Reporting to you from Cairo, Egypt … I am once again working overseas on a food security mission, this time in Egypt. Here is my first of three installments about this country.

While doing some fieldwork recently, I recalled my early years on the farm. Back then I knew certain things, but I did not yet have the formal training to understand why the world worked a certain way. As I moved into my college years, these understandings became known.

In December 1968 economist Dr. Garrett Hardin wrote a seminal paper called “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Largely used in the field of economic theory, I believe it has relevance to those of us tasked with thinking about resource management.

At a recent training event at the USDA-NRCS State Office in East Lansing, Michigan, 25 employees attended a technical course for two days. I helped deliver this course. When done, I was drawn to write a commentary about the course’s students. Here is it in this column.

In this column, once again I visit the development of the comprehensive nutrient management plan (CNMP). The point of reference is a recent visit to a dairy farm in northern Michigan. The reference CNMP notebook is 600 pages long. Yet from my perspective, it is of no use to the landowner and of little value to the NRCS field office case file. Here are three reasons why.

I have often written about Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans, or CNMPs. I do so again in this article by providing three comments, which address how we might make them better. Why? I am assigned the task of reviewing CNMPs written under a USDA – NRCS contract; the review includes a thorough examination of the document coupled with a field site review.

This year marks my 20th year writing for Progressive Dairyman. I began when I was 40 years old, and just a month ago I turned 60. I have written to you from a dozen countries, including some of the most challenging environments anywhere.

In this column, I have often written that the best investment we make is an investment in people. Specifically, helping them understand the importance of bringing meaning to their lives. For those choosing public service, the meaning is service to others, empathy for those less fortunate and compassion for those stuck in a life void of self-determination and opportunity.

One of the first steps of conservation planning is understanding the landowner’s goals and objectives. In fact, this step is so important that if we plan without it, the plan fails. I recently visited a dairy farm in northern Michigan. As part of my duties, I was tasked with evaluating the planning effort of an agronomist applying for a planning certificate. This story is not about the agronomist – but the farm family.

I have been thinking about carbon. This particular atom is profoundly important for organic life and the sustainability of life. In plants, carbon is about half of the total dry weight. Carbon dioxide is the precursor to organic carbon assimilation in plants; we know this as photosynthesis. This reaction, driven by solar radiation and the change in energy of electrons, is easily the most important chemical reaction on the planet’s surface. We call this the biosphere.