The Yield Enhancement Network is currently available to farmers in Michigan and Ohio
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Ag industry reps from the United States are looking for winter wheat farmers to participate in a crop program.
Members of the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) are seeking about 50 producers from Michigan and Ohio to be part of the program’s first official year for harvest 2022.
About 20 farmers between the two states are involved in the pilot this year.
ADAS, a U.K.-based ag consultancy company, started the first YEN in 2012 to spur collaboration between industry partners, farmers and agronomists.
The Great Lakes YEN is a collaboration between the Michigan Wheat Program, Michigan State University, Grain Farmers of Ontario, the University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
“We want to help wheat growers achieve their potential yield,” Jody Pollock-Newsom, executive director of the Michigan Wheat Program, told Farms.com.
Participating in the YEN costs $250. The fee helps offset costs associated with sample testing.
Growers are asked to collect and share soil, crop, input, management and environmental data with researchers, who then use it to produce detailed individual reports.
“They gather all of this information and data and make a 60-page report showing the average of the group and where a farmer fits in compared to the average,” Pollock-Newsom said. “That way, a farmer can go back and identify where they need to make changes to get them to their potential yields.”
Each farmer will receive individualized information about their own field while the rest of the data will be published as an aggregate report.
Working together in agriculture is important.
Sharing data and knowledge helps all growers improve, Pollock-Newsom said.
“When we look at crops, we have so much potential,” she said. “Not every farmer is going to be doing the same things, so this network and these reports might show a grower where they can make improvements. When farmers do better, we all do better."