AGRONOMY
Winfield United Account Manager Phil Keefauver talks about the important role that Mid- County ’ s agronomists play in helping farmers determine which seeds and herbicides are best for their fields . sets like new equipment and facilities . It has also allowed the co-op to return large amounts of equity to patrons .
Reimers said that the co-op paid about $ 560,000 in equities to patrons last year and that the Mid-County board recently authorized another $ 520,000 in old equities to be paid out by the end of the year .
“ We have been pretty aggressive in paying out our equities . We pay out equities in two ways ; one by the age of a patron over the age of 75 , and one by the age of the stock ,” Reimers said . “ At one time we just paid at the age of 75 , but then the stock started to get older . Now we ’ ve trued that up more ; because we are paying on the age of the stock as well .”
Other items
Mid-County is currently looking to add more warehouse space and constructing a new chemical loading facility , as its current one was built in 1991 . It would also like to expand its office space , and as always working to keep its fleet of trucks up to date .
Phil Keefauver
The other speaker at the customer appreciation event was Winfield United Account Manager Phil Keefauver .
Winfield United is a division of Land O ’ Lakes that deals with crop inputs . Mid-County is a member and owner of Land O-Lakes and Winfield United .
Keefauver used his time to provide some insight into the importance of Mid-County ’ s agronomists and pre-emergent herbicides .
“ The point I want to leave you with today is that when you ’ re sitting down having conversations with your agronomist here at Mid- County — whether you ’ re talking about seed or the right thing to do for weed control or plant nutrition , whatever it is — the recommendation that they make is based on data ,” he said .
Winfield United has an innovation center in River Falls , Wisconsin , where new products are tested to ensure they are effective before being passed on to Mid-County and , from there , local farms .
“ When margins are tight , no one can afford to make mistakes , so your agronomist at Mid- County isn ’ t going to make the wrong recommendation ,” Keefauver said . “ They ’ re going to do everything they can to do the best possible job for you .”
Regarding seeds , Mid-County agronomists will ask about responses to fungicides , nitrogen rates , and population . They will also ask about field locations , field management plans , and thoughts on nitrogen fertility .
“ Before they ever make a recommendation on the seed that you plant , they need to know all those things to get that part right ,” Keefauver said . “ That ’ s probably the most important decision you make in a year .”
He added that an important factor to consider each year is weed control .
This year , weed control was a struggle in many parts of the state due to higher-thanaverage precipitation .
However , Keefauver said those who used a pre-emergent herbicide right behind their planter were very happy with their decision .
With fields being so wet this year , most farmers found it difficult to get into their fields after planting , forcing them to watch as weeds grew rampant .
“ This year , if we got stuck without a preemergent on our corn or beans , we had to try and get the timing right to spray over the top post-application , which was really difficult ,” Keefauver said . “ I know a lot of you are aware that once a Waterhead gives us six inches in your fields , it ’ s very hard to control the weeds , so the guys would say to do a lot more preemergent applications for next spring .”
He also touched on herbicide adjuvants , saying that the agronomists at Mid-County will tailor their adjuvant recommendations based on the type of herbicide being applied .
“ We pick the adjuvant to fit the herbicide so that the herbicide does what it needs to do , so it ’ s really important that when you sit down this winter and talk about putting a farm plan together for next spring to try and be fairly specific with the guys and get a good plan together on what you ’ re going to use for controlling weeds ,” Keefauver said . “ That has everything to do with what they ’ re going to have in their warehouse and what they ’ re going to recommend .”
This became an issue last year , as some products could not be provided because they had not been requested initially .
Keefavuer said that while adjuvants can add $ 2 to $ 4 to the per-acre cost of herbicide application , it ultimately increases the odds that farmers have satisfactory weed control .
He closed his time with a thank-you to Mid- County and its patrons .
“ I appreciate that you ’ re member-owners of the local co-op ; they ’ re great supporters of Land O ’ Lakes , and we will continue to work every day to support what your team here at Mid-County is doing ,” Keefavuer said .
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