Field intelligence

In August, employees from across the cooperative’s trade territory gathered for MFA’s inaugural Training Camp at fields near Boonville and Laddonia, Mo. The training camp sites were a series of plots planted and treated with a wide scope of MFA-offered plant technology, fertility products and crop protection systems.

MFA’s director of agronomy, Dr. Jason Weirich, said the goal for the training camps was to have a real-world, living example of MFA’s offerings as a teaching site for employees.

“It gives our employees an opportunity to better understand how the products they recommend and sell perform in the field. And, we got the chance to invite experts from across the industry to brief our employees about trends and changing technology. We want to be the top resource for our growers. We have some challenges ahead of us in weed control, new biotech and insects. We want to do our part to help growers meet those challenges.”

Topics covered included the growing problem with weed resistance, the potential for fungicide resistance, fertilizer technology, spray nozzle management, yield loss for undetected insects and the pipeline for new biotech crop technology platforms.

Like the entire MFA trade territory, training camp fields were challenged by drought and heat stress. As this magazine was going to press, corn was nearly ready to harvest. Compared to upland corn in the area, training camp corn plots in the Missouri River bottoms looked good. The soybean fields near Laddonia, Mo., like elsewhere, were marking time and waiting for rain. By mid-August, none had arrived. See a related story HERE.