New Crops for a New World with Matt Leavitt
Good day and welcome to the University of Minnesota podcast, Minnesota CropCast. I'm your host, Dave Nicolai with University of Minnesota. I'm extension educator in field crops and I'm here today along with my cohost, Doctor. Seth Nave. Seth is University of Minnesota Extension Soybean Specialist at the University.
David Nicolai:Seth, today we are really privileged to have a very special guest with us in the studio, Matt Levin. And Matt, I believe your current title here is an agronomist with the University of Minnesota program, Forever Green. So correct me if I misstated your name or your title, but that's what we're gonna go by.
Matt Leavitt:No, that's great. My official title is a lot longer, but it's easier to just say agronomist.
David Nicolai:Well, very good. Well, let's start off the program a little bit with about background with yourself. Tell us a little bit about your own self, where you grew up, your education, and maybe segue into how you ended up here at the University of Minnesota.
Matt Leavitt:Uh-huh. Yeah, thanks for having me here today. So my route to, agriculture was a little bit circuitous. I grew up in, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, so certainly adjacent to, a really big area of the country for dairy, but didn't grow up on a farm. I got interested in agriculture in college, after dabbling in political science for a few years.
Matt Leavitt:And I found agriculture and plant science more generally to be this really interesting convergence of a lot of different passions that I had at the time. So there's, you know, the human health component. There's the hard science component of, being very interested in plant development and crop development, and also, how agriculture impacts the environment more generally. And so through that process, after undergrad, I got my degree in, environmental studies and worked on a couple, diversified vegetable operations because I wanted some more experience, working on a farm. And then through that, worked, as a master's student at University of Minnesota and my, advisors were Craig Schaefer and Don Wise.
Matt Leavitt:Don Wise sadly passed away last year, but he was kind of the founding, figurehead of what would become forever green, later, in later iterations. So always kind of kept abreast of Don's work. I did some research on no till and cover crops with agronomic crops and vegetables, in my master's work and then went on to work in the seed industry for twelve years. So I worked for a small diversified, seed company in Southern Minnesota and their real focus was not only the the diversity of farm seed, which there's not a lot of those kind of entities left out in the countryside, know, because with the market consolidation for, available crops to be planted, you know, that diversity of seed is really kind of, limited as well. So there's not many places you can go anymore to buy, you know, small grains and forages and, you know, even alfalfa.
Matt Leavitt:You know, a lot of the major seed companies kind of specialize in offering corn and soybeans and that's about it. So got a lot of experience kind of on the job as an agronomist and working in sales, with, you know, all across the Upper Midwest and the time came where there was some opportunities back with Forever Green at the university, working with Don and the Forever Green Initiative and kind of took that that opportunity, and now I'm focused more specifically on, again, diversified crops, but newer crop options coming out of the University of Minnesota.
Seth:So do you work The current number is about 14 for evergreen crops. Is that still the focus? And do you work on a subset of those, are you responsible for the agronomics across all of these things?
Matt Leavitt:Yeah, it's a lot to keep straight. So yeah, the total crop count, has varied over the years. I think we're at 15 to 16 now, depending on who's counting. But the crops that I focus on are the ones that are kind of most advanced on that, pipeline to, either full on commercial planting or at the cusp of it. So the the crops that I focus on are, four of the crops in our portfolio that have kind of advanced past the research and development stage and are now out, you know, at scale on farmers' fields.
Matt Leavitt:So Kernza intermediate wheatgrass, winter camelina, hybrid winter rye, and winter barley. And, we have just expanded my kind of direct offering to include some agroforestry crops as well. So what's kind of driven this whole, adoption, from the state level is we run cooperatively with Minnesota Department of Ag dollars, a program called ECO, which stands for Environmental and Economic Clusters of Opportunity. And that state dollars, through the Clean Water Fund that's meant to incentivize and de risk production of those four crops that I mentioned. With the understanding that, you know, with farmers taking a risk of planting new crops, there's a certain amount of economic risk where they're not covered through RMA or other insurance pathways.
