A new agronomic program from the Co-op Grow Team can help you push yields and increase efficiency with on-farm practices that are mindful of air, soil and water quality.

It’s called GROWN WITH PURPOSE™.

“Grown with Purpose is a way of farming for today and tomorrow that provides growers with meaningful strategies to drive yields, enhance soil quality and build a legacy for the next generation,” said Trish Meyers, PAg, CCA, Director of Crop Supplies with Federated Co-operatives Limited, which helped develop the program for the Co-op Grow Team.

What is Grown with Purpose?

Grown with Purpose describes a comprehensive suite of best management practices that assist crop planning and management. The cornerstone of the program is 4R Nutrient Stewardship, a set of principles that ensure fertilizer applications are made when and where plants need them the most.

As part of Grown with Purpose, Co-op Grow Team Members will work with growers on the optimal source, rate, timing and placement of fertilizer. Using advanced agronomic tools and strategies, including variable-rate technology and enhanced-efficiency products, Co-op Grow Team Members will help producers get the most from these investments while minimizing nutrient losses to the environment.

“Through Grown with Purpose, Co-op Grow Team Members will build custom strategies for growers to improve fertilizer efficiency and other on-farm performance metrics,” Meyers said. “We will also help producers capture and verify that data so they can show their Community — and the people buying their grain — exactly how their farm is economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.”

Farm for the future

You can begin your Grown with Purpose journey today with a comprehensive review of your on-farm activities.

That assessment will be used to identify effective strategies that can be employed one field at a time to improve on-farm efficiency, productivity and safety. That includes, but is not limited to, these on-farm strategies and activities:

• Nutrient management strategies that promote economic, environmental and social sustainability goals.
  
• Crop rotations that promote soil health and reduce the spread of disease and insects.
  
• Crop protection applications that mitigate herbicide resistance by rotating and layering products with different modes of action.
  
• Sprayer tank cleanout practices that reduce the amount of wasted product and prevent unnecessary crop injury.
  

For more information about Grown with Purpose, speak to a Co-op Grow Team Member at your local Co-op Agro Centre.