buy higher quality foods and innovative food products. Soybeans are already used in a variety of Asian food products: tofu, tempeh, natto, soymilk, soy flour, soy sauces, and soy-based snacks.
Shane explained the added value that U.S.-grown IP soybeans offer to food processors overseas, “We’re assuring that they’re getting exactly what they ordered in order to make a more consistent product, a more flavorful product, a higher quality product.”
The standards and processes behind the U.S. Identity Preserved brand were developed with assistance from MCIA. IP plans may include care of equipment, recordkeeping, storage, maintaining the identity of the product, land selection, planting and growing, harvesting, handling, and transportation. “We make sure that those companies have an audit in place, a third-party audit of their identity preserved program,” Shane explained. “We verify that the products are traceable back to a defined point in the supply chain. So that might be all the way back to a specific field. That might be back to the processor.”
A higher quality product provides food manufacturers with an ingredient of consistent flavor, color, and quality; one that is ultimately more appealing to consumers. For manufacturers, high-quality soybeans offer savings: less waste, less sorting, and less labor. For exporters, the added value of this premium product allows for premium pricing.
SSGA aspires to build on the initial success of the U.S. Identity Preserved brand and increase the market for U.S.-grown soybeans. SSGA’s message to Asia’s consumers is that the U.S. Identity Preserved brand “stands for quality assurance through the great take care that our companies, the IP companies, their farmers, and everybody else through the steps of the identity preserved process take.”
Business Meeting
During the business meeting segment of the Annual Meeting, members heard organizational and fiscal reports from officers of MCIA’s Board of Directors. MCIA President/CEO Fawad Shah also delivered a report on the state of the association. Board Chairman Brad Barth presided over the election of two new board members, Michael Backman and Brian Jensen. Members also ratified Nancy Jo Ehlke to serve another year on the board as the UMN’s nominee. See our earlier post for more information about the board election. (We will provide the president’s report and the business meeting minutes separately.)
In accordance with tradition, MCIA made time during the Annual Meeting to recognize those whose contributions and achievements have contributed to the success of the seed industry. MCIA Field Services Manager Kris Folland emceed the ceremony. The recipients of this year’s Achievement in Crop Improvement Award were Mac Ehrhardt and Tom Ehrhardt. Brad Barth, Maynard Peterson, and Brian and Betsy Jensen were the Premier Seed Grower Award honorees. Lonnie Perrine and Brent Turnipseed received the Honorary Premier Seed Grower Award. See our previous post for profiles of these recipients and further information about the awards.
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Please plan to join us in 2026 for MCIA’s next Annual Meeting!