Matt Leavitt:And there's also some, incentivization needed just like, know, other cover crop programs out there too, because these winter annual and perennial crops, do have documented water quality and soil health benefits. And so that's the state of Minnesota sharing some of the risk with producers that are willing to grow these crops and also incentivizing them for the clean water outcomes or environmental outcomes of these crops.
Seth:Yeah, so backing up just a little bit, know, the idea behind these crops are to provide an economic return for farmers in addition to their conservation qualities, right? So the idea is to integrate these into systems, to diversify systems, but also diversify risk and opportunities for farmers. And so I guess you're looking for a win win win out of this thing, right? And that's the focus with these crops for farmers is that you're looking at all sides of that. And is your focus all of those positive attributes of these things, or are you mostly working with farmers just to find them the best return for one of these individual, the crops that you're looking at?
Matt Leavitt:Yeah, the individual asks from farmers, I mean, we, through the ECO program, cover about 3,500 to 4,000 acres, and that program has continued to grow since we launched it in 2022. And really the needs are as varied as the producers in the program. So some producers are really at kind of the ground floor of, producing some of these crops. So want, you know, a lot of information on harvest settings, planting settings, you know, chemical program. And it also kind of bleeds into the market outlets for some of them too because some of these are at different stages of market readiness, so to speak.
Matt Leavitt:So it's very varied, but my program offers you know, kind of direct boots on the ground agronomic service, to these growers, which is, you know, meant to help overcome some of those knowledge gaps, but also, you know, kind of putting on a full slate of educational opportunities. So field days, growers guides, kind of getting knitted more into kind of the research and outreach, community at the university as well, along with NGO partners to kind of, educate more people about these crops, kind of the benefits and the downsides. And, you know, ultimately, you know, a lot of these crops are kind of taking the idea of what beneficial things that cover crops offer, but adding the added dimension of, you know, the harvestable return. So it kind of, it's giving those ecosystem service benefits that we all want from cover crops. But we're still through a wide combination of factors, pretty low adoption rate on cover crops.
Matt Leavitt:I think we're less than 5%, you know, crop cover crop adoption statewide. So, you know, all the benefits are there, but there needs to be added incentive to get more acres covered.
David Nicolai:You know, think about your role and maybe we'll drop back here a little bit in terms of that. And when you were first hired, know, there was an opportunity, there was a lot of research here at the University of Minnesota, but I think about how things are organized, whether in Extension, and I'm in a role where I'm actually a regional crops educator. And I think to some of you're akin to that. It's kind of like a tech service person would be, I like maybe in industry because you certainly were that prior to that. But you're one of the people that a producer or a farmer, when they have a on the, what I should say, on the farm question, practical question about what the seeding rate should be, how, when I should plant and so forth.
David Nicolai:But from the boots on the ground type of thing, you fill that void I think in the organization here because you could translate that into what I call farmer speak language and so forth. Not that you didn't live in the camp with Seth here on an academic world, but you serve that bridge, so to speak. So is that maybe a fair assessment and so forth? And I think you still fill that role as an educator, interpreter in terms of that, but certainly helping to answer these questions for, you know, the implementation about what you can do and what you shouldn't do on your end and say, well, this is right or this is maybe not for you, but you should consider this and that. I mean, can you expand on that?
David Nicolai:But I think that's not to pigeonhole you, but I think that's what you bring to the table in terms of your expertise, probably to some extent because of your former background. For
Matt Leavitt:sure. Yeah. I mean, did a lot of that, with my previous role with Albert Lee Seed and with a seed catalog that was 60 to 70 pages long, you know, you kind of have to start every conversation from the ground floor and, you know, at the end of the day, it doesn't do the farm or the farming operation any good to sell them something that's not going to meet their goals and add to their bottom line. So to me, it is really, that one to one relationship, between the university and the farmer is really critical. And a lot of times, you know, I do feel like the role of an agronomist or somebody that's kind of working more directly with farmers is really a relationship business.
