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Hosts David Nicolai and Seth Naeve discuss the progress and challenges of Minnesota's agronomic crops. They are joined each week by a diversity of specialists representing all crops and agronomic disciplines to discuss their research and its impact on Minnesota crops. Dave Nicolai is a crops Extension educator and Seth Naeve is the Extension soybean agronomist.
Good day, and welcome to the University of Minnesota Extension and CFANS podcast, Minnesota CropCast. I'm Dave Nicolai, University of Minnesota Extension crops educator, along with my co host Doctor. Seth Nave, University of Minnesota Extension soybean specialist. Well, welcome back to the University of Minnesota podcast Minnesota Crop Cast. Again, my name is Dave Dave Nicolai along with my cohost here Doctor.
Dave Nicolai:Seth Nave. Seth, have a very special guest here that's decided to join us today a little bit about agriculture primarily here in Southern Minnesota but I think across the state as well. And that's none other than Bryce Nelson and Bryce is the president this year Seth of MNCU, the Minnesota Independent Crop Consultants Association. And we're gonna get into a little bit about what that is. But Bryce, I think we should start off with a little bit about yourself.
Dave Nicolai:Can you give us your background, school, so forth, and how you settled into the job that you have presently?
Speaker 2:Sure. Grew up on a small farm in Southern Minnesota near Austin. Went to school high school there, went to college community college in Austin, and then went to the University of Wisconsin Platteville where I got my degree in soil agronomy and soil science. From there, I worked for another consultant for about three years. Scott had a form to begin with when I was in college and then worked for him for about three years, then I went on my own in January 1984.
Speaker 2:So I've been doing it for quite a while now. So that's kind of my background. I live in that area where I grew up near Rose Creek and serve Southern Minnesota, Northern Iowa, about five or six county area, something like that.
Dave Nicolai:So so what are the counties? Just give the folks an an idea and geographically where you're located.
Speaker 2:Sure. Moore, Freeborn, a little bit in Fillmore, Dodge and Steele, and then in Iowa, I'm in Mitchell, Howard, and Worth Yeah. Counties.
Dave Nicolai:Wow. So in this situation with it, I mean, you had probably other opportunities for employment, you know, when you get out of school and doing other things. How did you get attracted to the the crop consulting? Was was there a certain amount of, so to speak, ability to chart your own course or freedom versus working for large company or a big regional cooperative?
Speaker 2:Well, I like the idea of just being a consultant, not selling a product, having the freedom to say, this is what you should use. It'll the most bang for the buck, the best return, the best response, whatever that would be. I really like that idea of filling that and being a advocate for the farmer and only doing what's best for his cause instead of trying to sell something that maybe not is the best product to use or whatever. So that that was a big draw for me. And then watching it function in that town near me, I like the way it seemed to help farmers.
Speaker 2:So that's how I got into it.
Dave Nicolai:Well, you mentioned you were with another firm for a little bit as as a situation where you kinda learn the ropes, so to speak, or it really isn't a a book. You can buy No. In the library and say how to be a independent crop consultant per se. What were some of the lessons or what were the things that that guided you?
Speaker 2:Well, I learned a lot there. My my first job and how how the whole process worked, how it functioned, how to relate with farmers. But I always wanted to own my own business and be a independent person. That's how I kept going in that direction, I guess.
Speaker 3:So tell us a little bit about Minka. We're we're very interested to hear your view as as president, but also as a long term member. Give the audience a little overview of what Minka is and how it serves its its members, the independent crop consultants.
Dave Nicolai:Yeah. Maybe go through the alphabet soup, but what does the the term minka mean in alphabetically here?
Speaker 2:So it's Minnesota Independent Crop Consultants Association. We're very careful about the independent part. That's a very, very important thing to us that people aren't selling a product and also working as an independent consultant. You have to have no ties to product sales to be a full member of our organization. I think that's the driving force between the people there, and everybody's very committed to that in the organization.
Speaker 2:It's a very, diverse group of people that service a lot of different crops across the state. Very dedicated people that work hard to stay up to date and on the cutting edge and providing as much quality service as they can. It's a service industry, so services are number one thing. Everybody is very adamant about getting to people timely and doing things timely and giving them accurate and timely recommendations, that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:You started in '84, so kind of walk us through some of the cultural changes you've seen over that time. What how has how has your role changed? How has the organization? How has Independent CropCast changed? How are you know, in in reaction to the changes that the farmers have seen?
