ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 2, 1997 TAG: 9703030008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: TOM ANGLEBERGER STAFF WRITER
When Dan Brann received a letter from Progressive Farmer magazine at his home in Christiansburg, he figured it was a bill for his subscription. Instead, the letter told him he had been chosen Man of the Year for Virginia.
"When I first found out about it, I was ...surprised enough to wake my wife up at 6 o'clock on Saturday morning to tell her," said Brann.
Brann is well known by farmers across the state as a grain specialist for the state's Cooperative Extension and a professor in Virginia Tech's Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences.
Progressive Farmer, based in Birmingham, Ala., praised Brann for his lifetime contribution to farmers. They also credit him with an important role in creating the Virginia Corn Grower's Association and the Virginia Small Grains Association.
Brann sees his job as developing new information and then helping farmers put that information to work.
His days are frequently spent on the road, driving to farms to swap ideas and give suggestions to growers on their crops.
Improvements that Brann and others have made in wheat-growing techniques have led to some substantial changes in both agriculture and business.
For instance, Roanoke City Mills once imported much of its wheat from Ohio. New farming practices, however, have increased the quality of Virginia's wheat so much that the mill now buys wheat locally, said Brann.
These improvements and changes happen, he said, only through working with and sharing ideas and knowledge with farmers, extension agents and agribusiness representatives. He believes he received the Progressive Farmer award because of his work with these people and thinks they deserve much of the credit.
"It's my picture [in the magazine], but I'm always working with other people," he said. "Everything I've ever done has been in cooperation with at least one other person."
Local farmers praise Brann and say he has made a difference in their bottom line.
Floyd Childress, who operates a family farm near Christiansburg, said Brann's advice has had a substantial effect on his wheat yields.
"He demonstrated to us the benefits of growing wheat and applying the more intensive management techniques that he developed," said Childress. "It's a management program that has done it's job for us. We've made more money."
By working with agribusiness representatives, Brann can find out which crops will be financially successful for farmers.
"We're always looking for that higher value crop and trying to do a better job with what we are growing," he said. For example, he discovered that a mill in Winchester was purchasing a certain type of wheat not grown anywhere on the East Coast. Because it sells for a higher price than regular wheat, Brann wants to help Virginia farmers start growing it.
After accumulating data from farmers and extension agents, Brann can find out what farming techniques work best.
"We just work with the farmers ... to determine some of the changes ... that would increase yield potential."
Brann doesn't take credit for every success, but wheat yields for Virginia farmers have more than doubled in the last few years, from 35-50 bushels an acre to as much as 100 bushels per acre.
Increasing the yields is a result of more accurate farm management, which includes timely planting, careful choice of wheat variety, pest management and precise fertilization.
Although Virginia is not considered a wheat state, farmers can actually grow more wheat per acre than a state such as Kansas, if the proper management techniques are used for the state's soil and weather.
Brann has also worked to try to increase corn yields by helping farmers work with recently developed corn hybrids. The hybrids themselves are developed by private industry, meanwhile Brann and others work to find the best farming techniques for the best hybrids.
And farmers are listening when Brann reveals his findings.
Local farmer Childress said there is more to Brann's advice than just money. For instance, new planting practices have cut down on erosion by farming without tilling the soil.
"[Dan has] helped us become actually better stewards of the land," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: TOM ANGLEBERGER STAFF. Glen Childress (left), a wheatby CNBfarmer in Christiansburg, and Dan Brann, an extension grain
specialist with the Virginia Tech Department
of Crop and SoilEnvironmental Sciences, examine wheat seedlings and
discuss ways to maximize yields. color.