Next-Gen Farmer Charts a Better Future for the Saginaw Bay Watershed
Among the golden waves of grain swaying in the gentle breeze off of Michigan’s Saginaw Bay, you will find Justin Krick working alongside his father and great uncle to raise wheat, sugar beets, soybeans, and dry edible beans. As the sixth generation on John Schluckebier Farms, he has actively participated in the operations of the 1,100-acre farm just 80 miles north east of Lansing since boyhood.
“Justin is an up-and-coming leader within the agriculture community in Eastern Michigan and advocate for conservation practices and partnership across the supply chain,” states Mary Tate, Sr. Manager, North America Responsible Sourcing, Kellogg Company. “Not only does Justin implement conservation practices on his family farm, but he encourages the implementation and shares the success of such practices as a local Certified Crop Adviser.”
Tech-savvy, college-educated and environmentally-aware, millennial farmer Justin Krick exemplifies the changing face of American agriculture. The 30-year-old Michigan State University graduate, like many family farmers, is passionate about practicing sustainable farming and using the latest scientific and technology advances to produce safe, nutritious and affordable food.
Justin Krick
6th Generation Farmer
Frankenmuth, MI
“Sustainability to me is about farming in a way that enables the land to produce crops long into the future because of good soil health. It’s the number one most important thing to me as a farmer, because the soil is where everything happens. If the soil is not healthy, it's not active. It doesn’t have plant nutrients,” asserts Justin.
He brings this passion for combining sustainability and technology to both his work on the family farm as well as a certified crop adviser (CCA) for a local agriculture retailer. As a CCA, he works alongside farmers throughout the Saginaw Bay Watershed to encourage them consider the business case for improving soil health. He has a three-prong approach he applies to both his advising and personal farming system. First, he considers crop input optimization to encourage maximum production with efficient use of all crop inputs. Second, based on the soil type, he encourages a transition from full-width conventional tillage to reduced tillage and no-till planting systems where appropriate. A consistent recommendation for his clients is the use of cover crops, which he has noted directly expedites the profit gains and soil health improvements into the future.
To track the progress of implementing this approach to building soil health on his family’s farm, Justin relies on the Syngenta Land.db farm management software to track his profitability and return on investment alongside the sustainability metrics integrated from Field to Market’s Fieldprint Platform.
“I like the Fieldprint Platform from a business standpoint, by tracking crop input applications I am able to understand current farm decisions and look for opportunities to improve,” shares Justin.
In the past three years of using the metrics of the Fieldprint Platform, Justin has reduced nitrogen inputs on wheat by over 15 pounds per acre without sacrificing any yield. He continues to evaluate the use of nitrogen stabilization products as he considers future performance improvements. Each year of Fieldprint Analysis provides greater insight into the efficiencies that can be realized and practices that can be adopted throughout his family’s farm operation.
Justin and his family have been participating in the Kellogg’s Origins™ Great Lakes Wheat Fieldprint Project since it began in 2015. Recognized as recipients of Field to Market’s 2017 Collaboration of the Year, Kellogg, Syngenta, and The Nature Conservancy partner together through this project to assist famers in this critical watershed to adopt conservation practices and sustainability improvements by providing a continuous feedback loop. Key to driving learning and improvements are field days which showcase conservation practices in action such as those hosted by Justin and his family.
By utilizing a common measurement framework to measure sustainability performance, participating farmers, like Justin, are able to evaluate how their farming practices and a focus on soil health can help improve water quality in the Saginaw Bay. Moreover, this comparison also helps identify opportunities for improvement by benchmarking their performance against their peers.
“Fieldprint Projects are a win-win for farmers to track inputs and profitability. By documenting our approach to farm management and the practices we utilize through using the metrics of the Fieldprint Platform, we can share with consumers that environmental consciousness and profitability are not mutually exclusive,” notes Justin. “In the same way, Fieldprint Projects provide an aggregate comparison to evaluate how we stack up with other farmers in our area—from yield to final Fieldprint Results—which can lead you to think twice about your practices, and if you are not in the top tier, consider going to your adviser for ideas on how you could improve.”
Justin finds the relationship he has built with Kellogg Company through this project to also be a key benefit of participating. By partnering with Kellogg’s, Justin and other participating farmers in the project have the ability to share their sustainability story with consumers.
“If consumers want to know how their food is grown, this is an opportunity to let consumers know we are doing what is right and still trying to improve at the same time,” shares Justin.
“Sustainability to me is about farming in a way that enables the land to produce crops long into the future because of good soil health. It’s the number one most important thing to me as a farmer, because the soil is where everything happens.”
Justin Krick
6th Generation Farmer
Frankenmuth, MI
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