Matt Leavitt:And, you know, it takes a while to kind of build that trust level with producers and, you know, come come to the table with some amount of knowledge, but also be willing to say, I don't know, or how can I, you know, meet your needs through, you know, the the support and the the research apparatus that I have kind of at my disposal as a as a university employee? But, right, it you know, the the needs are very diverse, and, you know, the producers that we work with are at varying scales. So, yeah, absolutely. I think it is, you know, having a phone number of somebody to call for a farmer that's interested in this is really valuable, even if I'm not the ultimate person that's gonna be answering every single one of their questions, but somebody to direct them and kind of, you know, be a real life human at the end of the other line is really valuable.
David Nicolai:Well, because of that, I know that you're demand as a speaker and one of the programs I know that you're, that's coming up, and I'm gonna jump right into it is the Owatonna Farm and Power Show and you're on the program to talk a little bit about new and emerging crops and fitting them into the rotation, which certainly is a wide enough opportunity but you know, if you were speaking to that audience here today in the podcast, are there some things that you could highlight here as Seth has talked about already fitting them into the rotation and given the fact we've got economics always in the back of the mind, we certainly have that going forward here, but what are some things that are looking positive that people should seriously consider here?
Matt Leavitt:Yeah, good question. So that, yeah, you mentioned the Owatonna Farm and Par show. So, myself along with, Claire Lecan, who's a extension educator. The the whole focus of that particular field day is on, organic and transitioning to organic producers. So I also putting on one of my other hats, work through the transition to organic partnership program grant from the USDA.
Matt Leavitt:That grant is sunsetting this, this September, but it's been active for the last five years to help connect interested organic growers with experienced mentors. So there's capability through that. Also funding education and technical assistance work. So this slate of field days, we've expanded to four around the state. So there's and that's starting this week.
Matt Leavitt:There's a field day this Thursday in Lamberton at the research station, and then there's ones coming up in Clearwater, Minnesota, in Morris, Minnesota at the research station there and then at the Farm and Power Show is the final one.
David Nicolai:Okay, lots of opportunities. There let's Seth, let's ask a little bit about specific crops. I think we should too as well in terms of that if of opportunities in here. Obviously Kernza has been along one of the staples here, but there's other things going on as well. What else is on the offing here that looks positive from an oil standpoint?
David Nicolai:Uh-huh.
Matt Leavitt:Yeah. I mean, I think overall, you know, farm economics being what they are right now, it's a very challenging time for grain farmers out there right now. I mean, markets are, fairly depressed in terms of prices, yields are higher than they've ever been. Planted acres is also up, and inputs continue to get more and more expensive, across the board for various reasons. So I think this is true across the agricultural spectrum where they're talking about certified organic farmers or conventional, but farmers are really hungry for other opportunities out there besides the two crops.
Matt Leavitt:And I think the biggest thing, for people is giving them number one, accurate information about what they can expect from rotational crops because there's a reason why a lot of these specialized crop acres have migrated out of Minnesota, know, but we're fortunate in that we have a lot of state support, we have support from the university, and we have a lot of industry infrastructure in the state as well to, you know, accompany crops like oats, for example, or rye or, winter Camelina is another one, that's kind of come onto the fore here. So yeah, the biggest thing is working through and and kind of I I think starting with the economics is always, you know, the the best ground floor for producers thinking about diversifying, and then giving them options that can make sense to them and their operations, what machinery they might have. You know, the the learning curve has to be acceptable enough and the economic risk has to be managed enough where they're willing to take a chance on a rotational And it may not be one of our crops. That's fine. I think all diversity leads to better outcomes for Minnesota farmers.
