Farmers Are Innovators; I Get To Help Them Incorporate Best Practices And Track Their Stewardship Success.

For almost two decades, Sina Parks has been immersed in the agricultural community… and for the last 10 years, she has focused on resource stewardship. From her role as an advocate, a member of the Ag and Natural Resources Advisory Committee through her service on the local Extension Board, Sina has learned the challenges facing local producers at close range.  Today, she’s in a new role providing leadership within the ag community on stewardship.  And at no time, she reports, has she seen such in uptick in engagement and action on the stewardship front than she is seeing right now.

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Description automatically generated with medium confidence“I’m having far more conversations… seeing more growers make a commitment to carbon sequestration programs, and we’re also seeing increased interest in making cover crops an effective stewardship strategy on the farm,” says Sina.  “Fortunately, Ceres Solutions has already invested in the people and the resources to help navigate these profit opportunities with local farmers.”  Today, Sina serves as the area’s only fully dedicated precision ag and stewardship specialist, employed through a unique partnership between Pheasants Forever, Ceres Solutions Cooperative and other key conservation stakeholders.

Everything Sina does– as an advocate and on the farm with growers –supports her passion to protect resources and build resilience in healthy soil. Through mid-August and early September, Sina will be in the field helping to provide local growers the information they need to plan, plant, and maintain a variety of cover crops that will reduce compaction, prevent erosion, scavenge nutrients in deep soil and maintain soil health at optimal levels.  “Cover crops can help achieve all these objectives, when you know the right crops and the right solutions for your specific goals,” says Sina.

“We have a simple mission,” says Sina. “Through sustainability and stewardship, Ceres Solutions supports and protects those in the communities we serve.”   Growers are finding that cover crops add biodiversity and build a better environment for the soil.  “When your challenge is to improve water quality, increase water holding capacity and increase organic matter, starting a simple mix can improve soil health and increase continued adoption,” she advises.  “As you gain experience and success, we help farmers add new types to their blend.”  To learn more about these strategies, visit www.ceres.coop or follow Sina Parks at Ceres Solutions Cooperative on social media.

Ceres Solutions is a 100% farmer owned cooperative. We are a leading supplier of agronomy inputs, seed, technology, information, diesel fuel, gasolines, retail station services, lubes, propane gas, feed, animal nutrition support and more.  With outlets in 37 Indiana and Michigan counties, the organization is proud to invest in each team member, as well as making investments in our local communities and our youth through 4-H, FFA, academic scholarships, hunger relief and more. To learn more about Ceres Solutions, please follow us on Facebook or visit our website at www.ceres.coop.