Speaker 2:Well, it's it follows it follows farming. You know? We've seen operations grow, get bigger, adapted to that. The technology has been the big thing, you know, adapting and using and integrating that into farming. You know, we started out probably smaller farmers, more livestock farmers that we worked with, that kind of thing, and then people have conglomerated and, you know, they're bigger farmers, bigger more spent specific farming operations, more high bigger grain farms, bigger livestock farms, that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:The technology has been interesting to watch and and help integrate and choose what works the best and what has the most impact. It's been really interesting for me, I think, for a lot of consultants that follow. And then the progression of how we sample and when we sample and keeping up with all the different updates. You know? When I first started, I think it was more there's a lot more emphasis on weed control.
Speaker 2:That was much more of a battle at that time to get, the right product on the right weed at the right time and the right combination of products. Then when Roundup came in, that that kind of became a low factor on the on the need scale. So then it was more for, you know, for fertility and variety recommendations and scouting, those all came into play for weeds or not so much weeds, but insects, diseases that came to be more of a a job for us. Did you Then now
Speaker 3:Yeah. Go ahead. Sorry. I We
Speaker 2:kinda we've kinda kinda come full circle with the weed thing. Now we're back to really concentrating on what weeds we find, what's gonna work the best, what combination of products are gonna work the best again. So sorry.
Speaker 3:No, I'm sorry. I jumped in on you there. No, the weeds thing is very interesting to me. I had the same discussion last week with some university folks about Roundup coming in. And really, it really changed row crop agriculture, such a big way that there was a real change in culture that I noticed among farmers.
Speaker 3:So it sounds like that changed you guys as well. Was there a concern at some point that it was actually a threat to your business model? Did it become so easy to farm during those days that you thought that maybe consultants may just kind of go away, or was it always a foregone conclusion that there was something for you there to offer them?
Speaker 2:No, I think that's a very valid point. You know, there was a concern. On my part, I can't speak for everybody else, but on my part, we're concerned because that was a big part of what we did, scouting the weeds, determining what to use on them, and that kind of thing. And then it just became spray twice and you're done. And so then that part of the scouting became less necessary.
Speaker 2:Still had weeds or, excuse me, diseases and insects, but diseases at that time weren't very prevalent. You know, we didn't have tar spot. We didn't have southern rust that we dealt with. Some other farm leaf pipe that that got bred into the genetics. So, yeah, it was a concern for a while, but they still value the farmers still value that objective opinion that was not selling a product of any kind that they could just ask an opinion on virtually any topic in their farming operation.
Speaker 2:And I think they still get calls from guys and appreciate, you know, almost answering answer that question. They'll say, well, I sure appreciate just talking to you about this topic and not having to worry about you selling anything. So we transitioned through that into other things. This is what we did.
Speaker 3:Yeah. How about I'll throw another one out for you that I've seen a change, and and that's kind of this, you know, conglomeration of all of these big industries and then the loyalty programs that have followed those. And how does that affect your business when you deal with these farmers that get pulled into these universes of a very specific group of products. Does that affect how they value your opinions, or do they still need you as that independent resource that can look out beyond and across those companies?
Speaker 2:I think they still value the independent. I mean and it's exactly like you say. It's a programmer. It's a system that comes through each company of whether it's weed control or disease control or whatever it is, but you still have to pick which one fits that farm operation the best even though they have and each is gonna have strengths and weaknesses. They're gonna have strengths maybe on the weed control part or in the disease control part, which is gonna be the most benefit to that farmer.
Speaker 2:So but you do we do have to work with that. I mean, that's definitely a part of what we have to deal with, and it's part of the way farming works now. So the very valid point.
Speaker 3:So the other thing that I think is interesting in Minnesota specifically is that we have this real cultural history of strong support for independent crop consultants that I don't know. I'm sure you're very aware of what happens in other states, but I don't I can't think of another state that has anything quite like what we have in Minnesota. I know some of this is just historical and kind of hangs on, but what do you think drives that that kinda cultural identity and or demand or or, you know, use for for the folks that work like you out in the fields?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure really how to answer that. I think it's the fact that we started in the state very early in the whole process of consulting and so that we're
Dave Nicolai:we're
Speaker 2:very recognized by people early in the whole in the whole farming game. And then as as, like we said, people specialized in certain parts of the farming industry. They look to a specialist to help them with crop side of it, maybe a specialist for their livestock part of it. Maybe that's what drove it, but that's a that's a good question, and I don't know if I have a really good answer for that. I'm thankful, you know, that farmers here value that and look for that, but that's the best I could come up with.
Speaker 3:Well, think your best times are ahead of you. I mean, when I look at farming, there was quite a long time when farmers just needed to work hard and they could, you know, they could get by. And then they needed to be good, you know, agronomists, and then they could make it go. But now farmers really have to be businessmen first. And I think when I look at the young generation of farmers, they're really business focused.
