Understanding Sustainability at Valent U.S.A. From the Valent Field Advice Podcast
Understanding Sustainability at Valent U.S.A. From the Valent Field Advice Podcast, “Sustainability in Agriculture: Special Double Episode,” June 2022
Growers are increasingly making production and input decisions based on soil health, water quality and overall environmental impact. Public opinion also is influencing agronomic practices more than ever before.
“Sustainability can look different in different operations. It’s about providing options to each grower to improve or increase their sustainability within their system,” says Leslie Garcia, associate director of regulatory, stewardship and sustainability. “At Valent U.S.A., we want to provide options to growers so they can make the best decision for their growing area.
Valent U.S.A. recently embarked on a journey to better understand and analyze the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set forth by the United Nations. Valent has identified three areas of focus —people, planet and productivity.
“Soil health remains a critical and priority project for Valent,” says Mike Riffle, senior director of field research and development. “When we work with our external stakeholders, we're looking at ways to improve soil health. We’re doing the same with water quality, as well as with protecting pollinators and improving biodiversity.”
As growers consider their path to improve the sustainability of their operations, the crop protection products they choose and production practices they incorporate play a critical role regardless of crop. Crop protection products are less impactful to the environment if the product has a short half-life and low toxicity to pollinators such as bees.
Products like DiPel® DF Biological Insecticide utilize bacteria that is ubiquitous in nature to protect fruit from pest damage with minimal impact to beneficial insects. Because of this, it's exempt from tolerances, including MRL concerns, making it a great choice for growers interested in improving their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices.
Additionally, Valent has a highly efficacious line of preemergence, early postemergence, and postemergence herbicides that fit well into conservation tillage systems.
Valor® brand herbicides sprayed preemergence allow for flexible crop rotation and implementation of cover crops.
“It's not just about our products,” Riffle says. “How can we make workers more efficient? How can we reduce food loss or food waste? How can we enhance the quality of the commodity that is harvested? How can we increase the crop production efficiency overall? All are absolutely essential to increasing sustainability on the farm.”
Partnerships also are critical to the success of Valent’s sustainability program. Valent has engaged with organizations including Farm Journal to be a founding member of Trust in Food and America's Conservation in Ag Movement, which collaborates with private and public organizations to advance sustainability in agriculture. Partnerships with field university and research alike continue to be a priority to bring innovation directly to growers at the ground level.
Valent also partners with youth agriculture organizations including Future Farmers of America (FFA), Agriculture Future of America (AFA) and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) to advance agricultural education and encourage strategic thinking for the future of the industry.
“We partner with organizations to ensure that the work that we're doing here at Valent is amplified at the local, regional and national level, and shared with as many audiences as possible,” Garcia says.
Valent partners with several organizations, including Field to Market, Stewardship Index Council for Specialty Crops and others to continually learn, improve and enable sustainable agriculture and its societal benefits. To learn more about how we innovate and partner to advance sustainable agriculture, see our 2021 Sustainability Report.
You can listen to this episode at the Ag Ed Center on Valent.com or visit Valent’s Field Advice Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcast.
Growers are increasingly making production and input decisions based on soil health, water quality and overall environmental impact. Public opinion also is influencing agronomic practices more than ever before.
“Sustainability can look different in different operations. It’s about providing options to each grower to improve or increase their sustainability within their system,” says Leslie Garcia, associate director of regulatory, stewardship and sustainability. “At Valent U.S.A., we want to provide options to growers so they can make the best decision for their growing area.
Valent U.S.A. recently embarked on a journey to better understand and analyze the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set forth by the United Nations. Valent has identified three areas of focus —people, planet and productivity.
“Soil health remains a critical and priority project for Valent,” says Mike Riffle, senior director of field research and development. “When we work with our external stakeholders, we're looking at ways to improve soil health. We’re doing the same with water quality, as well as with protecting pollinators and improving biodiversity.”
As growers consider their path to improve the sustainability of their operations, the crop protection products they choose and production practices they incorporate play a critical role regardless of crop. Crop protection products are less impactful to the environment if the product has a short half-life and low toxicity to pollinators such as bees.
Products like DiPel® DF Biological Insecticide utilize bacteria that is ubiquitous in nature to protect fruit from pest damage with minimal impact to beneficial insects. Because of this, it's exempt from tolerances, including MRL concerns, making it a great choice for growers interested in improving their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices.
Additionally, Valent has a highly efficacious line of preemergence, early postemergence, and postemergence herbicides that fit well into conservation tillage systems.
Valor® brand herbicides sprayed preemergence allow for flexible crop rotation and implementation of cover crops.
“It's not just about our products,” Riffle says. “How can we make workers more efficient? How can we reduce food loss or food waste? How can we enhance the quality of the commodity that is harvested? How can we increase the crop production efficiency overall? All are absolutely essential to increasing sustainability on the farm.”
Partnerships also are critical to the success of Valent’s sustainability program. Valent has engaged with organizations including Farm Journal to be a founding member of Trust in Food and America's Conservation in Ag Movement, which collaborates with private and public organizations to advance sustainability in agriculture. Partnerships with field university and research alike continue to be a priority to bring innovation directly to growers at the ground level.
Valent also partners with youth agriculture organizations including Future Farmers of America (FFA), Agriculture Future of America (AFA) and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) to advance agricultural education and encourage strategic thinking for the future of the industry.
“We partner with organizations to ensure that the work that we're doing here at Valent is amplified at the local, regional and national level, and shared with as many audiences as possible,” Garcia says.
Valent partners with several organizations, including Field to Market, Stewardship Index Council for Specialty Crops and others to continually learn, improve and enable sustainable agriculture and its societal benefits. To learn more about how we innovate and partner to advance sustainable agriculture, see our 2021 Sustainability Report.
You can listen to this episode at the Ag Ed Center on Valent.com or visit Valent’s Field Advice Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcast.