Dec 7, 2023
Russell Taylor honored for conservation practices
Russell Taylor is the recipient of the 2023 Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) Conservationist of the Year Award.
The award, conferred in a Dec. 5 ceremony hosted by the USDA in Washington, D.C., recognizes a certified crop adviser who has demonstrated leadership in conservation in agriculture.
According to Certified Crop Adviser, a program of the American Society of Agronomy, CCAs are partners with farmers on the front lines of critical decisions in agriculture, where tight margins, new technology, pest concerns and consumer pushes for sustainability have increased. The CCA program aims to enable agriculture as an industry to meet its environmental stewardship objective, according to a news release.
Taylor is the vice president of Live Earth Products, which mines and manufactures humic and fulvic acid-based products. Taylor’s journey with the family-owned mine in Emery, Utah, began at the age of nine, marking the start of a lifelong commitment to the humic industry. His growth has paralleled that of the business, and he has extended his influence beyond the company by serving as president of the Humic Products Trade Association for 10 years.
He has degrees in agriculture and agribusiness and an MBA. Taylor sees conservation as the future of successful agriculture, according to the release. He has worked tirelessly to advocate for the use of humates to reduce fertilizer loss and add organic matter to the soil to improve conservation.
He advocates for changes in state and federal rules to open doors for farmers to access products beyond pesticides and fertilizers, which build soil health and aid crop production.
“I’d like to express my deepest gratitude for the honor of receiving this award,” Taylor said in the release. “The human population is anticipated to double in the next 30 years. Growing food and feeding the human population can only be done by utilizing products that help to produce more food using the same amount of resources.
He said Live Earth Products is focused on improving soils to help make more efficient use of applied water and fertilizer.
“This includes increasing access to innovative products that enhance soil health and conserve agricultural inputs,” he said in the release.
Dan Olk, who is based with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Ames, Iowa, met Taylor in 2007.
“I’ve witnessed him carrying an impressive leadership role in the humic products industry for more than a decade,” Olk said in the release. “He is equally conversant discussing humic product activity in crop production, in animal farming, and the legal restrictions surrounding both.”
The award is supported by the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Agricultural Retailers Association, American Society of Agronomy, CropLife America, Crop Science Society of America, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, Soil Science Society of America and The Fertilizer Institute, and is administered by The American Society of Agronomy.
