   Alumni Feature: Chad KrugerA Future for FarmingStory and photos by Merlin Quiggle Ten years ago, Chad Kruger was the student speaker at Northwest’s commencement. In his remarks, he challenged the Class of 1997 to lead our churches, our government, our schools, and our world... to break the molds of conventional wisdom, and to commit themselves to changing the world. “When I made those challenges to my classmates, I honestly never imagined that less than a decade later I would find myself part of cutting-edge efforts to stop climate change and find alternatives to fossil fuels,” he recalls. To do this, Chad completed an M.S. and is a Ph.D. candidate in Land Resources at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is now a faculty member of Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources. He has research and education responsibilities for the BIOAg Program (Biologically Intensive Agriculture and Organic Farming) and the Climate Friendly Farming Project. Although he never imagined he would end up in this position, it’s not the first time he has been surprised at the direction his life has taken. He never expected to attend Northwest, for example. “I had applied to the University of Washington and Washington State University, among others, and I had been accepted by all of them,” Chad remembers. “I didn’t apply to Northwest (then College) until very late in the game.” For several years, Chad had planned to attend the agriculture program at WSU. He had grown up working on his family’s farm and had even worked for a WSU Research Farm while he was in high school. “Then, at the last minute, I chose Northwest,” Chad states. “By doing so, I became the 17th member of my family to attend Northwest. Maybe that was in the back of my mind as I headed off to Kirkland.” What was in the front of his mind was a plan to transfer to WSU. But that transfer never came. He stayed at Northwest, earning his B.A. in Inter-disciplinary Studies, with a concentration in Philosophy and a minor in History. On graduation day, he found himself at the podium, honored as the student speaker. “I can say, though, with confidence, that in the first two weeks at the University of Wisconsin, I quickly realized that I was better prepared than most of my fellow grad students who had come from major universities and Ivy League schools.” For this preparation, Chad says, “I’d like to thank my professors, particularly those who provided the core of my undergraduate program: Dr. LeRoy Johnson, Dr. Michael McKenzie, Dr. John Ridge, and Dr. Darrell Hobson. I think I took around 25 classes from just these four professors.” Chad also has special thanks to Bill Randolph (a Science Professor, now retired) “for taking so many chances on me. Right out of the gate, he gave me a job washing lab dishes and grading lab manuals. He dragged me to Africa and then gave me my first ‘real’ job teaching labs at Northwest. And finally, he helped place me in a prestigious graduate program under the direction of Cal DeWitt, the leading Christian environmental scientist in the world. At the core, Bill is a man who simply won’t stop caring about his students.”
A Base in WatervilleChad and his family now live in Waterville, just a few miles east of the Columbia River and about 30 minutes north of Wenatchee. This small town is centrally located to the various WSU sites that are involved in Chad’s work. “Essentially, my role at WSU is to be the interface between researchers and stakeholders, that is, between the scientists and farmers, public agencies and political decision-makers.” For instance, Chad currently represents the agricultural and scientific communities on the Agricultural Technical Working Group of Governor Gregoire’s Climate Advisory Team. “Historically, agricultural fights the ecology of a given place,” Chad explains. “In our work, we’re looking to make managed systems work like nature. Our goal is to lower costs and improve sustainability.” Their fight also includes the battle against global warming. “Another one of our goals is Climate-Friendly Farming,” Chad notes. “We’re helping to develop agricultural systems and practices that will mitigate global climate change.” Chad and his colleagues know they are playing catch-up. “In a little more than 100 years, intensive farming in the Pacific Northwest has seriously degraded soil resources – as evidenced by the loss of more than 50% of the native carbon in our soils to the atmosphere, where it contributes to global warming,” he states. Chad’s team is developing improved agricultural systems that enable farmers to reverse this trend and return carbon from the atmosphere to the soil. Washington farmers are encouraged by these efforts as they realize the benefits of enhanced soil health and the potential for carbon credits.
The Mustard Seed MiraclePotato plants are vulnerable to more than a dozen types of pests and diseases. As a result, this part of the agricultural industry is highly dependent on chemical controls. The financial cost is huge – more than $100 million a year in Washington state alone. The tiny mustard seed is a big alternative to toxic chemicals in efforts to fight disease and pests. Chad’s team has shown that growing mustard and turning it into the soil breaks up the cycle of weeds and disease, and it provides other benefits, such as helping soil fertility. Farmers in Central Washington use this practice on more than 20,000 acres each year, saving at least $50/acre in reduced chemical use. “Mustard seeds are incredibly interesting, particularly if you’ve read about them in the New Testament,” Chad notes. “Each seed is barely over one millimeter in length. They are so small, you can hold 3,000 - 4,000 seeds in one hand,” he adds. “Yet, 10 pounds of mustard seed per acre will grow into 10,000 pounds of biomass in just 60-70 days.” Now Chad’s team is looking at using the mustard plant (and close relatives) as a potential biofuel crop to help offset the use of petroleum. Mustard oil can be converted into a high-quality diesel fuel substitute known as biodiesel (as well as many other products) – which will help reduce dependence on petroleum for energy and reduce global warming. Developing new uses and markets for the mustard plant will enable Washington farmers to introduce this desirable plant in many places in the state.
The Nitrogen “Explosion”In 1900, the world’s population was about 1.6 billion. In 2,000, it had grown to six billion. The main reason for this “ex-plosion” in the world’s population was an equal explosion in the production of food. This, in turn, was made possible by the Haber-Bosch process. Fritz Haber was a professor who won a Nobel Prize in 1918, and Carl Bosch was an engineer who won a Nobel in 1931. Their process pulls nitrogen from the air to produce ammonia, a key component in artificial fertilizer. Today, the Haber-Bosch process is used around the world to produce 500 million tons of artificial fertilizer each year. “I think this process is the most important scientific discovery of the past 500 years,” Chad states. But it is not without cost. The process uses high temperatures and high pressures, which require a huge supply of energy. “The main energy supply for this process is natural gas. Just like oil, natural gas production is in rapid decline world-wide,” Chad notes. “Without Haber-Bosch nitrogen, 40% of the world’s population would be starving today – and 60% will be by mid-century. Unless we can come up with something else, we’re going to have a severely damaged environment and unprecedented starvation.” One of the most exciting solutions to the nitrogen problem that Chad’s team is working on is called ‘precision agriculture.’ “Thanks to space-age technology, we can now match precisely the amount of nitrogen fertilizer we apply to the amount that the crop can use. In our field trials, we have reduced the total amount of nitrogen needed by 20% without reducing yields. This type of technology will go a long way toward ensuring enough food for everyone in the future,” he states. When Chad was awarded the Regius Award from Northwest University earlier this year, he challenged his listeners, “Take a chance; do something big.” If he continues to heed his own words, will he win a Nobel Prize in, let’s say, 2028?
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  The First Regius Award WinnerIn February, Chad Kruger was awarded the first Regius Award from the College of Arts and Sciences at Northwest University. At top: Chad is shown with Professors Bill Randolph and Darrell Hobson. At bottom, with his family: parents Wendell and LaDonna, wife Tonya, and children Alexis and Zakkary. Daughter Jocelyn is not in the photo. For more about this award and the evening, click here. |
“Even as I was challenging my classmates to do great things, I wasn’t even really sure that my Northwest education had adequately prepared me to survive graduate school,” Chad admits.