Certified agronomists help boost farmers’ profits
By Nancy Jorgensen

Popular program instills experience, expertise and trust.

Larry Quade started working with MFA agronomist Cassy Landewee 10 years ago when she interned with MFA. Until recently, he didn’t know that she is a certified crop advisor. But he knows he can trust her advice.

Last year, she spotted some of his soybean fields with early-stage septoria brown spot and frogeye diseases. Her counsel to spray immediately earned him an additional $50 per acre.

“Timing is key to success in farming,” said Quade, who with his father, Clyde, grows corn, soybeans and wheat on 1,800 acres in the Chaffee area—about half of it irrigated. “I can’t keep up with all the different insects and other problems—things change all the time. Cassy makes my job easier. And last year, she made me money.”

Landewee, precision ag specialist for SEMO MFA Agri Services, first signed up the Quades for grid soil sampling, which she conducts every 4 years to assess fertility needs. Later, she sold them yield-monitoring equipment for their combine. Eventually, the Quades sought variable-rate fertilizer applications. Today, Landewee also scouts the Quades’ crops once a week during the growing season for insects, weeds, disease and nutrient deficiencies.

Technology pumps up production
Variable-rate fertilizer applications represent the No. 1 way that Landewee and other agronomists have helped crop farmers increase yields. “I have personally seen farmers’ corn yield goals shoot from 180 bushels to 200 or 225 bushels per acre,” Landewee said. “Proper application of fertilizer helps these growers add to their bottom line, making them more profitable.”

More and more farmers are participating in the crop-scouting program. “With the advent of herbicide-resistant crops,” Landewee said, “we see more farmers run across the field with a standard rate of chemical without looking at the weeds growing in the field. Our scouting program helps farmers apply the right amount at the right time based on what is in each individual field.”

In recent years, Missouri has experienced milder winters. “We are seeing more and more insects as a result,” Landewee said. “This makes it even more important to scout on a weekly basis to assure properly timed pesticide applications.”

Many of MFA’s agronomists, including Landewee, are also technical service providers with USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, qualifying them to develop nutrient management plans required by some federal programs. “This is a great benefit to our customers because they are able to work with someone who deals with their operation on a daily basis, as opposed to working with someone writing their plan from another state,” Landewee said.

Technology helps agronomists compare notes
Further to the north, Scott Wilburn likes to work with the soil and with technology. These two attributes make him perfect for his job as field crop and precision ag specialist for MFA. He has worked for MFA for 10 years, most recently with the Laddonia, Mo., group. He earned his CCA status in 1999.

“Many of the ideas that we now call precision ag were just being developed when I started,” said Wilburn. Today, managing data on farmers’ fields makes up a big part of his job. Wilburn tracks things like crop rotations and which fertilizer products have been applied to which acreages.

Bruce Wilson, a farmer raising corn and soybeans near Mexico, Mo., teamed up with Wilburn to develop a precision agriculture plan. Wilson calls on Wilburn two or three times a week during the growing season to ask for advice.

“He’s both saved me money and made me money,” Wilson said. “Sometimes he advises me not to spray. This year, we had a lot of insects and he did advise it. I trust what he says. He sees more fields than I do. If he doesn’t recognize a disease or an insect, he has the resources to find out what it is.”

Wilburn believes in precision agriculture. “It helps growers better allocate their resources, which can save them money and make them more profitable. With the soil testing and yield data, we can apply only what the soil needs and what the previous crops have taken off. While many are talking green these days, I’m able to have a positive impact on the environment on a daily basis.”

In addition to corn and soybeans, farmers in Wilburn’s territory raise wheat, grain sorghum and forage. Wilburn enjoys using the Internet to research issues specific to his area. “I carry a digital camera at all times,” he said. “I can e-mail a photo of a plant to another agronomist that I’m speaking with over the phone and we can discuss what we’re seeing in real time.”

Both Landewee and Wilburn update MFA’s website for their regions regularly on insects, disease and weed control. A July entry in Wilburn’s blog on www.mexicomfa.com displayed a photo he’d taken of a soybean field suffering from what looked like phytopthora, minus a few missing symptoms. In Wilburn’s accompanying blog, he pledged to reveal test results once they became available.

