Efforts Include Conservation And Sustainable Agriculture
“I always say the best thing for a farmer’s field is his shadow,” said Bob Walker of Walker Farms. “Put your shadow in the field. Get out there and see what your field is like. Walk the field and really listen to it and see what’s going on.”
Co-owning and operating Walker Farms in Yum Yum, Tennessee, Walker and his brother raise cattle and grow cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat and hay, most of which is on land that has been in the family since the 1830s.
Recognized for outstanding conservation efforts on his farm and leadership in advancing sustainable agriculture, Walker was honored as Field to Market’s 2024 Farmer of the Year.
The Right Thing To Do
“I want my kids and grandkids to have land that is better than what I inherited and came into it with,” Walker said. “So that’s what we’ve tried to do — whether it’s on our own farmland or on land that we’ve leased.”
With a suite of sustainability practices that includes no-till, cover crops, integrated pest management, variable-rate fertility applications and variable-rate seeding, Walker only puts out what he needs, when it’s needed.
“When my brother and I started farming in the early nineties, we tried some no-till,” Walker recalled. “We are very, very cognizant of what we do and how we treat and leave the land.”
“Bob has been doing a lot of these conservation practices that we hear about for almost 30 years,” said Tillman White, program manager for the U.S Cotton Trust Protocol and a trusted adviser to Walker. “He plants cover crops. He’s 100% no-till on all his acres. He’s been doing these since before most programs for soil health and efficiency have even been out there.”
Eyes On Water, Soil
Walker focuses a lot on one of farming’s most important resources — water. With his location on highly erodible land in the Mississippi watershed, Walker works hard to utilize practices that will stop the velocity of any water droplet that hits his farm, in turn reducing erosion and runoff.
“Everything we’ve got goes to the Mississippi River,” Walker explained. “I don’t want to put any of my nutrients that I’m paying for, that I need for my crops to grow and to be sustainable here on the farm, to wind up in New Orleans.”
Connected to water-use efficiency and reduced runoff is another area of focus — soil health. With his prescription application practices, Walker farms “foot by foot,” allowing for the accountability of the constant changes that can occur on a field. Those practices, he said, give his soil the opportunity to be at its best and most efficient.
“When you start to get the soil happy, it’s alive. It isn’t dirt anymore; it’s a living creature that we deal with,” Walker said. “If we let the nutrients, microbes and arthworms all just do their thing, they’re going to provide spots for the water to go. They’re going to help break up the soil and increase nutrients.”
“Bob’s been doing this because he saw real impacts on soil health, on yield and on efficiency from implementing these practices,” White said. “From there, he’s made adjustments, like adopting new technologies, because he’s always looking ahead for new opportunities.”
“Farmers were the original environmentalists,” Walker added. “For the sustainability story for us, we have continuously tried to leave it better. We’re always trying to do better. And do we stumble sometimes? Yes, we’re going to stumble. But in that process, we have to keep moving that marker and moving it forward.”
The Fieldprint Calculator
“When we started with the Fieldprint Calculator, that was when my eyes were opened,” Walker recalled.
In 2019, Lori Duncan, Assistant Professor and Crop Sustainability Specialist at the University of Tennessee, approached Walker to try to compare his current practices with some of his old data. Astounded by the results and the clear positive impacts of his practices, Walker decided to dig further and compare his current practices to that of 10, 15 and even 30 years before.
A piece that really stuck out for Walker from his results was that while his yields have gone up over time, they’ve brought their fertilizer numbers down by over 40%.
“Now I know I’m using 40% less fertilizer today than 20 years ago and am growing the same crops,” Walker said with a smile. “I know I’m making progress.”
Walker’s use of the Fieldprint Calculator goes beyond that initial experience and extends to the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, a voluntary sustainability and traceability program for U.S. cotton. Each grower involved in the Protocol is required to utilize the Fieldprint Calculator to measure and track their sustainability efforts.
Being involved with the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, a registered Fieldprint Project, from the ground level, Walker has explored multiple years’ worth of data through the initiative. The Tennessee farmer has also further explored his farm’s sustainability practices and received valuable information to tell his sustainability story.
“With the Protocol and what the Fieldprint Calculator’s able to do is put [his practices] to paper and show the impacts it’s having on his fields with the different metrics that we calculate,” explained White.
“I think it’s been really important for him to see, ‘okay, well, I’ve been doing this so what impact has it had?’ and I think that’s really key.”
“The Fieldprint Calculator is a tool in the toolbox,” Walker added. “It’s given us something to say ‘hey, maybe we need to tweak something.’ We can see that we can make it better or that there’s a possibility to make it better.”
Beyond helping with sustainability improvements, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, through use of the Fieldprint Calculator, helps connect growers with downstream customers who are wanting to source sustainable cotton for their supply chain.
“One of the key aspects of the Fieldprint Calculator is generating the output data,” White added.
“Through it, basically, they’re documenting their production practices. That’s really important, from the Trust Protocol perspective. When we’re working with retailers and brands that are consuming U.S. cotton, they can get a piece of that data if they source cotton through our program.”
Beyond The Farm Gate
“One thing about working with Bob, and other cotton growers in this industry, is that not only are they focused on their farm, but they have big impacts on the community around them,” said White. “They’re not just focused on their own farm. They’re helping other farmers because, at the end of the day, they’re in it together.”
Walker is a big proponent of taking his story off-farm, helping others along their sustainability journey. From serving on national boards, including Cotton Inc.’s Board of Directors, to presenting at and attending conferences nationwide, Walker loves to be on the road to share the work he’s doing and continue to learn from others.
“I love going to the farm shows, conferences and different places because I like to be able to share and also figure out what somebody else is doing,” Walker explained.
“I’ve been to meetings in Arizona and Bob is there,” White said. “Bob lives in Tennessee, but he’s out in Arizona working with other growers and other segments of the industry to improve demand and the value of U.S. cotton.”
The future is bright — not only for Walker, but for all of U.S cotton, which has made great advancements in sustainability in the past decade.
“I’m pretty happy to see where the farming community has gone in the past 10 years,” Walker said. “I’m excited, too, to see what is ahead.”