Speaker 3:And I think the independent crop consultants have even more I think there's even more demand brewing out there. I think there's more opportunity as farm sizes get bigger. Yeah. I think that there's more opportunity for you. So I'm I'm really happy that we have such a good a good system in Minnesota and and such a such a good group of folks out there that are supporting farmers.
Dave Nicolai:You know, I wanted to
Speaker 2:get Thank you.
Dave Nicolai:I wanted to get back to this other point I think you alluded to this change. And, you know, we had the roundup mentality and other weeds and so forth. But in the terms of specialization, you know, from the standpoint of farmer can't know it all, be everywhere all of the time and so forth. So if you were to hang your hat on your elevator speech when you're meeting a new potential client, let's say someone that you haven't worked with before. What do you list off as as what you can bring to the table now a day to a Southern Minnesota farmer?
Dave Nicolai:Are you going to give them a better understanding of chemistry so that they don't have to be the study themselves or to help them when they meet the banker? But I mean, what what are some attributes if, you know, if you're a first or second time? Not not a not an old established customer, but a new person. What are some things that you like to bring out and say, well, this is this is what I can do for you in your Row Cop operation?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, we're all independent consultants, and we all have kind of a some specialty to Right. An Some of us are more agronomy based or fertility based or disease, you know, they're an entomologist based type person. So everybody's gonna probably bring more of a specialty or a fill up void that could be there for each farmer. And then as I meet with farmers, some farmers have, just like us, have more interest in the choosing varieties or choosing the weed control or choosing but don't want to know a lot about fertility and want somebody else to handle that portion of their operation. That's pretty common.
Speaker 2:Usually, you know, there's usually parts that they don't wanna have and have the specialty or have the knowledge to deal with as well as other parts of their operation. And I I think it was an interesting, like just like Seth said, you know, it's a specialized world. And now you've got these guys that are they're not only hiring in a bit of comp consultant, they're hiring at a you know, people to help with their accounting, people to help with their banking, people to help with their marketing, people to help with managing their inputs. I mean, I know guys that have risk consultants. So they're they're just take bringing in people that fill the need that they have, and and the good ones recognize they have a area they're not as versed in.
Speaker 2:And they find a way to fill that fill that in with somebody that's more knowledgeable in that area. And I had like the fact that Seth said, you know, that there's a bright future because we went through a period of time where we had kind of the same group of people working as consultants, and now we've got this kind of new influx of new young people that are starting businesses and going to consultant. Exciting for us to see, and I think, to your point, I think, Seth, that that's the that's the way things are. I mean, there's there's more of an interest, I think, more of a push to hire people to do it.
Speaker 3:And do you talk about this generally. I think that's a really interesting point because I do know some of those young folks that are are joining you now, but there is a whole bunch of independent crop consultants that are about your generation. Right? So there is Yes. There will be some turnover.
Speaker 3:And do you think that there's going to be folks out there to fill that that that fill that that void? Or and how how's it gonna look? Are they gonna look a lot like your independent your business, or is the next next group of independents gonna be somewhat different, do you think?
Speaker 2:It'll be both. I mean, there's gonna be some that are gonna look similar to our what our operations are. There's gonna they look different, and it could be consulting on more technology. You know? I think that's a very, very positive thing that could happen here.
Speaker 2:But ten years ago, I'd have been more concerned about it than I am now because a couple of guys now that are getting up in their years and they've got either sons or young people working in with them that are gonna move into those positions to take them over. So I I feel way better about it now than they did, like I said, five or ten years ago for sure.
Dave Nicolai:So so tell us a little bit about Minka, a little bit about size and scope, average number of of membership, and you also have an executive director that helps the organization as well. You talk a little bit about organizationally how it's put together.
Speaker 2:Well, we Lance Auto is our executive director. He's been a godsend. You know, we all have we all run a business. We all have a lot of going. We all have a lot a lot of demands in our time.
Speaker 2:Lance keeps us organized, keeps keeps us focused, but the organization part of it has been just wonderful. He's just been very, very good for organization. We covered basically the whole state, and we run from the Red River Valley all the way Southeast Minnesota to Southwest Minnesota, Central Sam Plains. There's a consultant pretty much anywhere in the state. We have about, I think, thirty thirty voting members that that we would consider full independent members.
Speaker 2:We have 33 industry members that work in the industry, but also help with the consulting support. So and we have like I said, we're got applications now for new people that we're working on right now. So feeling really pretty good about the future of the interest in Minnesota and the consulting industry.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And so I guess while we're on the topic, we probably should mention that you've got a website. I think Lance probably developed your website for you still. And so folks can just Google Menka and find you there. And then I think you can search by a map or by county.