As a CCA, Wilburn follows a code of ethics. “The decisions we make and the advice we render should always be in the grower’s best interest,” he said. “The most rewarding part of what I do is helping a grower work through a problem that helps him raise a better crop.”

Planting the right seeds
While Cassy Landewee and Scott Wilburn help farmers apply precision ag techniques, these methods aren’t used much in Jeremy Hayward’s area. As MFA field crops area sales manager, Hayward covers parts of southern and southwestern Missouri where farmers mostly raise forage for livestock. He provides farmers there with timely advice on the inputs they need to succeed.

Bill Reiboldt, along with his son, Bryan, operates a dairy, grain and forage farm near Neosho, Mo. Reiboldt confirms that Hayward does more than sell. Hayward travels from 800 to 1,000 miles a week from his home base in Nixa, Mo., working directly with farmers like Reiboldt and offering his expertise to 27 of MFA’s retail service locations and 22 MFA fertilizer plants.

“I see my fields every day, but Jeremy sees hundreds of fields each week,” Reiboldt said. “He can spot problems right away and point us in the right direction.”

A master’s degree in forage physiology provides a solid background for Hayward, and his CCA status furthers his ability to help keep farmers profitable and progressive. He echoes Wilburn’s view that the most rewarding part of his job is helping growers. “I became a CCA because I knew it would give me another leg up,” Hayward said. “It forces me to continue my education.”

Hayward watches seed trials closely and advises farmers like Reiboldt on which hybrids and varieties will work best for their purpose and location. He knows which corn to plant for silage versus grain. He urges farmers to rotate crops to avoid pest management issues like herbicide resistance associated with continuous monocropping. He also enjoys teaching MFA employees about the latest local forage situations, insect or weed outbreaks and how to respond. “We’re in a transition zone here—things change a lot just a little bit to the north or south,” Hayward said.

The technology that Hayward uses most often is biotechnology. “From Bt corn to Roundup-Ready alfalfa, biotechnology has given farmers great abilities to produce more quality and quantity at a lower price per acre,” he said.

Reiboldt believes that Hayward helps him be a better farmer. “I read the magazines, but it’s Jeremy’s job to keep up,” Reiboldt said. “He has the education, but you impress a farmer more with your knowledge and your ability to communicate. I have confidence in him.”

Assessing the costs and benefits
Hayward enjoys it when a farmer asks, “What do I owe you for that?” As a salesperson, he’s happy to report that his advice comes as an added value with MFA seed and inputs.

When it comes to agronomy services offered by Landewee, Wilburn and other precision ag specialists, farmers usually pay a per-acre fee. For example, MFA charges about $10 an acre for grid soil sampling, conducted once every 4 years. Crop scouting services cost about $7 per acre annually. Variable rate applications range widely based on the fertilizer and other factors.

Either way, for farmers like Larry Quade, the investment in agronomy services pays off. Quade is counting on Cassy Landewee’s help to get him through what looks to be a dry season in the Bootheel. “Yesterday I was spraying beans, and they didn’t look quite right,” he said in an interview this summer. “I’ll communicate with Cassy before it leads to something bigger.”

Can you trust your agronomist?
MFA employs more than 100 certified crop advisors across its territory. Dr. Paul Tracy, who heads up MFA’s team of agronomists, has been with the co-op network for 14 years. He began working with the certification program shortly after his arrival.

“The CCA designation helps us demonstrate to farmers that our agronomists are competent,” Tracy said. Each CCA follows a comprehensive code of ethics that includes an important credo—he or she must protect the client’s interests by recommending only products and services that are in the best interest of the client and the public.

To become certified, agronomists must pass a 200-question national test and, in Missouri, a 100-question state test. The exams cover four major management areas: nutrients, soil and water, crops, and integrated pest control. It’s not a cakewalk—only 60 percent pass the national exam on the first try.

To maintain certification, the CCA must earn 40 hours of continuing education every 2 years. The American Society of Agronomy currently certifies more than 14,000 applicants in the U.S. and Canada.

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