Seth:Well, hit on one of the questions I had on my list for you, and that was related to this idea about challenging times. So I guess we have opportunities and challenges here with the economics. And so you actually painted a pretty optimistic picture for your work in that farmers under these really tough times are actually out looking for alternatives. But on the other side of that, they're even more risk averse in these tough times as well. So how do you deal with that kind of an opportunity versus challenge when we're really under these really tight times with these crops?
Seth:Does that change your approach to trying to integrate some of these crops into systems?
Matt Leavitt:Yeah, and I think a lot of it is kind of meeting folks where they're at and kind of understanding their goals writ large. Yeah, you're absolutely right. You know, challenging crop conditions make taking the risk on additional diversity pretty even more risky than it normally would be. But I think there's a lot of, you know, the things I tend to lean into, when talking about these crop opportunities is number one, I mean, it has to make sense for the producer for where they are, access to markets, their equipment rotation, etcetera. But also kind of, talking about the add on benefits for a lot of these rotational crops that if you look at it over the course of a three year rotation, for example, you can often, you know, make the case for lowered inputs, less insecticide usage, know, competitive ability, keeping your soil in place, draining out your fields faster than they normally would be.
Matt Leavitt:So that some of those things that may not be easy to pencil out in a spreadsheet, but are really, you know, valuable when it comes down to the dollars and cents of a rotation at the end of the day.
Seth:But that brings up another challenge I have with farmers, and maybe you can argue your point a little bit with me. But I tend to see farmers, one of my challenges is trying to push ideas that provide two, three, five, ten, twenty year benefits to farmers when they're really looking to survive one more year. And it seemed like that was really the case a couple years ago, and now we're in really tight economic situation. And I don't even approach it anymore because it seems like the farmers that I talked to are, things are so tight that they really only are looking beyond this current year. So does that have to factor into your consideration and how you deal with some of these alternative crops as well.
Matt Leavitt:Yeah, absolutely. And if, you know, a lot of times, like I was saying earlier, in terms of relationship building with folks, if you present them with good information, you know, this year may not be the year for them, but, you know, they might wanna go out and see, you know, a replicated test plot or do a field walk and kind of stay engaged, in certain ways. And there's ways to, you know, kind of continue on that that relationship moving forward. But I I think it is also based on trying to understand, you know, who these folks are, what their what their priorities are, and how, you know, new crop opportunities may or may not work for them. You know, if there's certainly situations in which, you know, these various crops may not be a fit for, you know, Producer X.
Matt Leavitt:But it it kind of starts with, you know, at least communicating the opportunity out there. And, know, it starts with, a one to one relationship and good information.
Seth:Well, see this as a huge opportunity for farmers, you as a huge opportunity for farmers, because I do see the industry and where we're at, there's very little room for what you called meeting a farmer where they're at. There's a lot of folks out there willing to sell farmers something that works within a known existing corn soybean rotation. It's basically, How about this variety versus that? Or, Why don't you add a fungicide? So these are little add ons around the edges.
Seth:Folks are happy to sell those to farmers, but there's not a lot of individual service available for farmers. We used to have an extension service in Minnesota. I probably shouldn't mention that on live or on a recorded podcast here. But this idea of service is really valuable in part because of supply and demand. There isn't a lot of folks out there that can, like you say, meet farmers where they're at.
Seth:And so I really hope that farmers can take advantage of that and seek you out so that they can get that kind of level of service. Because I think this is a time when that's in really high demand, but yet there's been so little of that available for farmers that they not be thinking about having someone actually come in and meet them at their kitchen table and walk through these larger systems approaches to farming as opposed to just selling them one or two little inputs.
Matt Leavitt:Right, totally. And, you know, I think the a lot of that ag service landscape. Yeah, I mean, it absolutely has changed over the years, you know, extension used to be in every county. And, a lot of that information is kind of migrated to the private sector now, whether, you know, you're working with your private sector seed dealer or your regional seed dealer or you may be working with your co op, you know, all of those are great and valuable pathways for education. So as part of my work, I'm also reaching out to those folks kind of doing the train the trainer type, information because they're they touch a lot more acres, even within their their networks than we do.