Speaker 3:I can't remember. But there is at least a listing of all of the consultants and the location. So if folks are trying to figure out how they can work through their operations over time and think about some changes in their operations and maybe tap into an Independent Crop Consultant if they haven't, they can sure find you that way. Right?
Speaker 2:That's the best way, really. Minka.org. And it has a list of all the consultants and has how to contact each of them, what their specialties are. They list most people do list what their specialties are that they work in, the area they work in, the counties they work in, that kind of thing. That's by far the best way to find it.
Speaker 2:And then you can kind of search for what you're looking for.
Dave Nicolai:Well, the one nice thing about an organization like this is that you know the other people's skills and so forth. So I'm sure there's times when you can run into a problem or situation and you can pick up the phone or or contact other members and say, hey, I got this or this. What do you think about this? I mean that or what do you hear about this? I mean that there is a a network of you know, even though you're not having the same client, but similar problems is what I'm trying to say across the state or or opportunities.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. The networking is huge. That's the thing that I've really come to appreciate now. It's so easy to network with text, I need phone calls, and emails, but we have a group chat that we're that's going right now, and proud of them. People find things in corn.
Speaker 2:Have you seen this? What's your experience with it? Is there a a threshold for this? We're just going through that kind of thing today. We when we get to this time of year, we we talk to each other and we're in contact very, very often.
Speaker 2:We in fact, it's daily a lot of times to see where populations of aphids are heading or where we found any tar spot or southern rust or whatever the pest may be. But that's been a big, big benefit, I think, for our members. Then when we do have a meeting, a membership meeting, it seems like what people enjoy in the CropCast meeting is the the networking and the socializing even before the meeting and after the meeting so they keep in keep touch with everybody.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So your clients are tapping into not only you as an individual, but they really get they they get the value of your organization behind you. That's that's that's a great thing. Hey. I got one more philosophical question.
Speaker 3:Everybody hates these, but I love to ask these questions. So what you get a lot of fulfillment. You're doing what you're doing because you want to help farmers. When do you enjoy or when do you feel like you're appreciated the most? You've gone through a lot of up and down cycles in agriculture.
Speaker 3:And right now, we're kind of in a tough spot economically. So when do you feel the most appreciated, and when do you get the most out of your work helping farmers? In those kind of good times or those those tough times?
Speaker 2:You know, there's times when you're a little bit of a psychologist, I guess. And, you you know, people call up and they're very upset about something, and it's almost always it's never as bad as you think, you know, whether it's with farming or life in general. You know? And so I try to calm them down a little bit and and just tell them, you know, I don't think that's as big a worry. As far as satisfaction, it's it's just watching crops grow and seeing the benefit and driving around looking at them and, you know, changing or helping things when they need to be done and get a lot of enjoyment out of that.
Speaker 2:When we had the prevent plant year of 2013 and we had a lot of acres that didn't get planted, that was a tough year for me, for a lot of farmers too because that's what we did. You know, that was where you got your real enjoyment. And so you had to work through that. But it just it just I think, you know, a meeting with farmers in the winter and talking over the crop and what happened and what was good and bad, and I just get a lot of enjoyment out of that.
Dave Nicolai:Okay. Bryce, this year has been a challenging year in some places in Minnesota, some places a lot of rain, and some places not so much. How about down in your neck of the woods? Did you get some significant rainfall here early mid season, and is that still holding water capacity for your crops at this point?
Speaker 2:Yeah. We were that was in my backyard. That and those heavy rains, nine to 15 inches in week or eight days time. So that had a pretty big impact on some of the crops in that area, particularly the beans. Beans don't like that.
Speaker 2:They don't like wet feet. So a lot of the top are showing up. Yellow beans starting to come out of it, but never a good situation for soybeans. Quarantine seemed to come through it pretty well. Didn't seem to have a big effect on it.
Speaker 2:And the water did get away fairly quickly because our streams are low. So we did get crops out from underneath standing water fairly quickly, so that helped. But that's a small area, more Fillmore County, a little bit into Northern Iowa. Once you move out of that area and it changes very quickly, you get into fields that have had it. They've had enough rain, the crops look great, but with as bigger crop as it is, they're gonna need more rain fairly soon to keep maintain potential for what they have.
Dave Nicolai:Yeah. You're right. I think some of this crop, this corn in some fields I saw is pretty tall. Yes. Right now, of course, you know, we're milk stage depending upon, you know, when they might have set that corn or or planted.
