Kellon Lee, a fourth-generation cotton farmer, is advancing sustainability both by implementing conservation practices on his own operation in Louisiana and by promoting grower involvement in sustainability initiatives nationwide.
For Lee, the sustainability conversation doesn’t end at the farm gate — it is has opened up a whole new world of possibilities and partnerships.
“The world we live in now, you can’t just look right across the turn row any more,” he said. “There’s a bigger picture, a bigger world out there that’s interested in what we’re doing specifically, even right here in Louisiana.”
Lee farms 4,500 acres in Tensas Parish in northeast Louisiana with his father and uncle. He first began analyzing his operation’s sustainability performance as part of the Louisiana Cotton Incorporated Continuous Improvement Project enrolled in Field to Market’s Continuous Improvement Accelerator. Lee worked with trusted advisers to enter his data into the Fieldprint Platform and identify areas for continuous improvement.
“I started using the Fieldprint Platform to collect all of my data and with the tool, I’ve been able to focus on where I’m being wasteful, focus on my soil loss and see what practices I could use that would be beneficial to our specific operation,” he said.
After just one year entering data, he began to see opportunities for improvement and began implementing a continuous improvement strategy on his operation, which included a shift toward reduced tillage, planting cover crops and maximizing nitrogen-use efficiency.