Matt Leavitt:But it right. I mean, it's gotta it's gotta start with understanding, you know, because how they farm in Northern Minnesota is not how they farm in Southern Minnesota so it has to have some regionality to it.
David Nicolai:Well let's talk a little bit about one of the flagship crops. Let's just go into winter Camelina and in this scenario here if you are talking to say for example, an interested grower, you know, whether it's at a meeting or kitchen table and so forth, where are we at right now with the economics, seed availability, who's gonna be buying the winter chemical oil, where are we at now and where's the future and situation of that? And is this a viable one, it's a standalone or is it integrated within a certain seasonality between, you know, soybean planting harvest, you know, etcetera. So let's dive into winter Camelina here a little bit more.
Matt Leavitt:Yeah. So winter Camelina is a brassica oilseed in the same family as canola and turnips and radish. And it's it's very unique in that, it is very winter hardy across all zones of Minnesota. So that alone is pretty exciting. I mean, it's been a crop since the sixteen hundreds.
Matt Leavitt:But relatively speaking, we're at very early days on crop development. You know, we're we're more or less where we were with canola kind of when that industry started rolling out. But be that as it may, the winter Camelina will be around to stay in this region, from a cover crop standpoint alone because you can plant it, super late. It is a different plant species than your winter rye or your, you know, winter wheat. You know, very, moisture thrifty, very nutrient, thrifty as well.
Matt Leavitt:So it'll be on the landscape regardless of what happens with the oilseed opportunity. But that's really what's driven a lot of the interest in Camelina, primarily because there is a market outlet out there that's writing contracts for this crop right now. So Cargill, is the the buyer for winter oilseeds, and their portfolio moving forward is gonna include other winter oilseeds as well. Right now Camelina is kind of the first to market. Because it's there, the genetics work for our region across Minnesota and into North Dakota, other states as well, but those are kind of the primary zones of adaptation.
Matt Leavitt:And so it a lot of advantages to Camelina. Number one being that it's winter hardy, so it covers that ground when not a lot of, other crop residue is out there on the field. So it can slot in between our established crops on the landscape. And that's really the key, because the the end market for Cargill is pressing the Camelina seed to make oil out of that they then processed to do renewable jet fuel. And that market is very sensitive to, environmental impact.
Matt Leavitt:And Camelina really fits the bill very well there because it's being planted at a time when not nothing else is really established on the landscape. And it has very low, nutrient requirements, know, a full, nitrogen requirement for Camelina is about 50 pounds of n actual per acre. So it looks very good on a carbon intensity standpoint. It produces enough yield, at enough level with a high oil content that, this crop is is out there actualized on on the landscape right now. And farmers don't need specialized equipment to handle it too.
Matt Leavitt:They can plant it with traditional equipment, can harvest it with a soybean header. But really long term where this market is going and where Cargill would like to take it, It can work in certain areas of the country as a standalone crop, primarily in kind of more dry land wheat fallow acres where Camelina would fit on those fallow acres. But in corn and soybean country, it has to play nice with corn and soybeans on the landscape. And so the the biggest lowest hanging fruit right now is to integrate winter Camelina with soybean production, because Camelina comes off early enough where you can either relay plant, meaning planting soybeans into the established, canopy of Camelina or double crop soybeans. So you're harvesting two crops in one season.
Matt Leavitt:That's that's the ultimate goal, which is kind of moving from a research scale all the way to the field scale now, but we do have field scale production of relay planted and double crop soybeans. But that long term, that's how that system is gonna scale, in the next five to ten years.