Dave Nicolai:But the bottom line is it's it's growing fast. There's a lot of transpiration out there, but a lot of a lot of uptake as well. So with that in a consideration, what are we what are we critical here the next couple of weeks here for some of these other areas in that you're in or that part of the state?
Speaker 2:Yes. You know, I can part of our territory is in that situation. I've had enough adequate rainfall to keep moving things moving along. The other thing that's really helped is we had really good ribbing situation this spring. You know, we had drier soils in the spring, so the roots, I think, grew quite deeply in the soil.
Speaker 2:And so we're set up pretty good for that. We are we are ready to be able to use probably all available soil moisture. But, yeah, there are areas that, you know, as big a crop as it is, we're gonna need rainfall within the next ten days to two weeks to keep things at full potential.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I just I've been driving around the state, and I do not ever remember a year where both corn and soybeans were as green as they have been this year, and the corn is uniform and Just unbelievable crop out there. I just I just hope that we can we can get the right rains here, and we don't get we don't get 15 inch rains. We get we start getting a couple inches awake here would be really helpful for us.
Speaker 2:It would. It would. It's been a really good looking crop.
Dave Nicolai:Very, very even. And I and I talked to Jeff Etch over at Waseca at a research and outreach center. It said the same thing. We probably didn't lose as much in right away. We were in didn't have, like, an over amount, and I've never seen the crop so consistent in some of those areas.
Dave Nicolai:Usually, they'll drowned out spots, you know, but but you look up and down, it looked really, really good. So I think that has helped as well going in here, but the critical time is gonna be the next the next two weeks. I I know the end of this week, they're talking about more rain on Thursday, Friday. So we'll see what comes with that. But other than that, you folks are out scouting and and making sure that we don't have an an aphid problem and watching corn diseases as well.
Dave Nicolai:And so I I believe that we'll continue here for the next couple weeks. Will it not?
Speaker 2:Yes. It will.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Tell me about fungicide decisions this year. So it looks like this would be a classic year to really pour on the fungicide on both corn and soybeans. Do you think that's you tempered by the economic situation out there just a little bit, or are the guys really going to go pretty hard on fungicides?
Speaker 2:Well, in my situation, in my territory, fungicide on corn has gotten to be it's too much, too great of risk to not use it. You know, with the tar spot, the southern rust, and northern corn leaflet, we just have too many potential diseases in my neck of the woods. We've had high rainfall, corn, I don't think there's a lot of beans more of a debate. I mean, because of the economics, like you say, you don't you don't see those huge responses to fungicide in beans typically. So it's much more of a debate in the beans and had that conversation with a couple of guys today, you know, whether it would pay to do it or not.
Speaker 2:And so it's the economics are seem to be really, really coming out as a big factor in farmers' minds.
Dave Nicolai:I have a quick question. When you look at, we talked about earlier about the variety characteristics. Mhmm. Is that how helpful is it to look at from what these corn suppliers and seed companies are providing in terms of there's no total resistance, in terms of tolerance and so forth. Is that factoring into some of these fungicide questions here?
Dave Nicolai:There enough information that you feel comfortable at or do you like to see what that particular variety actually does out there to help making a fungicide recommendation?
Speaker 2:Well, it's nice to see the variety out there but you know, like we talked earlier that they turn over so fast now that you do have to rely on that company and what they have for data and how it responds to different diseases. So it plays a factor into it but, you know, in the end, like I say with corn, there's so much risk now with all the different diseases that you really don't you look at it a little bit but not a big factor. The beans, I think diseases is more of a factor there and, you know, phytophthora resistance and some of the other things that are built in, much more of a factor there.
Dave Nicolai:I know recently we've been having very humid conditions, some dew at night, you know, in the morning and so forth. So, you know, those are other factors in that. And I can't remember growing up in Southern Minnesota. We've been as hot as long as we have been this year and in those higher humidity. So those will be the situations with that.
Dave Nicolai:Great. Well, thank you, Bryce. We we did appreciate you visiting with us here today. As I mentioned earlier, when we started the program, Bryce Nelson is a president of of Minka. He's in his fourth term of a one year term fourth fourth time around on a one year term.
Dave Nicolai:Let me put it this way. So Yeah. He's had experiences as with it down from the Rose Creek area. So we wanna thank Bryce for coming here, telling us a little bit about his operation, but more importantly about Minka as a whole and what the organization does for farmers and growers here in Minnesota. So thanks again Bryce.
Dave Nicolai:So we're gonna close out this section of the University of Minnesota podcast Minnesota CropCast. I've been your host Dave Nicolai with the University of Minnesota Extension Educator and Field Crops along with my cohost Doctor. Seth Nave, University of Minnesota soybean extension specialist and we'll talk to you next time. Thanks for listening.