Seth:So as a way to get through all these other crops, how you mentioned, you know, obviously you're going to meet farmers where they're at, you're going to provide them some ideas, but at what point do you offer Camelina as a as a suggestion? How many how many of these farmers are coming to you and haven't planted a cover crop at all, but then they see, hey, I'd be willing to plant a cover crop if I could get something out of it? Mhmm. Or how many have been planting traditional covers, rye or some sort of a mix or turnips or something, and then decide, you know, it'd be nice if I could get some return out of this thing instead. And so is Camelina something you'd even recommend to a farmer that hasn't been cover cropping at all, start fresh?
Seth:Or do you think that they need some experience with others before they move into an actual cash cover crop.
Matt Leavitt:Mhmm. Yeah, it's been some of both. You know, like I was saying, the diversity of farmers that I've worked with on the landscape is pretty broad. So some of them, I would say probably a good swath of them are kind of early adopter type folks. So people kind of farther along in the spectrum, they're really tuned in to new opportunities, want to take the risk, and have a pretty healthy appetite for that.
Matt Leavitt:Because that that's kind of a mindset thing that you can't really replicate. You know, you're either kind of risk taker or you're more risk averse. And by nature, most farmers are fairly risk averse, know, as kind of a a species of humans, and for good reason, you know, like they're they need to keep their farm in operation moving forward. But, yeah, we've had we've had a a wide diversity of folks, some people that, you know, are trying to incorporate it on corn and soybean ground. Right now, it's kinda been the best fit on soybean acres because they come off soon enough, but Camelina is so winter hardy that it can be planted, you know, on the October and still winter.
Seth:So I just want to be clear, the best niche for this in a corn soybean rotation is before soybean or after soybean?
Matt Leavitt:I think right now, I mean, the gold standard what we're trying to get is Camelina established into corn residue, going into beans the next year. The challenge there has been, dealing with the corn residue issue is that you can plant Camelina, into into standing corn or corn residue, but the minute you blow all that stover on top, it shades out the Camelina, and that's the one situation in which it can't survive. But there's strategies that are being looked at, say strip tillage for example, corn residue that you can get Camelina establishment. Some growers have done it, and been successful with it, some have not. So yeah, lowest hanging fruit for Camelina integration would be either those folks that have, say, silage acres, canning crops, small grains in rotation already, or planting it after soybeans, and then getting that rotational effect of the Camelina.
Matt Leavitt:We know from research that Camelina suppresses soybean cyst nematode. It's fairly thrifty on moisture and nutrients. So there's an argument to be made about going from soybeans, Camelina to soybeans again.
Seth:So there's many systems within a system for Camelina. There's a lot of options for how to manage it For sure. Based on equipment and those existing crops, latitudes, and things like that. But I agree that the corn stover is always a challenge for us.
David Nicolai:Yep. So we talked a little bit about getting the word out and education. If a grower or producer is listening to this podcast and wants to find out a little bit more about not just Camelina but maybe some of the other crops as well. Have you been engaged with the standpoint of the internet? Are there good sites for people to go in and explore and so forth?
David Nicolai:I know that you've authored a couple of publications once on a Kernza grower guide. But where are some things that they can start online if they'd like to read a little bit more themselves in terms of production practices and maybe even contact yourself. What are some opportunities here?
Matt Leavitt:Yeah, yeah. With Camelina, you know, if that's something someone wants to read more about on their spare time, there is a comprehensive growers guide that we put together last year, that was authored by myself, some folks at Cargill, and, people at various universities. So that's a really good resource. I would also say too just there's a That's online. Correct.
Matt Leavitt:That's online. Yep. If you just Google search UMN Camelina, you'll find it. And there's also a really good network of field days in the works for this year. Again, those kind of regional opportunities for for folks to come out and see a Camelina field within 60 miles of their house.
Matt Leavitt:I think those opportunities are really valuable. So there'll be a whole series of field days co hosted with Cargill and Forever Green throughout Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and then we'll have some heart more harvest specific field days, that will happen kind of mid June to early July. So keep an eye out for those. With Kernza, there's a ton of great information on the web about Kernza. There's a grower's guide.
Matt Leavitt:There's a website, both for growers and marketers. There's a whole network there and a and a can of worms to unpack with Kernza, but ton of great information out there. Hybrid winter rise and established crop already, so you can go to you know, Albert Lea Seed or Seedway, KWS and find a lot of very good vetted agronomic information. As well as the marketing too, there's some good links and we tried to compile some of that on our website, but that information readily exists for sure.
Seth:So that starting at Forever Green Initiative, right? Is that where we would start at? Yep. That'd be a good place for folks to start. For sure.
Seth:Yep. Okay, I have one quick question. Dave has given me the hook, but I've got a really good Well, I have a personal question for you regarding You mentioned carbon intensity. Do you see that or do you feel that farmers should consider some sort of a carbon intensity audit or some sort of an evaluation of their farms before they start moving into some of these crops, that the advantages of some of these crops that you're offering have CI attached to those and some sort of benefits from that beyond just the sale price of those seeds. So is that something that should be integrated with this whole decision making process?
Seth:Or is that separate? Or how do you see kind of this whole CI score thing?
Matt Leavitt:Well, I'll just say at the outset, this is totally my own editorial comments, not vetted by university tech comm office or anything. But, yeah, I mean, it seems to me there's a lot of entities out there wanting, data from farmers. And I think for good reason, you know, obviously in the lattice or latest iteration of the the farm bill, some of the CI scoring has been kind of deemphasized with programs like 45 z to the point where, you know, even, renewable jet fuel has kind of been de prioritized from a the national level, but there's it's a global market. So there will still continue to be markets available for renewable jet fuel for the foreseeable future. But, I would say pay really close attention to what people are selling you to your point earlier.
Matt Leavitt:I think there's a lot of farmers sold a package of data that really is gonna reside at an ethanol plant or some some other opportunity is gonna siphon off those incentive funds. I don't see a lot of that migrating its way back to the farmer at this point. That being said, I'm not, you know, fully baked into this community, but I would I would kinda go in with your eyes open would kinda be my advice there.
Seth:Yeah, that's perfect. I just, I didn't even know if maybe some, you know, Cargill actually was requiring some of this auditing to be done in order to purchase some of the Camelina. So I didn't know if that was part of the deal and a requirement.
Matt Leavitt:They do collect data on the fields in as much as they track yield and inputs and stuff like that as part of the program. It's not as rigorous as say, like a, you know, a carbon program, you know, a third party carbon program.
Seth:Gotcha, okay. So it is, they are receiving some benefit from this and they're collecting enough data in order to have that be part of the 45Z at least.
Matt Leavitt:Yes, Yep.
David Nicolai:Okay, Matt, we're approaching the end of our time, but we're gonna give you the last word here. Is there anything that we didn't touch on? And do you also just want to mention a little bit on URL or website where people can go as well? But anything else that the floor is yours here as we close off.
Matt Leavitt:Okay. Well, yeah, appreciate the opportunity. Thanks you guys for hosting this. Yeah, I would say generally there's a lot to discuss when it comes to new crop opportunities and I think the best place to start if someone's considering that is to get in touch with me and we can kind of talk through the specifics of your rotation, your marketing plan, kind of your place in space and see, you know, whether or not some of these crop opportunities might be a fit for you.
David Nicolai:Okay, thank you very much. Well, this draws to conclusion another edition of University of Minnesota CropCast. I've been your host, Dave Nicolai with University of Minnesota Extension Educator in Field Crops, along with my cohost here, Doctor. Seth Nave, University of Minnesota Extension Soybean Specialist. And our special guest today has been Matt Levin with Forever Green.
David Nicolai:So Matt, thank you for stopping by and appreciate that. And I know that you're gonna be on the speaking circuit here this year, on this spring for certainly, and a couple of field days coming up so we can look forward to your information as we go forward. So thank you again for listening to the University of Minnesota CropCast and we'll talk to you next time, thank you.
